2 Kings 23:19

2 Kings 23:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth–el.
• New International Version (NIV)Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.

Context of 2 Kings 23:19

17He asked, ‘Whose grave stone is that?’ The men from Bethel city said to him, ‘It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah. You have now done to this altar at Bethel the things that he said would happen.’ 18King Josiah said, ‘Do not do anything to his grave. Do not remove his bones.’ So they did not do anything with the bones of the man of God. They also left the bones of the old prophet who had come from Samaria. King Josiah removed the altars on the hills in all the towns of Samaria. The kings of Israel had built those altars and that had made the Lord angry. Josiah destroyed all of them, in the same way that he destroyed the altar at Bethel. 20He punished with death all the priests who served false gods at those altars. He killed them on their own altars. He burned human bones on all the altars. After he had done that, he went back to Jerusalem. 21Then the king commanded all the people, ‘The Book of God's Covenant teaches about the Passover festival. Now you must eat that Passover meal to give honour to the Lord your God.’

2 Kings 23:19 word by word

וְגַם֩ אֶת־כָּל־בָּתֵּ֨י הַבָּמ֜וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר׀ בְּעָרֵ֣י שֹׁמְר֗וֹן אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשׂ֜וּ מַלְכֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לְהַכְעִ֔יס הֵסִ֖יר יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ וַיַּ֣עַשׂ לָהֶ֔ם כְּכָל־הַֽמַּעֲשִׂ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה בְּבֵֽית־אֵֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And all the housesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• also of the high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• in the citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• of Samariaשֹׁמְרוֹןshômerôn · SamariaH8111
• which the kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• had madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• to angerכָּעַסka‛as · to provokeH3707
• Josiahיֹאשִׁיָּ֫הוּyô'shîyâh yô'shîyâhû · JosiahH2977
• took awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
• and didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• to them according to all the actsמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deedH4639
• in Beth–elבֵּֽיתְ־אֵלbêyth-'êl · BethelH1008

Cross-references for 2 Kings 23:19

• 2 Kings 17:9They secretly did things that the Lord their God said were not right. In all their towns, they built altars to worship false gods. They built them everywhere, in small villages and in strong cities.
• 1 Kings 12:31Jeroboam also built places on hills for people to worship. He chose men who were not from Levi's tribe to be priests.
• 1 Kings 13:32The Lord's message that he spoke will certainly become true. He spoke against the altar in Bethel and against all the altars on the hills of Samaria's towns.’
• 2 Chronicles 30:6So men took the letters from the king and his officers to all the people in Israel and Judah. The king's command said this: ‘A message to the people of Israel who have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. Turn back now to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Then he will turn back to you.
• 2 Chronicles 31:1The Passover festival finished. Then the Israelites who were there went to all the towns in Judah. They knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped. They also cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed all the altars and places for worship on the hills. They did that everywhere in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. After they finished, all the Israelites returned to their homes in their own towns.
• 2 Chronicles 34:6He went to the towns that belonged to the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He even went as far as Naphtali. He did the same thing in all those towns, as well as in the villages around them where nobody lived.
• 2 Kings 8:18He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He did what the family of Ahab had done. He married a daughter of King Ahab and he became as wicked as King Ahab's family was. He did things that the Lord said were evil.
• 1 Kings 16:33Ahab also made an Asherah pole to worship. He did many bad things that made the Lord, Israel's God, angry. He did more bad things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him.
• Micah 6:16You have obeyed the rules of King Omri. You have done what King Ahab and all his people did. You have copied their wicked ideas. So I must destroy you and all your things completely. Then people from other countries will not be kind or polite to you. Instead, they will make you ashamed.’
• 2 Kings 17:16They turned away from all the commands of the Lord their God. They used metal to make images of two calves as their idols. They also made an Asherah pole to worship. They worshipped all the stars in the sky and they served Baal.
• 2 Kings 21:6He burnt his own son with fire as a sacrifice. He used magic and false gods to find out what would happen in the future. He took advice from magicians and people who talked to the spirits of dead people. He did many things that the Lord said were very evil. This made the Lord very angry.
• Psalms 78:58The places where they worshipped their idols made God very angry.
• Jeremiah 7:18The children fetch wood and their fathers use it to light a fire. The women prepare flour to cook cakes. Then they offer them to the “Queen of Heaven”. And they offer gifts of drink to other false gods. They do that to make me angry.
• Ezekiel 8:17The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, look at that! The people of Judah are doing these disgusting things here in my temple! That is a terrible thing! And they are also doing violent things everywhere in their land. They continue to make me angry all the time. Look at them! They insult me as much as they can!

Commentaries on 2 Kings 23:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19That were in the cities of Samaria - Israel had now no king; and Josiah, of the blood royal of Judah, had certainly a direct right to the kingdom; he had, at this time, an especial commission from God, to reform every abuse through the whole land - all that ground that was given by the Lord as an inheritance to the twelve sons of Jacob. Therefore he had every right to carry his plans of reformation into the Samaritan states.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. 15-24Verses 15-24 Josiah's zeal extended to the cities of Israel within his reach. He carefully preserved the sepulchre of that man of God, who came from Judah to foretell the throwing down of Jeroboam's altar. When they had cleared the country of the old leaven of idolatry, then they applied themselves to the keeping of the feast. There was not holden such a passover in any of the foregoing reigns. The revival of a long-neglected ordinance, filled them with…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20Samaria … high places: Josiah's religious reforms reached the former northern kingdom (see also 2 Chronicles 34:6–7). Josiah's ability to make these changes shows his power and Assyria's decline (see study note on 2 Kings 23:29).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-2015-20. Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, &c.--Not satisfied with the removal of every vestige of idolatry from his own dominion, this zealous iconoclast made a tour of inspection through the cities of Samaria and all the territory formerly occupied by the ten tribes, destroying the altars and temples of the high places, consigning the Asherim to the flames, putting to death the priests of the high places, and showing his horror at idolatry by…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 23:19

• Beth-El
• Calf
• Iconoclasm
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Josiah
• Prophecy
• Samaria

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Josiah
• Samaria
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Samaria, Samaritan
• Jeremiah
• Kings, The Books of
• Pentateuch
• Benjamin

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