2 Kings 23:30
in 2 Kings 23From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
KJV
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
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This verse in 2 Kings 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Ambrose of MilanCONSOLATION ON THE DEATH OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN 57 · Written before 397.
Nobody must think that anything was detracted to the celerity of death because of one's merits. Enoch was kidnapped, lest malice might spoil his heart, and Josiah, who celebrated the Passover of the Lord in the eighteenth year of his reign in such a manner that he overcame in piousness all the previous kings, did not survive longer through the merits of his faith. No, rather, because grievous destruction threatened the Jewish people, the just king was taken away beforehand.
This site's exposition
book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah
on 2 Kings 23:28-30
The closing formula points to a fuller record, and the narrative turns at once to Pharaoh Necho's march toward the Euphrates to aid the failing Assyrian empire against Babylon. Josiah goes out to meet him and is slain at Megiddo, a death the text gives one clause, though 2 Chron 35:22-25 adds that Josiah went disguised into the battle and that Jeremiah lamented him. His servants carry his body home in a chariot, and the people crown Jehoahaz in his place, the reform's champion buried while his kingdom's fortunes turn.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Jehoahaz - Who was younger than Jehoiakim, yet preferred by the people before the elder brother; either because Jehoiakim refused the kingdom for fear of Pharaoh, whom he knew he should hereby provoke. Or because Jehoahaz was the more stout and warlike prince; whence he is called a lion, Ezek xix, 3.
Some understand the promise made to him that he should come to his grave in peace in a sense in which it was not performed because, by his miscarriage in this matter, he forfeited the benefit of it. God has promised to keep us in all our ways; but, if we go out of our way, we throw ourselves out of his protection.
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Dead from Megiddo - The word מת meth should here be considered as a participle, dying, for it is certain he was not dead: he was mortally wounded at Megiddo, was carried in a dying state to Jerusalem, and there he died and was buried. See 2Ch 35:24. Herodotus, lib. i., c. 17, 18, 25, and lib. ii. 159, appears to refer to the same war which is here mentioned. He says that Nechoh, in the sixth year of his reign, went to attack the king of Assyria at Magdolum, gained a complete victory, and took Cadytis.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Dead - It appears from a comparison of this passage with 2 Chronicles (marginal reference) that Josiah was not actually killed in the battle. Jehoahaz - Or Shallum (the marginal note). He may have taken the name of Jehoahaz (“the Lord possesses”) on his accession. He was not the eldest son of Josiah (see 2Ki 23:36 note). The mention of “anointing” here favors the view that there was some irregularity in the succession (see 1Ki 1:34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּרְכִּבֻ֨הוּ | vaiyarkivuhu | and they made ride him | H7392 → | 78 times |
| עֲבָדָ֥יו | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| מֵת֙ | met | dead | H4191 → | 839 times |
| מִמְּגִדּ֔וֹ | mimegido | from Megiddo | H4023 → | 12 times |
| וַיְבִאֻ֙הוּ֙ | vayviuhu | and they brought him | H935 → | 2568 times |
| יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וַֽיִּקְבְּרֻ֖הוּ | vaiyikberuhu | and they buried him | H6912 → | 133 times |
| בִּקְבֻֽרָת֑וֹ | bikvurato | in own grave his | H6900 → | 14 times |
| וַיִּקַּ֣ח | vaiyikach | and it took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאָ֗רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהֽוֹאָחָז֙ | yehoachaz | Jehoahaz | H3059 → | 20 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יֹ֣אשִׁיָּ֔הוּ | yoshiyahu | Josiah | H2977 → | 53 times |
| וַיִּמְשְׁח֥וּ | vaiyimshechu | and they anointed | H4886 → | 70 times |
| אֹת֛וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַיַּמְלִ֥יכוּ | vaiyamlikhu | and they made king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| אָבִֽיו׃ פ | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
וַיַּרְכִּבֻ֨הוּand they made ride him
vaiyarkivuhuH7392 →78 times
עֲבָדָ֥יוservants his
ʾavadavH5650 →799 times
מֵת֙dead
metH4191 →839 times
מִמְּגִדּ֔וֹfrom Megiddo
mimegidoH4023 →12 times
וַיְבִאֻ֙הוּ֙and they brought him
vayviuhuH935 →2568 times
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
וַֽיִּקְבְּרֻ֖הוּand they buried him
vaiyikberuhuH6912 →133 times
בִּקְבֻֽרָת֑וֹin own grave his
bikvuratoH6900 →14 times
וַיִּקַּ֣חand it took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
עַם־[the] people of
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
הָאָ֗רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהֽוֹאָחָז֙Jehoahaz
yehoachazH3059 →20 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יֹ֣אשִׁיָּ֔הוּJosiah
yoshiyahuH2977 →53 times
וַיִּמְשְׁח֥וּand they anointed
vaiyimshechuH4886 →70 times
אֹת֛וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וַיַּמְלִ֥יכוּand they made king
vaiyamlikhuH4427 →348 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
תַּ֥חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
אָבִֽיו׃ פfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 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
2 Kings 21:24But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 26:1
All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 14:5
As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.
- 2 Chronicles 26:1
Through
2 Chronicles 35:24So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. And Josiah was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and…
it leads to
- Zechariah 12:11
On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
- Zechariah 12:11
Through
2 Kings 9:28Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 35:24
So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. And Josiah was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and…
- 2 Chronicles 35:24
Through
2 Kings 14:21Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 3:12
Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
- Matthew 1:8–9
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.
- 2 Kings 21:24
But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
- 2 Kings 15:13
In the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah’s reign over Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king, and he reigned in Samaria one full month.
- 1 Chronicles 3:12
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- 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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, CONSOLATION ON THE DEATH OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN 57; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.