2 Kings 23:14

2 Kings 23:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
• New International Version (NIV)Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
• New Living Translation (NLT)He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.

Context of 2 Kings 23:14

12And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, 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 Ammonites. And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men. 15Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.

2 Kings 23:14 word by word

וְשִׁבַּר֙ אֶת־הַמַּצֵּב֔וֹת וַיִּכְרֹ֖ת אֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרִ֑ים וַיְמַלֵּ֥א אֶת־מְקוֹמָ֖ם עַצְמ֥וֹת אָדָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he brake in piecesשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• the imagesמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
• and cut downכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• the grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• and filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• their placesמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
• with the bonesעֶ֫צֶם‛etsem · boneH6106
• of menאָדָם'âdâm · manH120

Cross-references for 2 Kings 23:14

• Exodus 23:24you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
• Numbers 33:52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
• Deuteronomy 7:5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
• Micah 1:7All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
• 2 Kings 23:16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.
• Numbers 19:16Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
• Jeremiah 8:1"At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs.
• Ezekiel 39:12For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.
• Matthew 23:27"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 23:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Filled their places with the bones of men - This was allowed to be the utmost defilement to which any thing could be exposed.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
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1413-14. the high places ... which Solomon ... had builded--(See on 1Ki 11:5). the right hand of the mount of corruption--The Mount of Olives is a hilly range on the east of Jerusalem. This range has three summits, of which the central one is the Mount of Corruption, so called from the idol temples built there, and of course the hill on the right hand denotes the southernmost peak. Josiah is said not to have destroyed, but only defiled, "the high places on…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 23:14

• Groves
• Iconoclasm
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Josiah
• Prophecy

In the dictionaries

• Jeremiah
• Josiah
• Kings, The Books of
• Pentateuch
• Chemosh
• God
• High Place
• Images
• Jeremiah (2)
• Jerusalem

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