2 Kings 23:7

2 Kings 23:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
• New International Version (NIV)He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image.

Context of 2 Kings 23:7

5Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah. 8Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate. 9Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

2 Kings 23:7 word by word

וַיִּתֹּץ֙ אֶת־בָּתֵּ֣י הַקְּדֵשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר הַנָּשִׁ֗ים אֹרְג֥וֹת שָׁ֛ם בָּתִּ֖ים לָאֲשֵׁרָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• He also tore downנָתַץnâthats · to tearH5422
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• the quartersבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• of the male shrine prostitutesקָדֵשׁqâdêsh · male cult prostituteH6945
• thatאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• in the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: templeH1004
• of the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• the womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• had wovenאָרַג'ârag · to weaveH707
• had wovenשָׁםshâm · thereH8033
• tapestriesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: containerH1004
• for Asherahאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842

Cross-references for 2 Kings 23:7

• Genesis 19:4Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
• 1 Kings 14:24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
• 1 Kings 15:12He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
• 1 Kings 22:46He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.
• 2 Chronicles 34:33And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
• Romans 1:26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
• Exodus 35:25Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen.
• Ezekiel 8:14Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.
• Ezekiel 16:16You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!
• Hosea 2:13I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 23:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7The houses of the sodomites - We have already often met with these קדשים kedeshim or consecrated persons. The word implies all kinds of prostitutes, as well as abusers of themselves with mankind. Wove hangings for the grove - For Asherah; curtains or tent coverings for the places where the rites of the impure goddess were performed. See at the end of 2 Kings 21:26; (note).Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4-20Verses 4-20 A parenthesis giving the earlier reforms of Josiah. 2 Kings 23:4 The priests of the second order - This is a new expression; and probably refers to the ordinary priests, called here “priests of the second order,” in contrast with the high priest, whose dignity was reviving (2 Kings 12:2 note). The vessels - This would include the whole apparatus of worship, altars, images, dresses, utensils, etc., for Baal, etc. (2 Kings 21:3-5 notes). The…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-14Verses 4-14 What abundance of wickedness in Judah and Jerusalem! One would not have believed it possible, that in Judah, where God was known, in Israel, where his name was great, in Salem, in Zion, where his dwelling-place was, such abominations should be found. Josiah had reigned eighteen years, and had himself set the people a good example, and kept up religion according to the Divine law; yet, when he came to search for idolatry, the depth and extent…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-7Josiah removed the priests who led idol worship. He also destroyed the living places of the cult prostitutes. These practices had been allowed by Manasseh and Amon. They continued the prostitution that came from Canaanite religion (see 1 Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46). Shockingly, this was practiced inside the temple itself.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. brake down the houses of the sodomites--not solid houses, but tents, called elsewhere [2Ki 17:30] Succoth-benoth, "the booths of the young women," who were devoted to the service of Asherah, for which they made embroidered hangings, and in which they gave themselves to unbridled revelry and lust. Or the hangings might be for Asherah itself, as it is a popular superstition in the East to hang pieces of cloth on trees.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 23:7

• Church
• Iconoclasm
• Idolatry
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Josiah
• Prophecy
• Sodomites
• Sodomy
• Tapestry
• Weaving
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Hanging
• Jeremiah
• Josiah
• Kings, The Books of
• Pentateuch
• Weaving, weavers
• Chemosh
• Crime; Crimes
• God
• Hangings

Commentaries on 2 Kings 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings