2 Kings 23:6
in 2 Kings 23He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the common people.
KJV
And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
⋯
This verse in 2 Kings 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHe brought out the grove - He brought out the idol Asherah. See at the end of 2Ki 21:26 (note). Upon the graves of the children of the people - I believe this; means the burial-place of the common people.
This site's exposition
all the articles made for Baal
on 2 Kings 23:4-6
Hilkiah and the "priests second in rank" remove "all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven". The Asherah pole is burned, ground, and thrown "on the graves of the common people", to make the idol as unclean as a corpse.
This site's exposition
the graves of the common people
The parallel at 2 Chronicles 34:4 scatters the dust over the graves of those who had sacrificed, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point out. Adam Clarke reads the graves of the common people as the public burial ground in the Kidron Valley. Both accounts put the idol among the dead.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); some make it the image of Venus, the same with Ashtaroth. Just at the entering in of the house of the Lord was a stable for horses kept (would you think it?) for a religious use; they were holy horses, given to the sun (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord,....
He cast it into the graves (so the Chaldee), intimating that he would have all idolatry buried out of his sight, as a loathsome thing, and forgotten, as dead men are out of mind,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Josiah had it taken to Kidron, burnt the wood, ground the metal about it to powder, and strewed the ashes "on the graves of the children of the people." The poor were buried in a common on part of the valley of Kidron. But reference is here made to the graves "of those that had sacrificed" (2Ch 34:4).
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּצֵ֣א | vaiyotze' | and he brought out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֲשֵׁרָה֩ | haasherah | the Asherah pole | H842 → | 40 times |
| מִבֵּ֨ית | mibeit | from [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִח֤וּץ | michutz | from [the] outside | H2351 → | 164 times |
| לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ | lirushalim | of Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| נַ֣חַל | nachal | [the] wadi of | H5158 → | 141 times |
| קִדְר֔וֹן | kidron | Kidron | H6939 → | 11 times |
| וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ף | vaiyisrof | and he burned | H8313 → | 117 times |
| אֹתָ֛הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנַ֥חַל | benachal | in [the] wadi of | H5158 → | 141 times |
| קִדְר֖וֹן | kidron | Kidron | H6939 → | 11 times |
| וַיָּ֣דֶק | vaiyadek | and he crushed [it] | H1854 → | |
| לְעָפָ֑ר | leafar | to dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙ | vaiyashlekh | and he threw | H7993 → | 125 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲפָרָ֔הּ | ʾafarah | dust its | H6083 → | 110 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קֶ֖בֶר | kever | [the] burial site of | H6913 → | 67 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֹּצֵ֣אand he brought out
vaiyotze'H3318 →1067 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֲשֵׁרָה֩the Asherah pole
haasherahH842 →40 times
מִבֵּ֨יתfrom [the] house of
mibeitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִח֤וּץfrom [the] outside
michutzH2351 →164 times
לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙of Jerusalem
lirushalimH3389 →643 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
נַ֣חַל[the] wadi of
nachalH5158 →141 times
קִדְר֔וֹןKidron
kidronH6939 →11 times
וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ףand he burned
vaiyisrofH8313 →117 times
אֹתָ֛הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
בְּנַ֥חַלin [the] wadi of
benachalH5158 →141 times
קִדְר֖וֹןKidron
kidronH6939 →11 times
וַיָּ֣דֶקand he crushed [it]
vaiyadekH1854 →
לְעָפָ֑רto dust
leafarH6083 →110 times
וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙and he threw
vaiyashlekhH7993 →125 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲפָרָ֔הּdust its
ʾafarahH6083 →110 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
קֶ֖בֶר[the] burial site of
keverH6913 →67 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 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
Deuteronomy 9:21And 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…
it leads to
- Exodus 32:20
Then 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 32:20
Through
2 Kings 21:7Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 7:16
For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
- 2 Samuel 7:13
He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
- 1 Kings 8:29
May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays…
- 2 Chronicles 7:12
the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
- 1 Kings 9:3
And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart…
- 2 Chronicles 7:16
Through
1 Kings 16:33Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 13:6
Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.
- 1 Kings 21:25
(Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.
- 2 Kings 13:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this verse
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.