2 Chronicles 34:4
in 2 Chronicles 34Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they brake down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the sun-images that were on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
KJV
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
⋯
This verse in 2 Chronicles 34
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis 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.
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.
This site's exposition
scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, following Bertheau, read the scattering of dust as treating the graves as guilty with the idolaters buried in them. Moses did the like with the golden calf in Exodus 32:20, and 2 Kings 23:6 records the same act at the Kidron.
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 Awakening1 voice
And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them--He treated the graves themselves as guilty of the crimes of those who were lying in them [BERTHEAU].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The altars of Baalim - How often have these been broken down, and how soon set up again! We see that the religion of a land is as the religion of its king.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The images - Margin, sun-images. See Lev 26:30 note.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְנַתְּצ֣וּ | vaynatetzu | and people pulled down | H5422 → | 42 times |
| לְפָנָ֗יו | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִזְבְּח֣וֹת | mizbechot | [the] altars of | H4196 → | 401 times |
| הַבְּעָלִ֔ים | habealim | the Baals | H1168 → | 82 times |
| וְהַֽחַמָּנִ֛ים | vehachamanim | and the incense altars | H2553 → | 8 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְמַ֥עְלָה | lema'lah | [were] <to> upwards <towards> | H4605 → | 140 times |
| מֵעֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | mealeihem | <from> above <the> them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גִּדֵּ֑עַ | gidea' | he cut down | H1438 → | 22 times |
| וְ֠הָאֲשֵׁרִים | vehaasherim | and the Asherah poles | H842 → | 40 times |
| וְהַפְּסִלִ֤ים | vehapesilim | and the idols | H6456 → | 23 times |
| וְהַמַּסֵּכוֹת֙ | vehammasekhot | and the molten images | H4541 → | 28 times |
| שִׁבַּ֣ר | shibar | he broke in pieces | H7665 → | 147 times |
| וְהֵדַ֔ק | vehedak | and he pulverized [them] | H1854 → | 13 times |
| וַיִּזְרֹק֙ | vaiyizrok | and he sprinkled [them] | H2236 → | 35 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֣י | penei | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַקְּבָרִ֔ים | hakevarim | the graves | H6913 → | 67 times |
| הַזֹּבְחִ֖ים | hazoechim | who sacrificed | H2076 → | 134 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ | lahem | to them |
וַיְנַתְּצ֣וּand people pulled down
vaynatetzuH5422 →42 times
לְפָנָ֗יו<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
מִזְבְּח֣וֹת[the] altars of
mizbechotH4196 →401 times
הַבְּעָלִ֔יםthe Baals
habealimH1168 →82 times
וְהַֽחַמָּנִ֛יםand the incense altars
vehachamanimH2553 →8 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
לְמַ֥עְלָה[were] <to> upwards <towards>
lema'lahH4605 →140 times
מֵעֲלֵיהֶ֖ם<from> above <the> them
mealeihemH5921 →5755 times
גִּדֵּ֑עַhe cut down
gidea'H1438 →22 times
וְ֠הָאֲשֵׁרִיםand the Asherah poles
vehaasherimH842 →40 times
וְהַפְּסִלִ֤יםand the idols
vehapesilimH6456 →23 times
וְהַמַּסֵּכוֹת֙and the molten images
vehammasekhotH4541 →28 times
שִׁבַּ֣רhe broke in pieces
shibarH7665 →147 times
וְהֵדַ֔קand he pulverized [them]
vehedakH1854 →13 times
וַיִּזְרֹק֙and he sprinkled [them]
vaiyizrokH2236 →35 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֣י[the] surface of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַקְּבָרִ֔יםthe graves
hakevarimH6913 →67 times
הַזֹּבְחִ֖יםwho sacrificed
hazoechimH2076 →134 times
לָהֶֽם׃to them
lahem
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
Exodus 32:20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:21
And I took that sinful thing, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust, and I cast it…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 9:21
Through
Deuteronomy 7:5Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- Deuteronomy 12:2–3
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Exodus 23:24
Through
Leviticus 26:30I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:20
On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 23:20
Through
Psalms 18:42I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
it leads to
- Isaiah 10:6
I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the…
- 2 Kings 13:7
Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
- Isaiah 41:15–16
Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
- Isaiah 10:6
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.
