2 Kings 23:2

2 Kings 23:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the king went up into 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 ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.
• New Living Translation (NLT)And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple.

Context of 2 Kings 23:2

1Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—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 had been found in the house of the Lord. 3Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. 4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.

2 Kings 23:2 word by word

וַיַּ֣עַל הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ בֵּית־יְהוָ֡ה וְכָל־אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָה֩ וְכָל־יֹשְׁבֵ֨י יְרוּשָׁלִַ֜ם אִתּ֗וֹ וְהַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ וְהַנְּבִיאִ֔ים וְכָל־הָעָ֖ם לְמִקָּטֹ֣ן וְעַד־גָּד֑וֹל וַיִּקְרָ֣א בְאָזְנֵיהֶ֗ם אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵי֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית הַנִּמְצָ֖א בְּבֵ֥ית יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• went upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• into the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: templeH1004
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and all the menאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• of Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• and all the inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• of Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• with him, and the priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• and the prophetsנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
• and all the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• both smallקָטֹןqâţân qâţôn · smallH6996
• and greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
• and he readקָרָאqârâ' · to call: read outH7121
• in their earsאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · ear: hearingH241
• all the wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
• of the bookסֵ֫פֶרsêpher siphrâh · scroll: bookH5612
• of the covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
• which was foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672

Cross-references for 2 Kings 23:2

• Genesis 19:11And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
• 1 Samuel 5:9So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.
• 1 Samuel 30:2and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.
• 2 Chronicles 15:13and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
• Esther 1:5And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.
• Job 3:19The small and great are there, And the servant is free from his master.
• Psalms 115:13He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great.
• Acts 26:22Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—
• Revelation 20:12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
• Deuteronomy 31:10And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles,
• 2 Chronicles 17:9So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
• Nehemiah 8:1Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel.
• Nehemiah 9:3And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one–fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
• Nehemiah 13:1On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God,
• 2 Kings 22:8Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
• Deuteronomy 31:26“Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;

Commentaries on 2 Kings 23:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The king went up into the house of the Lord - Here is another very singular circumstance. The high priest, scribes, priest, and prophets, are gathered together, with all the elders of the people, and the king himself reads the book of the covenant which had been lately found! It is strange that either the high priest, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, or some other of the prophets, who were certainly there present, did not read the sacred book! It is likely that the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The prophets - The suggestion to regard this word an error of the pen for “Levites,” which occurs in Chronicles (marginal reference), is unnecessary. For though Zephaniah, Urijah, and Jeremiah are all that we can name as belonging to the order at the time, there is no reason to doubt that Judaea contained others whom we cannot name. “Schools of the prophets” were as common in Judah as in Israel. He read - The present passage is strong evidence that the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2Following the instructions in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 31:10–13) and the example of Joshua (Joshua 8:34–35), Josiah called all the people to listen to the reading of the entire Book of the Covenant.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-32Ki 23:1-3. Josiah Causes the Law to Be Read. 1-3. the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders--This pious and patriotic king, not content with the promise of his own security, felt, after Huldah's response, an increased desire to avert the threatened calamities from his kingdom and people. Knowing the richness of the divine clemency and grace to the penitent, he convened the elders of the people, and placing himself at their head…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 23:2

• Church
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Prophecy
• Word of God
• Worship

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• Judah
• Jeremiah
• Josiah
• Kings, The Books of
• Pentateuch
• Bible, the
• Chemosh
• God
• High Place

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