2 Kings 23

23:1-2 In the spirit of the instructions of Deuteronomy (Deut 31:10-13) and like Joshua before him (Josh 8:34-35), Josiah summoned . . . all the people to hear the reading of the entire Book of the Covenant.

23:3 The king . . . renewed the covenant: Covenant renewal was observed at several critical points in the history of God’s people (see 11:12, 17; Josh 24:1-27; 1 Kgs 8:1-53).

23:4 remove . . . all the articles: Josiah eliminated from the Temple detestable items associated with pagan worship. • terraces of the Kidron Valley: This area, near the Valley of Ben-Hinnom where the loathsome Molech rituals of child sacrifice had been carried out, became a place where ashes and dead bodies were taken (Jer 26:23). • Taking the ashes away to Bethel, where Jeroboam had erected one of his cult altars (1 Kgs 12:28-29), would defile the site forever.

23:5-7 Josiah stopped the idolatrous priests from officiating over pagan rituals. He also demolished the living quarters of the cult prostitutes. Manasseh and Amon apparently had allowed the prostitution carried over from Canaanite practices (see 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:46) to be practiced within the Temple itself.

23:8-9 The gate of Joshua is otherwise unknown; it might have been used by the city governor, a title known to refer to a city official in Samaria (1 Kgs 22:26; 2 Chr 18:25) and to Maaseiah in Jerusalem (2 Chr 34:8).

23:10 Topheth was a precinct in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, which lay southwest of the city of David and led into the Kidron Valley. The detestable rite of child sacrifice had occurred there. • Molech has been identified with a number of deities (see 1 Kgs 11:5, 7, 33) and with the name of a sacrifice offered to Baal (Jer 7:31-32; 19:5-6; 32:35).

23:11 The horse was used in sun worship in the ancient Near East. The Assyrian sun-god Shamash and other deities were depicted riding across the sky in horse-drawn chariots. Archaeological evidence suggests that a solar cult existed in Israel as early as the 800s BC. The cult’s popularity likely increased during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, when it was sponsored by the crown (21:3-5, 21-22). Despite Josiah’s reforms, shortly after his death Ezekiel denounced the sun worshipers again for performing their rituals within the inner court of the Temple (Ezek 8:16). • the eunuch, an officer of the court: The term translated eunuch can refer not only to those who were physically eunuchs but also to high officials.

23:12 upper room of Ahaz: Roof-top altars were used for astral worship (Jer 19:13; Zeph 1:5) and rituals associated with Baal (Jer 32:29).

23:13 Solomon had erected the pagan shrines because of his many foreign wives (1 Kgs 11:5, 7, 33).

23:15-17 Jeroboam had built the altar at Bethel to encourage Israelites to worship at centers closer to home rather than going to Jerusalem (1 Kgs 12:26-31). Josiah’s desecration of the site followed the stipulations of the law (Deut 7:5; 12:3) and fulfilled the earlier prophecy of the man of God who had denounced the altar (1 Kgs 13:1-3).

23:19-20 pagan shrines . . . of Samaria: Josiah’s religious purge extended throughout the former northern kingdom (see also 2 Chr 34:6-7). Josiah’s freedom to carry out such reforms testifies to his strength and Assyria’s growing weakness (see study note on 2 Kgs 23:29).

23:21-23 Hezekiah had observed the Passover with modifications (2 Chr 30:1-4, 13, 23-27). Josiah’s Passover was done in accordance with the strict standards of the law (2 Chr 35:1-19). • The eighteenth year was the same year in which the Book of the Law was found (2 Kgs 22:3, 8).

23:24-25 Josiah’s commitment to the law brought reforms throughout Jerusalem and Judah. His attempts to eradicate every other kind of detestable practice and his strict observance of the Passover made Josiah greatest among the kings in obeying all the laws of Moses.

23:26-27 I will also banish Judah: Despite Josiah’s strong reforms, Manasseh’s wickedness had become so deeply entrenched among the people that not even Josiah could change their apostate hearts, and the penalties for violation of God’s covenant would be applied (Deut 28:15-68).

23:28-30 The closing details of Josiah’s reign include a historical notice of his death at the hands of Pharaoh Neco (see also 2 Chr 35:20-25).

23:29 In 609 BC, Pharaoh Neco was en route to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria in fighting the Babylonians at Haran, when Josiah met him at Megiddo. After the death of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in 626 BC, Assyrian cities began falling to Nabopolassar (626–605 BC), king of the rising neo-Babylonian power. Nabopolassar captured Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, in 612 BC. The Assyrian forces fled to Haran, where the Babylonians defeated them in 609 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon (605–562 BC) later defeated the remaining Assyrians at Carchemish in 605 BC, the same year in which he first invaded Judah (see 24:1).

23:30 The Chronicler reports on the great honor that Josiah received in death (2 Chr 35:24-25).

23:31-34 Jehoahaz was named Shallum at birth (see study note on 1 Chr 3:15); his throne name Jehoahaz has been discovered among seals from the 600s BC. He was twenty-three years old, but his brother Jehoiakim was twenty-five (2 Kgs 23:36). There is no indication as to why the younger brother was made king. • The three months of Jehoahaz’s reign (in 609 BC) might coincide with the period in which Pharaoh Neco was attempting to aid the Assyrians (23:29).

23:32 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight: The entrenched wickedness and apostasy of the times surfaced even in Josiah’s own sons (23:32, 37; 24:9, 19). The Lord’s intention to judge Judah (23:26-27) was justified and would soon be fulfilled.

23:33 Riblah was a fortified administrative center in Aramean territory about sixty miles northeast of Damascus.

23:34 Eliakim . . . Jehoiakim: Neco continued the Assyrian practice of requiring an oath of loyalty and assigning a new name to the local head of state.

23:36 Jehoiakim, Jehoahaz’s older brother (cp. 23:31), reigned eleven years (609–598 BC).

23:37 did what was evil: The record in the book of Jeremiah characterizes Jehoiakim as a total apostate (see Jer 22:13-23; 25:1-14; 26:20-23; 36:1-32).