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2 Kings 23:5

in 2 Kings 23

Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

KJV

And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

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This verse in 2 Kings 23

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The idolatrous priests - הכמרים hakkemarim. Who these were is not well known. The Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, call them the priests simply, which the kings of Judah had ordained. Probably they were an order made by the idolatrous kings of Judah, and called kemarim, from כמר camar, which signifies to be scorched, shriveled together, made dark, or black, because their business was constantly to attend sacrificial fires, and probably they were black garments; hence the Jews in derision call Christian ministers kemarim, because of their black clothes and garments.

This site's exposition

vessels that were made for Baal

on 2 Kings 23:4-6

Hilkiah and the priests of the second order carry out every vessel made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for the host of heaven, and Josiah burns them in the fields of Kidron and carries the ashes to Bethel, the very place the reform will end at verse 15. The Asherah itself is cut down from the temple, burned at Kidron, ground to powder, and the powder scattered on the graves of the common people, an act meant to make the idol as unclean as a corpse. The idolatrous priests earlier kings had ordained are put down together with the vessels they served.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), chemarim, black men, or that wore black. Those that sacrificed to Osiris, or that wept for Tammuz ( Ezek. viii. 14 ), or that worshipped the infernal deities, put on black garments as mourners.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And he put down the idolatrous priests,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

This form of false worship was not by images, but pure star-worship, borrowed from the old Assyrians. and--rather, "even to all the host of heaven."

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וְהִשְׁבִּ֣יתand he removed

    vehishbitH7673 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַכְּמָרִ֗יםthe pagan priests

    hakemarimH3649 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • נָֽתְנוּ֙they had appointed

    natenuH5414 →2011 times

  • מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of

    malkheiH4428 →2525 times

  • יְהוּדָ֔הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • וַיְקַטֵּ֤רand he made smoke

    vaykaterH6999 →116 times

  • בַּבָּמוֹת֙at the high places

    babamotH1116 →102 times

  • בְּעָרֵ֣יin [the] cities of

    beareiH5892 →1090 times

  • יְהוּדָ֔הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • וּמְסִבֵּ֖יand [the] surroundings of

    umesibeiH4524 →

  • יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םJerusalem

    yerushalimH3389 →643 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הַֽמְקַטְּרִ֣יםthe [ones who] made smoke

    hamkaterimH6999 →116 times

  • לַבַּ֗עַלto <the> Baal

    labaalH1168 →82 times

  • לַשֶּׁ֤מֶשׁto the sun

    lashemeshH8121 →134 times

  • וְלַיָּרֵ֙חַ֙and to the moon

    velaiyareachH3394 →

  • וְלַמַּזָּל֔וֹתand to the constellations

    velammazalotH4208 →

  • וּלְכֹ֖לand to all

    ulekholH3605 →5413 times

  • צְבָ֥א[the] host of

    tzeva'H6635 →485 times

  • הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃the heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

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

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Hosea 10:5The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn with its idolatrous priests— those who rejoiced in its glory— for it has been taken from them into exile.6 worksJeremiah 8:2They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.5 worksJeremiah 44:17–19Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.4 works2 Kings 21:3–4For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.3 worksEzekiel 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.3 worksJob 31:26if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,3 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 8:1–2“At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.2 works2 Kings 23:11And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.2 worksJob 38:32Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear and her cubs?2 works

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

    Hosea 10:5

    The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn with its idolatrous priests— those who rejoiced in its glory— for it has been taken from them into…

    it leads to

    • Hosea 9:11

      Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

    • Hosea 5:8

      Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!

    • Hosea 4:15

      Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

    • Hosea 8:5–6

      He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

    • 1 Samuel 4:21–22

      And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 23 →

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.

Read on in 2 Kings 23 →