2 Chronicles 34:3
in 2 Chronicles 34In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.
KJV
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 34
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He began to purge Judah - Jeremiah’s first prophecies Jer. 2–3 appear to have been coincident with Josiah’s earlier efforts to uproot idolatry, and must have greatly strengthened his hands.
This site's exposition
while he was still young
on 2 Chronicles 34:3-4
Chronicles alone dates the turn. In the eighth year, “while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David,” sixteen years by John Wesley's reckoning. Kings tells the reform from the finding of the book in the eighteenth year and does not record this stage.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
With zeal immense, Josiah, Himself a prince, acted in such a way As no one before or after him had ever done!—Idols he Dethroned; destroyed unhallowed temples; burned With fire priests on their altars; all the bones Of false prophets were dug up; the altars …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Young - ln the sixteenth year of his age; when he was entering into the age of temptation, and had the administration of his kingdom wholly in his own power, and none to restrain him; even then he begins to be religious in good earnest.
This destruction of idolatry is here said to be in his twelfth year, but it was said ( 2 Kings xxiii. 23 ) to be in his eighteenth year. Something was probably done towards it in his twelfth year; then he began to purge out idolatry, but that good work met with opposition, so that it was not thoroughly done till they had found the book of the law six years afterwards.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young,....
That in the twelfth year of his reign, when it is probable he took the administration of the government entirely into his own hands, he began to purge his kingdom from the remains of idolatry; he destroyed the high places, groves, images, altars, all the utensils of idolatry,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But it is clearly recorded in both that the abolition of idolatry began in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. Notwithstanding Josiah's undoubted sincerity and zeal and the people's apparent compliance with the king's orders, he could not extinguish a strongly rooted attachment to idolatries introduced in the early part of Manasseh's reign.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבִשְׁמוֹנֶ֨ה | uvishmoneh | and in eight | H8083 → | 109 times |
| שָׁנִ֜ים | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| לְמָלְכ֗וֹ | lemalekho | of reigning his | H4427 → | 348 times |
| וְהוּא֙ | vehu' | and he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עוֹדֶ֣נּוּ | odenu | still he | H5750 → | 490 times |
| נַ֔עַר | naar | [was] a youth | H5288 → | |
| הֵחֵ֕ל | hechel | he began | H2490 → | 143 times |
| לִדְר֕וֹשׁ | lidroosh | to seek | H1875 → | 164 times |
| לֵאלֹהֵ֖י | lelohei | <to> [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| דָּוִ֣יד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אָבִ֑יו | ʾaviv | ancestor his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וּבִשְׁתֵּ֧ים | uvishteim | and in two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֣ה | ʾesreh | ten | H6240 → | 338 times |
| שָׁנָ֗ה | shanah | year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| הֵחֵל֙ | hechel | he began | H2490 → | 143 times |
| לְטַהֵ֔ר | letaher | to cleanse | H2891 → | 94 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוּדָה֙ | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | virushalim | and Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַבָּמוֹת֙ | habamot | the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| וְהָ֣אֲשֵׁרִ֔ים | vehaasherim | and the Asherah poles | H842 → | 40 times |
| וְהַפְּסִלִ֖ים | vehapesilim | and the idols | H6456 → | 23 times |
| וְהַמַּסֵּכֽוֹת׃ | vehammasekhot | and the molten images | H4541 → | 28 times |
וּבִשְׁמוֹנֶ֨הand in eight
uvishmonehH8083 →109 times
שָׁנִ֜יםyears
shanimH8141 →877 times
לְמָלְכ֗וֹof reigning his
lemalekhoH4427 →348 times
וְהוּא֙and he
vehu'H1931 →1879 times
עוֹדֶ֣נּוּstill he
odenuH5750 →490 times
נַ֔עַר[was] a youth
naarH5288 →
הֵחֵ֕לhe began
hechelH2490 →143 times
לִדְר֕וֹשׁto seek
lidrooshH1875 →164 times
לֵאלֹהֵ֖י<to> [the] God of
leloheiH430 →2601 times
דָּוִ֣ידDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אָבִ֑יוancestor his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וּבִשְׁתֵּ֧יםand in two [plus]
uvishteimH8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֣הten
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
שָׁנָ֗הyear
shanahH8141 →877 times
הֵחֵל֙he began
hechelH2490 →143 times
לְטַהֵ֔רto cleanse
letaherH2891 →94 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוּדָה֙Judah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םand Jerusalem
virushalimH3389 →643 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַבָּמוֹת֙the high places
habamotH1116 →102 times
וְהָ֣אֲשֵׁרִ֔יםand the Asherah poles
vehaasherimH842 →40 times
וְהַפְּסִלִ֖יםand the idols
vehapesilimH6456 →23 times
וְהַמַּסֵּכֽוֹת׃and the molten images
vehammasekhotH4541 →28 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Chronicles 28:9As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought.…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
- James 4:8–11
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Matthew 7:7–8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- Jeremiah 29:13
Through
Proverbs 8:17I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
it leads to
- John 14:23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- John 14:21
Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
- Psalms 91:14
“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
- John 14:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PersonUnited MonarchyDavidSecond king of united Israel, shepherd-turned-monarch, ancestor of the Messiah, and traditional author of many Psalms.
- PersonLate monarchyJosiahThe boy-king who found the book of the law in the temple, tore his clothes, and led Judah's last great reformation and Passover be…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Pseudo-Tertullian, FIVE BOOKS IN REPLY TO MARCION 3.184-191.