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2 Kings 23:17

in 2 Kings 23

Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.

KJV

Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth–el.

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This verse in 2 Kings 23

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

What title is that - There was either a stone, an image, or an inscription here: the old prophet no doubt took care to have the place made sufficiently remarkable.

This site's exposition

What title is that that I see

on 2 Kings 23:17-18

Josiah asks about a marker among the tombs, and the men of the city answer that it belongs to the man of God who cried against the altar; Josiah orders his bones left undisturbed. That mercy answers the old prophet's own request at 1 Ki 13:31, to be buried beside the man he had deceived so that his bones would share whatever protection came to the grave one day. The man of God's grave is spared for the sake of the word he carried, and the old prophet's bones are spared only because they lie beside his.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

”What is this marker?” He saw a grave, one side of which was overgrown with thorns and thistles, and whose other side was graced with myrtles and spices.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Kings 23:17:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

27 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • מָ֚הwhat?

    mahH4100 →752 times

  • הַצִּיּ֣וּן[is] the monument

    hatziyunH6725 →

  • הַלָּ֔זthis

    halazH1975 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אֲנִ֣יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • רֹאֶ֑ה[am] seeing

    roehH7200 →1300 times

  • וַיֹּאמְר֨וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלָ֜יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] people of

    ʾansheiH582 →566 times

  • הָעִ֗ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • הַקֶּ֤בֶרthe grave of

    hakeverH6913 →67 times

  • אִישׁ־[the] man of

    ʾish-H376 →1663 times

  • הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙<the> God

    haelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • בָּ֣אhe came

    ba'H935 →2568 times

  • מִֽיהוּדָ֔הfrom Judah

    mihudahH3063 →819 times

  • וַיִּקְרָ֗אand he proclaimed

    vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַדְּבָרִ֤יםthe things

    hadevarimH1697 →1440 times

  • הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשִׂ֔יתָyou have done

    ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times

  • עַ֖לon

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • הַמִּזְבַּ֥חthe altar of

    hamizbachH4196 →401 times

  • בֵּֽית־Beth-

    beit-H1008 →142 times

  • אֵֽל׃-el

    ʾelH1008 →142 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each 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 Kings 13:1

    Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 12:32–33

      And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to…

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:15

      By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.

    • Jeremiah 25:3

      “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again,…

    • Jeremiah 32:29

      And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to…

    • 1 Kings 12:22

      But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:

Where this verse is studied

No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.

Also on 2 Kings 23: 3 studies that walk through this chapter ▾

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 23 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.

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