2 Chronicles 34:4

2Ch 34:4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust [of them], and strowed [it] upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

Ver. 4. In his presence.] He would see it done; that so it might be thoroughly done.

He cut down … he brake in pieces, &c.] Notanda est congeries verborum, saith Lavater. Five or six several words are here used, to show how he mauled them, and made mortar of them, as we say; such was his holy indignation, zeal, and revenge.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which showeth that he would see the reformation with his own eyes.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them--He treated the graves themselves as guilty of the crimes of those who were lying in them [BERTHEAU].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. The altars of Baalim] How often have these been broken down, and how soon set up again! We see that the religion of a land is as the religion of its king. If the king were idolatrous, up went the altars, on them were placed the statues, and the smoke of incense ascended in ceaseless clouds to the honour of that which is vanity, and nothing to the world; on the other hand, when the king was truly religious, down went the idolatrous altars, broken in pieces were the images, and the sacrificial smoke ascended only to the true God: in all these cases the people were as one man with the king.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Of Baalim.—Of the Baals. 2Ki_23:4-5, “the Baal.”

In his presence.—Comp. 2Ki_23:16, from which it appears that Josiah personally superintended the work of demolition.

The images.—Sun statues (2Ch_14:4).

That were on high above them, he cut down.—Or, that were above, from off them he hewed.

The molten images.—Rather, the maççebuth, or sacred pillars. (See 2Ki_23:14.)

Made dust of them.—2Ki_23:6 (of an Asherah).

And showed . . . unto them.—Literally, and sprinkled upon the face of the graves that used to sacrifice unto them, as if the graves were guilty. 2Ki_23:6 relates this of the temple Asherah only.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. Baalim] R.V. the Baalim; cp. 2Ch_33:3 (note).

the images] R.V. the sun-images (so 2Ch_34:7 for “the idols”). See 2Ki_23:11.

he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images] R.V. he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars,.... On which they sacrificed, in detestation of their idolatry, and to deter from it; and this he did according to the prophecy of him, above three hundred and fifty years before:

and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem; from idolatry, and all the monuments of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The images - Margin, sun-images. See Lev 26:30 note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Idols. Heb. chammanim, (H.) "statues of the sun." The term often denotes those open enclosures, where sacred fire was kept in honour of the sun. C. --- Sept. "the heights above them." Syriac, "he destroyed the altars, idols, tigers, and temples, (5) the bracelets, little bells, and all the trees which had been consecrated to idols." Arabic, "the altars, idols, and leopards."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Note references in Lev_26:1, Lev_26:30. The images, that were on high above them; i.e., as Revised Version, the sun-images ( The word and name occur only eight times in Leviticus as just quoted; in our Second Book of Chronicles three times; in Isaiah twice; and in Ezekiel twice. The groves; i.e. the Asherim; again as last verse. The carved images; Revised Version, graven images; Hebrew, This word is found twenty-two times, occurring in Deuteronomy, Judges, Kings, Chronicles, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Micah. The molten images; Hebrew, twOkSeMh. This word also occurs just twenty-two times, from Exodus downwards. Made dust of them and strewed it. (so Exo_32:20 2Ki_23:6)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

in his presence

"in Josiah's presence"

he cut apart ... He broke ... He scattered ... He burned

Josiah would have commanded his workers to do these things. AT: "he had them cut apart ... He commanded them to break ... He had them scatter ... He commanded them to burn" (See: Metonymy)

dust

very small pieces that could be carried away by the wind

He burned the bones of their priests on their altars

This means that the bones of the priests who offered sacrifices on the altars to the false gods were burned on the altars that the priests had previously made sacrifices on.

he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem

This speaks of Josiah causing Judah and Jerusalem to be acceptable to Yahweh as if he made them physically clean. AT: "he caused Judah and Jerusalem to be acceptable again to Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

altar

Baal

incense

grave

sacrifice

priest

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and the sun images images of the sun.

that were above That they had placed above them, on high, opposite the sun, and they would prostrate themselves to it. Manasseh had done all this, as it is written above (33:3): “and he prostrated himself to the entire host of the heaven, and he worshipped them.”

and he cast them upon the graves Here was fulfilled what he said to Jeroboam, (I Kings 13:2): “so said the Lord, ‘Behold a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah will be his name, and upon you will he sacrifice, etc., and human bones, etc.’”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.