2 Kings 23:20

2Ki 23:20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that [were] there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

Ver. 20. And burnt men’s bones.] Hence Papists would prove the lawfulness of unburying dead heretics, as they call us, and burning their bones; as they dealt here by Grosthead, bishop of Lincoln, Paulus Phagius, Bucer’s wife, &c. But Josiah’s act is justified by the prophecy, whereby he was appointed so to do; and the Lord would have it so done, to show the abomination wherein he had idolaters, and for a demonstration of their damnation in hell.

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.

2Ki 23:20. He slew all the priests of the high places — By this relation it appears, that after the departure of the king of Assyria, divers of the Israelites, who had retired to other parts, and kept themselves out of the conqueror’s hands, returned together with their priests to their own land, and to their old trade, worshipping idols; to whom, peradventure, they ascribed this their deliverance from that judgment which Jehovah had brought upon them. And burned men’s bones upon them — According to that famous prophecy, 1Ki 13:1-2.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 20. Slew all the priests] The lives of these, as corrupters of the people, were forfeited to the law.

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

(20) He slew.—He slaughtered. A contrast to his mild treatment of the priests of the Judæan high places (2Ki_23:8-9). They were Levites, and these heathenish priests. (Comp. Deu_17:2-5.) Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of 1Ki_13:2. (Thenius considers the event historical, because that prophecy “is undoubtedly modelled upon it.”)

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

20. and burnt men’s bones upon them] To the heathen, as well as to the Jew, this would be a pollution that would make the place for ever unfit for worship.

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 the king commanded all the people,.... Not at Jerusalem only, but throughout the whole kingdom: saying:

keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant; which had been lately found and read, and they had agreed to observe, and in which this ordinance was strictly enjoined, and was a commemoration of their deliverance out of Egypt, and a direction of their faith to the Messiah, the antitype of the passover.

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

CHAPTER XXIII.

Slew. Most of the Israelites who had been left, (Haydock) embraced the true religion, after the captivity of their brethren, (Calmet) and adhered to the kings of Juda, (ver. 15.; Haydock) who had taken possession of the whole country (Du Hamel) after the fall of the Assyrian empire; (Tirinus) unless the emperors of Chaldea had given it to them as to their vassels. See ver. 29. (Calmet)

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).

The priests of the high places; either,

1. The priests which Jeroboam had made of the meanest of the people, whom he slew, both for their presumptuous usurpation of that sacred office, which of itself was punishable with death by God’s law, Num 3:10, and for their idolatry. Or rather,

2. The priests of Baalim; by comparing this verse with the former, where speaking of the same high places, he doth not say, which Jeroboam made, as is usual when he speaks of the high places of the calves; but, which the other kings of Israel made, who were divers of them worshippers of Baal; and by considering the parallel place, 2Ch 34:4, where it is said, they brake down the altars of Baalim, &c. By this relation it appears, and from the nature of the thing, and common practice in like cases, it is more than probable, that after the departure of the king of Assyria, divers of the Israelites who had retired to other parts, and kept themselves out of the conqueror’s hands, returned together with their priests to their own land, and to their old trade of worshipping idols; to whom, peradventure, they ascribed this their deliverance from that judgment which Jehovah had brought upon them.

That were there upon the altars; according to that famous prophecy, 1Ki 13:1,2.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. Slew all the priests — Literally, sacrificed them; and he did it upon the altars which these very priests had used for idolatrous purposes.

High places that were there — High places that were in the several cities of Samaria.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars. It is not directly said that he had done this at Bethel, though it had been prophesied that he would do so. (1Ki_13:2) Possibly there were no priests at Bethel at the time, since the "calf" set up by Jeroboam had been carried off (Hos_10:6) by the Assyrians. The difference between the treatment of the high-place priests in Israel and in Judah (ver. 9) clearly implies that the former were attached to the worship of false gods, while the latter were priests of Jehovah who worshipped him with superstitious and unauthorized rites and ceremonies. And burned men"s bones upon them (comp. ver. 16), and returned to Jerusalem.

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

The priests - By this relation it appears, that after the departure of the king of Assyria, divers of the Israelites who had retired to other parts, and kept themselves out of the conqueror's hands, returned together with their priests to their own land, and to their old trade, worshipping idols; to whom, peradventure, they ascribed this their deliverance from that judgment which Jehovah had brought upon them. And burnt - According to that famous prophecy, 1 Kings xiii, 1, 2.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.