2 Kings 23 is the twenty-third
chapter of the second part of the
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
or the Second Book of Kings in the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
of the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of
Josiah
Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...
,
Jehoahaz and
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...
,
kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David ...
.
Text
This chapter was originally written in the
Hebrew language
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
.
It is divided into 37 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
are of the
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
tradition, which includes the
Codex Cairensis
The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...
(895),
Aleppo Codex
The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...
(10th century), and
Codex Leningradensis
The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...
(1008).
There is also a translation into
Koine Greek
Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
known as the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include
Codex Vaticanus
The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...
(B;
B; 4th century) and
Codex Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...
(A;
A; 5th century). The extant
palimpsest
In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid skin an ...
Aq contains verses 11–27 in Koine Greek translated by
Aquila of Sinope
Aquila (Hebrew: עֲקִילַס ''ʿăqīlas'', fl. 130 AD) of Sinope (modern-day Sinop, Turkey; la, Aquila Ponticus) was a translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, a proselyte, and disciple of Rabbi Akiva.
Relationship to Onkelos
Opinions d ...
approximately in the early or mid-second century CE.
Old Testament references
*:
[2 Kings 23, Berean Study Bible]
*: ;
[
*: ][
*: ][
*: ][
*: ][
]
Analysis
A parallel pattern of sequence is observed in the final sections of 2 Kings between 2 Kings 11-20 and 2 Kings 21–25, as follows:
:A. Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, kills royal seed ( 2 Kings 11:1)
::B. Joash reigns ( 2 Kings 11– 12)
:::C. Quick sequence of kings of Israel and Judah ( 2 Kings 13– 16)
::::D. Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17
2 Kings 17 is the seventeenth Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. The book is a compilation ...
)
:::::E. Revival of Judah under Hezekiah ( 2 Kings 18– 20)
:A'. Manasseh, a king like Ahab, promotes idolatry and kills the innocence (2 Kings 21
2 Kings 21 is the twenty-first Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. The book is a compilatio ...
)
::B'. Josiah reigns ( 2 Kings 22–23)
:::C'. Quick succession of kings of Judah (2 Kings 24
2 Kings 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of t ...
)
::::D'. Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25
2 Kings 25 is the twenty-fifth (and the final) chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording t ...
)
:::::E'. Elevation of Jehoiachin ( 2 Kings 25:27–30)
2 Kings 22–23:30 mainly contains the story of Josiah's actions of his eighteenth year (22:3; 23:23) and the discovery of the book of the law (22:8-10; 23:24) as grouped based on five royal initiatives (using distinct verbs "send" and "command"):
# Discovery of the book (22:3-11; "sent," 22:3)
# Inquiry about the book (22:12-20; "commanded," 22:12)
# Covenant and the book (23:1-3; "sent," 23:1)
# Reforms from the book (23:4-20; "commanded," 23:4)
# Passover from the book (23:21-24; "commanded," 23:21)
2 Kings 23– 24 contain a 'neat scheme' within the chaos at the end of the kingdom of Judah:
Most of 2 Kings 23 particularly focuses on Josiah's response to the Book of Law, being grammatically the subject of all the verbs used throughout verses 1–30. 2 Kings 23:4-20 records twelve actions by Josiah, which in numerological view is signified by his 'twelvefold purging' of idolatry, reformation of all twelve tribes of Israel and the renewal of the kingdom from Bethel to Beersheba. He is the ''eighth king'' commended for "doing right" in the eyes of God, who began his reign in his ''eighth'' year of age (2 Kings 22:1) and the only king who actually heard and read the book of Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
. However, Josiah could not prevent the destruction of Judah, as the promise and threat of Torah would be seen as fulfilled in the whole book of Kings. By the end of 2 Kings, everything established during the golden age of Solomon, promised to David, became unraveled: Under Solomon, Egypt entered a marriage alliance with Judah, but after Josiah, Egypt conquered Judah (23:31-37), and whereas Solomon received tribute, his descendants paid it to other nations.
Josiah's implementation of religious reforms (23:1–24)
This section records the religious reform by Josiah that he had performed together with all the people in a covenant (verse 4). The actions cover three areas:
# The temple of Jerusalem was cleansed of idols and given the 'designated central role' (verses 4–7, 11–12).
# The cult sites in the Judean provinces were desecrated (verses 8– 10, 13–14) and those in the former northern kingdom were eradicated, especially the "altar of Bethel" established by Jeroboam (verses 12–20). The destruction of the altar in Bethel (verses 15–18) had clear references to 1 Kings 13
# The communal passover feast was celebrated according to the covenant (verses 21–23, cf. Deuteronomy 16:5–6).
Verse 10
:''And he defiled Topheth, which ''is'' in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.''
*"Tophet
In the Hebrew Bible, Tophet or Topheth ( hbo, תֹּפֶת, Tōp̄eṯ; grc-gre, Ταφέθ, taphéth; la, Topheth) is a location in Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), where worshipers engaged in a ritual involving "passing a child thro ...
h": Rabbi David Kimhi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise
David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comm ...
's commentary on Psalm 27
Psalm 27 is the 27th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?". The Book of Psalms is part of the Ketuvim, third section of the Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, ...
links the "burning rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
" to the idea of a "fiery Gehenna
The Valley of Hinnom ( he, , lit=Valley of the son of Hinnom, translit=Gēʾ ḇen-Hīnnōm) is a historic valley surrounding Ancient Jerusalem, Ancient Jerusalem from the west and southwest. The valley is also known by the name Gehinnom ( ...
of judgment" as 'this loathsome valley fires were kept burning perpetually to consume the filth and cadaver
A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...
s thrown into it'.
Verse 11
:''And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.''
*"Nathan-melech the chamberlain": An inscription "(belonging) to Nathan-melech, servant of the king" was found on a clay seal (''bulla
Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Bulla (dermatology), a bulla
* Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung
* Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear
* Ethmoid bulla, pa ...
'') impression measuring just over in diameter, discovered during the excavation in the City of David "City of David" is a biblical and religious epithet for the ancient city of Jerusalem.
It may also refer to:
* City of David (archaeological site) - an archaeological excavation associated with ancient Jerusalem
* Jerusalem Walls National Park
...
area of Jerusalem through a destruction layer of a public building constructed in the eighth century BCE and destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. The wording on the seal was deciphered by Dr. Anat Mendel-Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem. Dr. Yiftah Shalev, co-director of that Jerusalem excavation noticed that the rarity of name, together with a title equals to "the chamberlain" (NKJV
The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...
: "the officer who was in the court") mentioned in 2 Kings 23:11, epigraphically (based on the shape of the letters) dated to the second half of the seventh century/early sixth century, and linked to a structure also dated to the same period, which is exactly the time the biblical Nathan-Melech was active in Jerusalem, make it very likely to belong to the same person.
Josiah's death (23:25–30)
In death, there is a parallel between Josiah and Ahab as both were killed during battles with foreign powers, and both were brought from the battlefield to the capital city to be buried
( 1 Kings 22:34-37; 2 Kings 23:28-30). Both of them learned about the prophecy of doom on their dynasties that would happen not during their lifetimes, but during the reign of their sons ( 1 Kings 21:20-29; 2 Kings 22:15-20), with two sons of Ahab
Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, ...
(Ahaziah Ahaziah ( he, אֲחַזְיָהוּ, "held by Yah(-weh)"; Douay–Rheims: Ochozias) was the name of two kings mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:
*Ahaziah of Israel
*Ahaziah of Judah Ahaziah ( he, אֲחַזְיָהוּ, "held by Yah(-weh)"; Douay– ...
in 2 Kings 1
2 Kings 1 is the first chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings o ...
and Jehoram Jehoram (meaning " Jehovah is exalted" in Biblical Hebrew) was the name of several individuals in the Tanakh. The female version of this name is Athaliah.
*The son of Toi, King of Hamath who was sent by his father to congratulate David on the oc ...
in 2 Kings 3:1; 9:14-16) to reign over Israel, before the whole dynasty was eliminated by Jehu ( 2 Kings 9– 10), and two generations (three sons—Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah—and one grandson, Jehoiachin) succeeding Josiah to reign over Judah before the kingdom was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The huge difference is that Josiah receives the highest praise from the editors of the book of Kings for his religious reforms (verse 25), which was also confirmed by Jeremiah, who describes him as a popular king who was 'modest and socially just' (Jeremiah 22
Jeremiah 22 is the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets.
Text
T ...
:15–16).
Verse 25
:''And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.''
*"And like unto him was there no king": similar words are said of Hezekiah
Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...
in 2 Kings 18:5, but the pre-eminence is not the same for the two kings: for Hezekiah is the "trust in God"; for Josiah is the "exact obedience to the Law".[Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)]
On "2 Kings 23".
In: ''The Pulpit Commentary
The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible created during the nineteenth century under the direction of Rev. Joseph S. Exell and Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones. It consists of 23 volumes with 22,000 pages and 95,000 entrie ...
''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
*"Neither after him arose there any like him": this is a moderate praise, because the four kings of Judah after Josiah — Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...
, Jehoiachin
Jeconiah ( he, יְכָנְיָה ''Yəḵonəyā'' , meaning " Yah has established"; el, Ιεχονιας; la, Iechonias, Jechonias), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin ( he, יְהוֹיָכִין ''Yəhōyāḵīn'' ; la, Ioachin, Joac ...
, and Zedekiah
Zedekiah (), was the 20th and last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu ( he, מַתַּנְיָהוּ, ''Mattanyāhū'', "Gift of God"; el, Μαθθ ...
— were all considered wicked.[
]
Jehoahaz ben Josiah king of Judah (23:31–35)
The regnal account of Jehoahaz consists of an introductory regnal part (verses 31–32) and his replacement with Jehoaikim by Pharaoh Necho (verses 33–35) without the typical concluding part. The ''waw''-consecutive syntactical sequence employed in the account of Necho's action (verses 33–34a) shifts to a 'conjunctive ''waw'' sequence in verses 34b–35 for the statements of Jehoahaz's death in Egypt and Jehoiakim's taxation to pay tribute to Necho.
After defeating Josiah at Megiddo in 609 BCE, Necho had no time to interfere Judah's affair because he had to quickly go to help his Assyrian allies in the last stand against Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
in Harran
Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...
. The battle with Josiah hindered Necho to arrive in time, so he could only attempt in vain for several months to bring back Assuruballit (his Assyrian ally) on the throne. Meanwhile, the anti-Egyptian people in Judah crowned Jehoahaz, a younger son of Josiah, only to be dethroned three months later by Necho, who also penalized the inhabitants with heavy taxation.
Necho placed as his puppet king Jehoahaz's older brother, Eliakim (Jehoiakim), who was earlier rejected by the people of Judah and whose mother's family was from the northern part of Israel (verse 36), so it could provide a base of support against the threat of Babylonia.
Verse 30
:''And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb.''
:''And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.''
*"From Megiddo Megiddo may refer to:
Places and sites in Israel
* Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley
* Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel
* Megiddo church (Israel)
* Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel
* Megiddo Junction, ...
": similar fate to Josiah
Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...
's ancestor, Ahaziah Ahaziah ( he, אֲחַזְיָהוּ, "held by Yah(-weh)"; Douay–Rheims: Ochozias) was the name of two kings mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:
*Ahaziah of Israel
*Ahaziah of Judah Ahaziah ( he, אֲחַזְיָהוּ, "held by Yah(-weh)"; Douay– ...
( 2 Kings 9:27–28). 2 Chronicles 35:20–24 provide more detailed account of Josiah's death.
Verse 31
:''Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.''
*Cross reference: 2 Chronicles 36:2
* Jehoahaz: could be a throne name since Jeremiah 22:11 and 1 Chronicles 3:15 wrote his name as "Shallum". Both William F. Albright
William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars."
...
and E. R. Thiele dated his reign to 609 BCE, making his birth in 633/632 BCE. The Babylonian Chronicle dates the battle in Harran with Assyrians and Egypt from Tammuz (July–August) to Elul (August–September) of 609 BCE, which would place the death of Josiah and the start of Jehoahaz reign in month of Tammuz 609 BCE or the month prior, when Egyptian army was still on the way to Harran.
* Libnah
Libnah or Lobana ( he, לִבְנָה, ''whiteness''; la, Lobana) was an independent city, probably near the western seaboard of Israel, with its own king at the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan.Gina Hens-Piazza Abingdon Old Testament Comm ...
: in Shephelah
The Shephelah or Shfela, lit. "lowlands" ( hbo, הַשְּפֵלָה ''hašŠǝfēlā'', also Modern Hebrew: , ''Šǝfēlat Yəhūda'', the "Judaean foothills"), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel str ...
. Taking Hamutal as his wife may indicate Josiah's effort to strengthen this southwestern border area of Judah to resist Egypt.
Verse 33
:''Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.''
* "Riblah
The ancient town of Riblah, today a Tell (archaeology), tell covered by a cemetery not far from the town of Rablah, Ribleh on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon, was in Hebrew Bible, biblical times located on the northern frontier of the la ...
": in the Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...
, Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, about south of Kadesh
Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kadeš and Qades come from the common Semitic root "Q-D-Š", which means "sacred."
Kadesh and variations may refer to:
Ancient/biblical places
* Kadesh (Syria) or Qadesh, an ancient city of the Levant, on ...
on the Orontes River
The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Asi ( ar, العاصي, , ; tr, Asi) is a river with a length of in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Turkey.
...
, is a strategically important location to resist Babylonian's threat from the north and to exert power to the south. Nebuchadnezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-kudurri-uṣur'', meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"; Biblical Hebrew: ''Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar''), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling ...
also made Riblah his headquarter during the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE ( Jeremiah 39:5).
* "Talent": a weight measure of about .
Verse 34
:''And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there.''
*Cross reference: 2 Chronicles 36:4
*"Changed his name": Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
Neco (also spelled "Necho" or "Nechoh" in different Bible versions) demanded the change of name as a mark of subjection (cf. Genesis 41:45; Ezra 5:14; Daniel 1:7; also 2 Kings 24:17), but apparently left the choice of the name to the person, so the change could be as small as possible, in this case to substitute the initial element "El" (God) in "El-iakim" with "Jeho" (Hebrew: "''Yahu''" for YHWH
The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', ''waw'', and '' ...
) in "Jeho-iakim".Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologian ...
2 Kings 23
Accessed 28 April 2019.[
]
Jehoiakim ben Josiah king of Judah (23:36–37)
This part contains the introductory regnal formula on the account of Jehoiakim's reign as king of Judah. The regnal account continues to the main part in and the concluding regnal formula in .
Verse 36
:''Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.''
* "Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...
": the throne name of Eliakim, the son of Josiah, the older brother of Jehoahaz.[Nelson, Thomas. NIV, Chronological Study Bible, EBook: Holy Bible, New International Version. Brazil: Thomas Nelson, 2014, p. 713]
* "Rumah" is believed to be in Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
region in the northern part of Israel, where the family of Zebudah (as should be read (''qere''); literally written (''ketiv'') as 'Zebidah') might help Josiah securing control on the area and Necho would take advantage of this to provide support against Babylonian threat from the north.
Illustration
File:Second Book of Kings Chapter 23-2 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media).jpg, Josiah commanded the priests to remove idols from the temple of the Lord
File:Second Book of Kings Chapter 23-3 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media).jpg, People broke in pieces the altars of idols
File:Second Book of Kings Chapter 23-4 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media).jpg, All workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards were cast away from the land of Judah
File:Second Book of Kings Chapter 23-5 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media).jpg, The altar and high place in Bethel were torn down
File:Second Book of Kings Chapter 23-7 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media).jpg, Josiah turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses
See also
* Related Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
parts: 1 Kings 11, 2 Kings 24
2 Kings 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of t ...
, 2 Chronicles 34, 2 Chronicles 35, 2 Chronicles 36
2 Chronicles 36 is the thirty-sixth (and the final) chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or of the second part of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. The book is compiled from older sources b ...
, Isaiah 30
Isaiah 30 is the thirtieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. The Jerusal ...
, Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 7 to 1 ...
, Jeremiah 19, Jeremiah 22
Jeremiah 22 is the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets.
Text
T ...
, Ezekiel 19
Ezekiel 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet/priest Ezekiel, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This ...
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
* Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
translations:
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Melachim II - II Kings - Chapter 23 (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org
*_Christian_
Christians_()_are_people_who_follow_or_adhere_to_Christianity,_a__monotheistic__Abrahamic_religion_based_on_the_life_and_teachings_of_Jesus_Christ._The_words_''Christ''_and_''Christian''_derive_from_the_Koine_Greek_title_''Christós''_(Χρι_...