2 Kings 23:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 23:12
And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
an altar · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
top
הַגָּג֩ha.Gag
H1406
a roof · definite article + noun, common masculine singular construct
chamber
עֲלִיַּ֨ת'a.li.Yat
H5944
something lofty · noun, common feminine singular construct
Ahaz
אָחָ֜ז'a.Chaz
H271
Achaz · proper noun, a man's name
kings
מַלְכֵ֣יmal.Khei
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֗הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
made
עָשׂ֣וּ
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Kings 21:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
Jeremiah 19:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon w…
Zephaniah 1:5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
2 Chronicles 33:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 22:8 When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall…
2 Kings 21:21-22 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the…
2 Kings 23:6 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 st…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 23:4-24
We have here an account of such a reformation as we have not met with in all the history of the kings of Judah, such thorough riddance made of all the abominable things and such foundations laid of a glorious good work; and here I cannot but wonder at two things: - 1. That so many wicked things should have got in, and kept standing so long, as we find here removed. 2. That notwithstanding the removal of these wicked things, and the hopeful prospects here given of a happy settlement, yet within a few years Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, and even this did not save it; for the generality of the people, after all, hated to be reformed. The founder melteth in vain, and therefore reprobate silve…
the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz--Altars were reared on the flat roofs of houses, where the worshippers of "the host of heaven" burnt incense (Zep 1:5; Jer 19:13). Ahaz had reared altars for this purpose on the oleah, or upper chamber of his palace, and Manasseh on some portion of the roof of the temple. Josiah demolished both of these structures.
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 23:12
On the top of the upper chamber - Altars built on the flat roof of the house. Such altars were erected to the sun, moon, stars, etc.
John Gill on 2 Kings 23:12
And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made,.... Which were on the roof of the royal palace; the roofs of houses in Judah being flat, Deuteronomy 21:8 altars might be built upon them; so, in Arabia, altars were built on the tops of houses to offer incense thereon daily to the sun (p); as here by Manasseh and Amon very probably, which might be chosen because nearer the heavens; for which reason the Heathens made use of high places to worship in, see Jeremiah 19:13.
and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord; 2 Kings 21:5.
did the king beat down; ordered to be demolished:
and brake them down from…
Dictionary and topics
Ahaz — Possessor. (1.) A grandson of Jonathan (1 Chr. 8:35; 9:42). (2.) The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah (2 Kings 16; Isa. 7-9; 2 Chr. 28). He gave himself up to a life of wickedness and…
Altar — (Heb. mizbe’ah, from a word meaning “to slay”), any structure of earth (Ex. 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places…
Court — The enclosure of the tabernacle (Ex. 27:9-19; 40:8), of the temple (1 Kings 6:36), of a prison (Neh. 3:25), of a private house (2 Sam. 17:18), and of a king’s palace (2 Kings 20:4).
Dwellings — The materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes also stones (Lev. 14:40, 42), which were held together by cement (Jer. 43:9) or bitumen (Gen. 11:3). The exterior was usually…
Esdraelon — The Greek form of the Hebrew “Jezreel,” the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., “the meadow of the son of Amer”) which stretches across Central Palestine from the…
House — Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were…
Idolatry — Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of…
Jeremiah — Raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1.) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness (1 Chr. 12:10). (2.) A Gadite warrior (1 Chr. 12:13). (3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr.…
Josiah — Healed by Jehovah, or Jehovah will support. The son of Amon, and his successor on the throne of Judah (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Chr. 34:1). His history is contained in 2 Kings 22, 23. He stands foremost among…
Pentateuch — The five-fold volume, consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament. This word does not occur in Scripture, nor is it certainly known when the roll was thus divided into five portions…
'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
altars
הַֽמִּזְבְּחוֹת֙ha.miz.be.chOt
H4196
an altar · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
Manasseh
מְנַשֶּׁ֔הme.na.Sheh
H4519
Menashsheh · proper noun, a man's name
made
עָשָׂ֣ה'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
two
בִּשְׁתֵּ֛יbish.Tei
H8147
two · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
courts
חַצְר֥וֹתchatz.Rot
H2691
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · noun, common both genders plural construct
house
בֵּיתbeit-
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
king
הַמֶּ֑לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
down
נָתַ֣ץna.Tatz
H5422
to tear down · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
down
וַיָּ֣רָץvai.Ya.rotz
H7323
to run (for whatever reason · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cast
וְהִשְׁלִ֥יךְve.hish.Likh
H7993
to throw out · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
dust
עֲפָרָ֖ם'a.fa.Ram
H6083
dust (as powdered or gray) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
brook
נַ֥חַלNa.chal
H5158
a stream · noun, common masculine singular construct
Instead of resting content with the fact that he was promised deliverance from the approaching judgment, Josiah did everything that was in his power to lead the whole nation to true conversion to the Lord, and thereby avert as far as possible the threatened curse of rejection, since the Lord in His word had promised forgiveness and mercy to the penitent. He therefore gathered together the elders of the nation, and went with them, with the priests and prophets and the assembled people, into the temple, and there had the book of the law read to those who were assembled, and concluded a covenant with the Lord, into which the people also entered. After this he had all the remnants of idolatry er…
upper room of Ahaz: Roof-top altars were used for astral worship (Jer 19:13; Zeph 1:5) and rituals associated with Baal (Jer 32:29).
Rashi on 2 Kings 23:12
He quickly removed them from there. And he eliminated them from there.13Alternatively, וירץ stems from רוץ [=to run], and the phrase means, “he quickly removed them,” or וירץ stems from רצץ [=to smash], and the phrase means, “and he smashed them,” i.e. after he demolished the altars he further smashed the pieces.—Radak
Temple — First used of the tabernacle, which is called “the temple of the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:9). In the New Testament the word is used figuratively of Christ’s human body (John 2:19, 21). Believers are called…
Altar · Used in idolatrous worship — Used in idolatrous worship
Altars · For idolatrous worship, often erected on roofs of houses — For idolatrous worship, often erected on roofs of houses
Cedron · .Josiah — .Josiah
House · .Altars on — .Altars on
Houses · The flat roofs of: Had often idolatrous altars on them — The flat roofs of: Had often idolatrous altars on them
Iconoclasm · .Josiah — .Josiah
Idolatry · Objects of, worshipped: On the tops of houses — Objects of, worshipped: On the tops of houses
Kidron · General references — General references
Temple, The First · Historical notices of: Purified by Josiah — Historical notices of: Purified by Josiah
Zeal · Should be exhibited: Against idolatry — Should be exhibited: Against idolatry
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
