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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim 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

12The altars that 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 pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men. 15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. 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 which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

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

People and places in 2 Kings 23:14

• Asherah

Cross-references for 2 Kings 23:14

• Exodus 23:24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
• Numbers 33:52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places;
• Deuteronomy 7:5But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.
• Micah 1:7All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.”
• 2 Kings 23:16As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. 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 which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
• Numbers 19:16Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
• Jeremiah 8:1“At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.
• 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 indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’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