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2 KINGS 23

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. Because of the conditions existing in the world, Judah found herself relatively independent during the reign of Josiah. This was due primarily to debilitating battles between Egypt and Babylon, which reduced both of their armies.
   
   
2. This resurgence in nationalism and the discovery of part of the Law of Moses in the Temple (2 Kings 22) is the setting of chapter 23.
   
   
3. There was a general tendency over all the Mediterranean world to try to return to "the good old days" and Judah was a part of this general move.
   
   
4. 2 Kings 22 and 23 form a literary unit; please read the parallel in 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:19.
   
   
5. This chapter contains several allusions to different idols and cultic sites.
   1. of Canaan
      1. Ba'al, vv. 4,5
      2. Asherah, vv. 4,6,7
      3. gold calves, vv. 4,15,17
      4. ancient high places
      5. Ashtoreth, v. 13

      SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE

      SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL'S MANDATED RESPONSE TO CANAANITE FERTILITY WORSHIP

   2. of Babylon
      1. host of heaven, vv. 4,5,12
      2. sun, vv. 5,11
      3. moon, v. 5
      4. constellations, v. 5

      SPECIAL TOPIC: Lord OF HOSTS

      SPECIAL TOPIC: MOON WORSHIP

   3. names of foreign gods
      1. Ashtoreth of Sidonians, v. 13
      2. Chemosh of Moab, v. 13
      3. Milcom of Ammon, v. 13
      4. Molech of Phoenicia, v. 10

      SPECIAL TOPIC: MOLECH

6. Notice the types of priests that were removed.
   1. idolatrous priests, v. 5
      1. Ba'al, v. 5
      2. Asherah, v. 6
   2. male cult prostitutes, v. 7
   3. priests from "high places," vv. 8,9,15,20
   4. mediums, v. 24
   5. spiritists, v. 24
   6. teraphim, v. 24
   7. the idols with their priests, v. 24

   See full note at 2 Kgs. 21:6 and Deut. 18:9-13 online.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:1-3
  ¹Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. ²The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. ³The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

23:1 "the elders" This usually refers to the tribal leaders or local older leaders.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDERS

23:2 "the priests and prophets" These are two of the three sources of revelation. The other source of revelation in the OT is the wisdom teachers or sages (cf. Jer. 18:18).

In the parallel passage in 2 Chr. 34:30, it has "Levites" instead of "prophets."

Notice the reading of the Law of Moses was for all the people, not just the leaders! Also notice YHWH's word caused an immediate spiritual action (cf. Isa. 55:9-11).

SPECIAL TOPIC: LEVITICAL PRIESTS

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

▣ "he read in their hearing" Public reading of the law was not a new thing (cf. Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5; 31:10-13; Nehemiah 8).

▣ " the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord" Most scholars assume this was some portion of the book of Deuteronomy (cf. 2 Kgs. 22:8-13), but we still just do not know how much of the Pentateuch was involved.

23:3 "The king stood by the pillar" This seems to be a prominent and special raised place of honor (i.e., a platform, cf. Targums) for the king (cf. 2 Kgs. 11:14; 16:18; 2 Chr. 23:13; Neh. 8:4), but we just do not know how much of the Pentateuch was involved.

▣ "to keep" This was a covenant renewal ceremony (cf. Joshua 24; 1 Samuel 12; Josephus, Antiq. 10.4.3) to an ancient covenant that had been somehow lost, forgotten, or ignored! Obedience is crucial!

SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

▣ "His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes" See SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD'S REVELATION and SPECIAL TOPIC: LAW IN THE ANE.

▣ "with all his heart and all his soul" The new king made a total commitment to walk in the ways of YHWH. The people followed, at least outwardly, the king's commitment.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEART

▣ "soul" This is the Hebrew word nephesh (BDB 659). See full note online at Gen. 35:18 and Lev. 17:11. The phrasing of this verse reflects Deut. 6:5.

SPECIAL TOPIC: NEPHESH

▣ "covenant" See SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:4-14
  ⁴Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. ⁶He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. ⁷He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. ⁸Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the city gate. ⁹Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ¹⁰He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech. ¹¹He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. ¹³The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. ¹⁴He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones.

23:4 "the priests of the second order" In context, this refers to leaders of the priesthood just below the High Priest.

The MT has the FEMININE NOUN (BDB 995; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 50-51), meaning "fields" (cf. Jer. 31:40; Hab. 3:17). Deuteronomy 32:32 has it parallel to "vineyard" (cf. Isa. 16:8).

▣ "Baal" This was the male fertility god of the Canaanite pantheon. Most probably Tyranian Ba'al. His symbol was an uplifted stone, probably a male phallic symbol.

▣ "Asherah" This was the female consort of Ba'al in the Canaanite pantheon (also called Anat). She was symbolized by a carved wooden pole or a live tree (symbolizing the Tree of Life) located on the raised platform of local high places.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE

▣ "all the host of heaven" This seems to refer to Babylonian astral worship.

SPECIAL TOPIC: LORD OF HOSTS

▣ "and he burned them outside of Jerusalem" This follows the stipulations of Deut. 7:25.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL'S MANDATED RESPONSE TO CANAANITE FERTILITY WORSHIP

▣ "and carried their ashes to Bethel" Bethel was the location of one of the two golden calf worship sites set up by Jeroboam I as a rival to the cultic center of Jerusalem. It was just north of Jerusalem.

23:5 "He did away with the idolatrous priests" In this verse, and v. 20, it seems the king ordered the slaughter of these pagan priests. They were priests of the fertility idols in both Judah and Israel (BDB 485, cf. Hos. 10:5; Zeph. 1:4).

This term may be a Hebrew word play on "snare" (BDB 485). The priests of vv. 5, 20 are different from the Judean priests of vv. 8-9. These were probably non-Levitical (Josephus, Antiq. 10.4.3; 1 Kgs. 12:31,33; 2 Kgs. 17:32).

▣ "to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven" This is a listing of the elements of the Babylonian astral worship. It involved

1. the sun (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 185-189)
2. the moon
3. the five major planets known in that day
4. the signs of the zodiac (cf. Job 38:32)

SPECIAL TOPIC: MOON WORSHIP

23:6 "the Asherah from the house of the Lord" This female fertility object was possibly

1. a carved stake
2. a live tree

symbolizing the tree of life. It had been put there by Manasseh (cf. 2 Kgs. 21:7).

▣ "burned it. . .ground it to dust. . .threw its dust" This is similar to the destruction of Aaron's golden calf (cf. Exod. 32:20, which is repeated in Deut. 9:21).

SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL'S MANDATED RESPONSE TO CANAANITE FERTILITY WORSHIP

▣ "and threw its dust on the graves of the common people" This refers to:

1. The common people had participated in the idolatrous practices and this was a sign of their spiritual condition.
2. The Jews considered that the graveyards were already ceremonially unclean and the depositing of the ashes there would pollute symbolically these graves even more (cf. Jer. 26:23).

23:7 "He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord" This is literally "sacred" (BDB 873 II). Because of the pointing of the Masoretic Hebrew, this may refer to sodomites or male prostitutes (BDB 873 I, cf. Deut. 23:18; 1 Kgs. 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 1209).

▣ "the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah" This refers to the female counterparts of the male cult prostitutes. They were weaving

1. for themselves sensuous clothing for their varied fertility rites
2. curtains for the temples
3. clothing for the images (cf. Jer. 10:9; Ezek. 16:16)
4. headbands used by Babylonian prostitutes

All involved pagan worship practices in YHWH's temple area!

23:8 "he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places" This is an attempt of Josiah to centralize the worship at the central sanctuary in Jerusalem only (cf. vv. 21-23) and thereby abandon the local high places.

▣ "from Geba to Beersheba" As earlier the limits of united Israel were "Dan to Beersheba," now Josiah's reconquered kingdom was characterized by the new designation. The location of "Geba" is uncertain. The MacMillan Bible Atlas lists four possible locations.

The MT has "high places of the gates." The UBS Text Project, p. 375, gives this a "B" rating (some doubt).

1. of the gates ‒ השׁערים
2. of the demons ‒ השׂערים

It refers to some type of high place located at the central gate of the city.

For "goat-demons" see notes online at Lev. 17:7 and 2 Chr. 11:15 (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 1260).

23:9 The priests of the local Judean high places were not allowed to sacrifice at the Temple but they were allowed to eat with the other priests (cf. Ezek. 44:10-14). Apparently they served at YHWH's shrines, not Ba'al shrines. The priests at the Temple accepted them but not without reservations and restrictions.

23:10 "He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech" Topheth (BDB 1075) is the place where sacrifices to Molech (i.e., the Phoenician fire god to which infant children were sacrificed) occurred to insure fertility, were made. This was done right outside the city of Jerusalem in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom.

This was a despicable act and the Jews later made this place the garbage dump of Jerusalem. This is the imagery that Jesus used to describe the hell (i.e., Gehenna). "Topheth" means "place of burning."

SPECIAL TOPIC: MOLECH

SPECIAL TOPIC: WHERE ARE THE DEAD?

23:11 "He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun. . .and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire" This is another aspect of the worship of the Assyrian god, Ashur. Apparently the chariots and horses were a symbol of the sun moving across the heavens (i.e., Ps. 19:1-6). They may have been real or possibly statues.

The MT has the PLURAL NOUN (BDB 826, KB 962) which occurs only here and possibly 1 Chr. 26:18. It was connected to the central structure to the Temple. This root is not Semitic. Some speculate it is Persian for "vestibule." The DSS, "Temple Scroll," translated it as "colonnade" (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 673).

23:12 "The altars which were on the roof" These roof top worship sites for Babylonian astral deities are mentioned in 2 Kgs. 21:3-5 and possibly 2 Kgs. 20:8-11.

The MT has "ran from there" (BDB 930, KB 1207, Qal IMPERFECT with waw). JPSOA suggests an emendation to "smashed them there" (BDB 954). The NET Bible suggests an emendation of stems (i.e., Qal to Hiphil) to "he removed them quickly" (p. 628).

23:13 "The high places. . .which Solomon the king of Israel had built" The list of foreign gods in v. 13 reflects the altars that Solomon built for his foreign wives (cf. 1 Kings 11). See Contextual Insights, E. #3.

The MT has CONSTRUCT BDB 249 and BDB 1008, "mount of ruin or destruction." The author of Kings is defiantly referring to the Mount of Olives.

1. he cannot bring himself to name it
2. a word play between
   1. משׁחה ‒ BDB 602, KB 644, meaning "anoint"
   2. משׁחיה ‒ BDB 1008, meaning "destruction"

▣ "Ashtoreth" This refers to the male god Ashtar (BDB 800, cf. 1 Kgs. 11:5,33). Normally this form is FEMALE but in these two places it is MASCULINE.

▣ "Chemosh" This (BDB 484; NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 660-661) is the male war god of Moab.

▣ "Milcom" This is apparently a corruption of the Hebrew term for king, Meleck (BDB 575). We do not know anything about this god of Ammon. His name could be Milcom, Malcam, or Molech.

23:14 "He broke in pieces" This VERB (BDB 990, KB 1402, Piel PERFECT) in the Piel stem, is often used of the complete destruction of idols (cf. 2 Kgs. 11:18; 18:4; 23:14; 2 Chr. 14:3; 34:4; Isa. 21:9; Jer. 43:13).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:15-20
  ¹⁵Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷Then he said, "What is this monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel." ¹⁸He said, "Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the Lord; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

23:15 "the altar that was at Bethel" This refers to one of the golden calf worship sites set up by Jereboam I. We learn from 2 Chr. 34:6-7 that Josiah's reforms in Judah even impacted the area of the northern ten tribes.

The MT has "and he burned" (BDB 976, 1358, Qal IMPERFECT with waw). The UBS Text Project, p. 377, gives this a "D" rating (highly doubtful). It seems that "stones" could not be burned easily but they could be broken to pieces.

1. burn ‒ שׂרף (BDB 976)
2. break ‒ שׁבר (BDB 990)

23:16-20 This is a very unusual account; it is taking place somewhere in the area of the northern ten tribes. Apparently the prophet referred to is the one mentioned in 1 Kings 13. The LXX has a longer and fuller account (see NEB).

23:18 From the account in 1 Kings 13, the disobedient prophet from Judah who was killed by lions for eating with a prophet from Israel, was buried in the same grave as the prophet from Israel (cf. 1 Kgs. 13:29-31; Josephus, Antiq. 10.4.4).

23:19 "the Lord" The MT does not have an OBJECT to the VERB "had made provoking" (BDB 494, KB 491, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT). Most ancient versions add "the Lord" (i.e., LXX, Peshitta, Vulgate).

The VERB is often used of YHWH's response to idolatry (cf. 1 Kgs. 16:13,26,33; 22:54; 2 Kgs. 17:11; 21:6). YHWH's anger is an anthropomorphic idiom.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE USED TO DESCRIBE GOD

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:21-23
  ²¹Then the king commanded all the people saying, "Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the covenant." ²²Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

23:21-23 This celebration of the Passover was an attempt to reunify the worship of YHWH at Jerusalem. For a much fuller account see 2 Chronicles 35 and NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1043-1045.

23:22 The Passover celebrated by Hezekiah in 2 Chr. 30:13-27 was attended only by Judah (cf. 2 Chr. 30:10). Josiah's Passover would include the northern remnant of Israel.

The last recorded Passover celebrated by all the tribes was Joshua 5:10-11. It was originally a family event, not a national event (cf. Exodus 12).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL

SPECIAL TOPIC: PASSOVER

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:24-25
  ²⁴Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

23:24 "mediums" This is literally "a bottle" (BDB 15, KB 393, cf. 2 Kgs. 21:6 and NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 303). It refers to the strange sounds that wind makes when passing over a bottle. In the Septuagint this word is translated "ventriloquist," which implies one who can control voices or noises (cf. Lev. 19:31; 20:27; Deut. 18:11).

▣ "the spiritists" Literally this is "the knowing ones" (BDB 396; see full note at 2 Kgs. 21:6). The terms "mediums" and "spiritists" are always mentioned in the OT together.

▣ "teraphim" This refers to household or family gods (cf. Gen. 31:19; Jdgs. 17:5; 1 Sam. 19:13).

SPECIAL TOPIC: Teraphim

23:25 The praise of Josiah's devotion to YHWH is taken from the great prayer (shema) of Deut. 6:4-5, esp. v. 5.

Josiah read/studied the Law of Moses and devoted himself to worshiping and obeying the God who was revealed in it.

SPECIAL TOPIC: INSPIRATION

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:26-27
  ²⁶However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷The Lord said, "I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, 'My name shall be there.'"

23:26-27 "However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah" Apparently Judah had passed the point of no return during the wicked reign of Manasseh (cf. 2 Kgs. 21:14; 24:4). The people's hearts were only outwardly touched and not inwardly changed by the reforms of Josiah (i.e., Jeremiah 5).

This VERB (BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal PERFECT; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 55-59) is often used of "turning from" in the theological sense of repentance. Judah would not "turn" from idolatry so YHWH did not turn from judgment.

SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE (OT)

23:27 What a shocking rejection of Judah, YHWH's special place for His name to dwell would be destroyed and exiled! The nation, the city, and the temple will be judged! This was because of Manasseh's idolatry (cf. 2 Kgs. 24:1-4, 20; 2 Chr. 36:15-21; Jer. 52:3). The Mosaic covenant was conditional!

SPECIAL TOPIC: "THE NAME" OF YHWH (OT)

SPECIAL TOPIC: MORIAH, SALEM, JEBUS, ZION, JERUSALEM

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:28-30
  ²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁹In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo. ³⁰His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

23:29 "Pharaoh Neco of Egypt" This is a reference to Pharaoh Neco II, son of Psammetichus, also known as Psamtik II (595 B.C. ‒ 589 B.C.. For many years the Egyptian Pharaohs had been dominated by Assyria, but as Assyria's power waned, Egypt had become a strong independent world power again.

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF EGYPT

The MT has the Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT "to meet" or "to encounter" (BDB 896, KB 1131). In this context

1. Egypt is trying to help the remnant of the Assyrian army at Hamath after the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. Egypt wanted a buffer zone between themselves and the advancing Neo-Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar II.
2. Josiah was a supporter of Neo-Babylon and tried to stop Necho II from moving up the Shephelah (i.e., coastal plain) to support the remaining Assyrian army at Hamath (i.e., 609 B.C., cf. Jeremiah 46).

▣ "King Josiah went to meet him" Apparently as the Assyrian Empire was dying and the Empires of Babylon and Media were on the rise, Egypt decided it was in her best interest to keep a buffer state between herself and Babylon, therefore, she tried to go the aid of the remaining retreating Assyrian army in the area of northern Syria at the head waters of the Euphrates. King Josiah possibly had an arrangement with the Babylonians, as his father Hezekiah had, and tried to stop Pharaoh's army from aiding the weak Assyrian army, however, a "fluke" arrow killed him in 609 B.C.

The account in 2 Chr. 35:23-24 is different. These may be understood as different historical documents behind Kings and Chronicles. A new book that has helped me cope with this type of discrepancy is John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture, IVP, which deals with how ancient oral cultures passed on their traditions. Israel and Judah had both written documents and oral traditions.

23:30 "chariot" See SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARIOTS.

▣ "anointed him" AB, p. 291, makes an interesting comment that only a few kings were "anointed" in 1 and 2 Kings. All of them were not the "expected" choice (i.e., oldest son).

1. Solomon ‒ 1 Kgs. 1:45
2. Jehoash ‒ 2 Kgs. 11:12
3. Jehoahaz ‒ here

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:31-33
  ³¹Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

23:31 "Jehoahaz. . .reigned three months in Jerusalem" This was Josiah's brother and successor of Josiah (Jeremiah calls him "Shallum," cf. Jer. 22:11), but when Pharaoh Neco II was unsuccessful in helping the Assyrian army, he returned through Palestine

1. to besiege Jerusalem
2. to depose this king after three months
3. to ransack the temple of its treasures
4. to put a puppet king named Jehoiakim on the throne
5. then return home to Egypt

The MT has "put him in bonds" (BDB 63, KB 75, Qal IMPERFECT with waw). The UBS Text Project, p. 378, gives this a "B" rating (some doubt). The other possibility is "deposed him" (BDB 693, KB 747, Hiphil IMPERFECT with waw).

1. "and he fettered him" ‒ ויאסרהו
2. "and he removed him" ‒ ויסירהו

▣ "Riblah" This was an administrative city near Kadesh on the Orontes River in Syria, about 20 miles south of Hamath (IVP Bible Background Commentary, p. 410).

The MT has "when he reigned" but the Masoretic scholars suggested "from reigning" (Qere). The UBS Text Project, p. 378, gives the Qere a "C" rating (considerable doubt), but it adds "the Qere reading is more probable than the Ketiv reading and should, therefore, be preferred."

Notice the rapid replacement of Judean kings.

1. Jehoahaz (Shallum) ‒ 2 Kgs. 23:31-35
2. Jehoiakim (Eliakim) ‒ 2 Kgs. 23:35-24:6
3. Jehoiachin ‒ 2 Kgs. 24:8-17; 25:27-30
4. Zedekiah (Mattaniah) ‒ 2 Kgs. 24:18-20
5. Gedaliah (Babylonian governor) ‒ 2 Kgs. 25:22-26

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:34-35
  ³⁴Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

23:34 "Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim" "Eliakim" (BDB 45) means "God sets up"; Jehoiakim (BDB 220) means "YHWH sets up."

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 23:36-37
  ³⁶Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. How could the Judeans have lost the Law of Moses?
2. How did the worship of YHWH get to such a low state of eclectic idolatry?
3. Define the people mentioned in v. 24

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