2 Kings 23:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 23:5
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.
to repose · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
priests
הַכְּמָרִ֗יםha.ke.ma.Rim
H3649
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
kings
מַלְכֵ֣יmal.Khei
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֔הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
ordained
נָֽתְנוּ֙na.te.Nu
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
incense
וַיְקַטֵּ֤רvay.ka.Ter
H6999
to smoke · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
places
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
Jeremiah 44:17-19 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink…
2 Kings 21:3-4 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ah…
Jeremiah 8:1-2 At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the pries…
Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereo…
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…
put down the idolatrous priests--Hebrew, chemarim, "scorched," that is, Guebres, or fire-worshippers, distinguished by a girdle (Eze 23:14-17) or belt of wool and camel's hair, twisted round the body twice and tied with four knots, which had a symbolic meaning, and made it a supposed defense against evil.
them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, &c.--or Baal-shemesh, for Baal was sometimes considered the sun. 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."
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 23:5
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. Why we should imitate, in our sacerdotal dress, those priests of Baal, is strange to think and hard to tell.
Unto Baal, to the sun -…
Chemarim — Black, (Zeph. 1:4; rendered “idolatrous priests” in 2 Kings 23:5, and “priests” in Hos. 10:5). Some derive this word from the Assyrian Kamaru, meaning “to throw down,” and interpret it as describing…
Chemarim, The — (those who go about in black, i.e. ascetics). In the Hebrew applied to the priests of the worship of false gods. (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5) in margin; (Zephaniah 1:4)
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…
Hilkiah — Portion of Jehovah. (1.) 1 Chr. 6:54. (2.) 1 Chr. 26:11. (3.) The father of Eliakim (2 Kings 18:18, 26, 37). (4.) The father of Gemariah (Jer. 29:3). (5.) The father of the prophet Jeremiah (1:1).…
Host of heaven — The sun, moon, and stars are so designated (Gen. 2:1). When the Jews fell into idolatry they worshipped these (Deut. 4:19; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:5; Jer. 19:13; Zeph. 1:5; Acts 7:42).
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…
Mazzaroth — Prognostications, found only Job 38:32, probably meaning “the twelve signs” (of the zodiac), as in the margin (comp. 2 Kings 23:5).
Molech — (king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian…
בַּבָּמוֹת֙ba.ba.mOt
H1116
an elevation · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
cities
בְּעָרֵ֣יbe.'a.Rei
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֔הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
about
וּמְסִבֵּ֖יu.me.si.Bei
H4524
a divan (as enclosing the room) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
incense
הַֽמְקַטְּרִ֣יםham.ka.te.Rim
H6999
to smoke · definite article + verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
Baal
לַבַּ֗עַלla.Ba.'al
H1168
Baal · preposition with the article + noun, masculine singular absolute
sun
לַשֶּׁ֤מֶשׁla.She.mesh
H8121
the sun · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
moon
וְלַיָּרֵ֙חַ֙ve.lai.ya.Re.ach
H3394
the moon · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
planets
וְלַמַּזָּל֔וֹתve.lam.ma.za.Lot
H4208
a constellation · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
host
צְבָ֥אtze.Va'
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common masculine singular construct
heaven
הַשָּׁמָֽיִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
John Gill on 2 Kings 23:5
And he put down the idolatrous priests,.... The Cemarim, so called, because they wore black clothes, as Kimchi and others, whereas the priests of the Lord were clothed in white linen; see Gill on Zephaniah 1:4.
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; for though those high places were destroyed by Hezekiah, they were rebuilt by Manasseh his son, and priests put in them to officiate there, whom Josiah now deposed, 2 Kings 21:3,
them also that burnt incense unto Baal; in the same high places; these were the priests, and the others in the preceding clause are thought to be ministers unto them:
to…
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…
Josiah stopped the idolatrous priests from officiating over pagan rituals. He also demolished the living quarters of the cult prostitutes. Manasseh and Amon apparently had allowed the prostitution carried over from Canaanite practices (see 1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:46) to be practiced within the Temple itself.
Rashi on 2 Kings 23:5
And who had burned incense on the high places. And those who burned incense on the high places in the cities of Yehudah.
Moon — Heb. yareah, from its paleness (Ezra 6:15), and lebanah, the “white” (Cant. 6:10; Isa. 24:23), was appointed by the Creator to be with the sun “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”…
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…
Baal · . — .
Iconoclasm · .Josiah — .Josiah
Idolatry · Zeal against — Exemplified: Josiah — Zeal against — Exemplified: Josiah
Moon · Worshiped — Worshiped
Moon, The · Worshipping of: Jews often guilty of — Worshipping of: Jews often guilty of
Stars · Worshiped — Worshiped
Stars, The · When grouped together called constellations — When grouped together called constellations
Sun, The · The Jews: Worshipped — The Jews: Worshipped
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).
