2 Kings 23:10-14

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek.

11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court^[a] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the LORD. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.

13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon.

14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.

2 Kings 23:10-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 23

This chapter treats of Josiah's reading the book of the law, and of him and the people renewing the covenant with God, 2Ki 23:1-3, and of his removing idols and idolatry in every shape, and witchcraft, out of the land, which he did in the sincerity of his heart, 2Ki 23:4-25, yet the wrath of God was still determined upon the land, 2Ki 23:26-28 and Josiah was taken away by an untimely death, 2Ki 23:29,30 and was succeeded by two sons of his, one after another, whose reigns were wicked, 2Ki 23:31-37.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 30:33; Jeremiah 7:31,32; Jeremiah 19:6
• 2. S Joshua 15:8
• 3. S Leviticus 18:21; S Deuteronomy 18:10
• 4. ver 5,19; Nehemiah 9:34; Jeremiah 44:9
• 5. S Deuteronomy 4:19
• 6. 2 Chronicles 33:15
• 7. Jeremiah 19:13; Zephaniah 1:5
• 8. S 2 Kings 21:5
• 9. S 2 Samuel 15:23
• 10. 1 Kings 11:7
• 11. S Deuteronomy 27:15
• 12. Jeremiah 11:13
• 13. S Exodus 23:24; Deuteronomy 7:5,25
• 14. S Numbers 19:16; S Psalms 53:5

Footnotes

• [a]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.