2 Kings 23:3

2Ki 23:3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

Ver. 3. And the king stood by a pillar.] See 2Ki 11:14.

To walk after the Lord.] To be in communion with him, and in conformity unto him. This is elsewhere called walking with God, and walking before God.

And all the people stood to the covenant.] They pretended and professed so to do; but the most of them dissembled and dealt deceitfully, not turning to God with their whole hearts, as good Jeremiah complaineth, {Jer 3:1-25} and therefore calleth upon them {Jer 4:3; Jer 4:14} to "break up their fallow ground, to circumcise themselves unto the Lord, and to wash their hearts from wickedness, that they might be saved."

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 23:3. The king stood by a pillar — Of which see on chap. 2Ki 11:14. And made a covenant before the Lord — The king himself was the first and principal covenanter, who publicly and solemnly declared his consent to this covenant, to set the elders, priests, and people an example, and to assure them not only of his protection, but of all the furtherance his power could give them in their obedience. And all the people stood to the covenant — They declared their consent to it, and their concurrence with the king in that act, which possibly they did by standing up, as the king himself stood when ha took it. It is of good use, with all possible solemnity, to oblige ourselves to our duty: and he that bears an honest heart, does not startle at assurances.

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

23:3 The king . . . renewed the covenant: Covenant renewal was observed at several critical points in the history of God’s people (see 11:12, 17; Josh 24:1-27; 1 Kgs 8:1-53).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Where the king had his place, 2 Kings 11:14.

As Joshua did, Josh. 24:22, 25.

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

all the people stood to the covenant--that is, they agreed to the proposals made; they assented to what was required of them.

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 3. Stood by a pillar] He stood, על העמוד al haammud, "upon the stairs or pulpit." This is what is called the brazen scaffold or pulpit which Solomon made, and on which the kings were accustomed to stand when they addressed the people. See 2Ch 6:13, and the parallel places.

Made a covenant] This was expressed,

1. In general. To walk after Jehovah; to have no gods besides him.

2. To take his law for the regulation of their conduct.

3. In particular. To bend their whole heart and soul to the observance of it, so that, they might not only have religion without, but, piety within.

To this all the people stood up, thus giving their consent, and binding themselves to obedience.

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

(3) By a pillar.—On the stand or dais (2Ki_11:14).

A covenant.—The covenant, which had so often been broken. Josiah pledged himself “to walk after the Lord,” and imposed a similar pledge on the people.

Stood to the covenant—i.e., entered it; took the same pledge as the king. (Comp. 2Ki_18:28.)

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

3. And the king stood by a [R.V. the] pillar] See 2Ki_11:14 and the notes there.

to walk after the Lord &c.] The words of the covenant are dictated by Deu_13:4.

all their [R.V. his] heart and all their [R.V. his] soul] This was the king’s own solemn pledge.

to perform [R.V. confirm] the words of this covenant] ‘Confirm’ is the rendering of this verb in A.V. in a very similar passage (Deu_27:26) ‘Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them’.

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 Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order,.... Or the second course of the priests; the course of Jedaiah, Ch1 24:7 as some think; or rather, the two chief priests next to the high priest, who were of the line both of Eleazar and Ithamar; though the Targum interprets it of the Sagan of the priests, a deputy of the high priest, such as in later times the high priest had always appointed for him on the day of atonement (r):

and the keepers of the door: the porters at the door and gates of the temple; or rather the treasurers, as the Targum; such as were appointed over the vessels of the sanctuary, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it, and which best agrees with what follows:

to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal: used in burning incense, or offering sacrifices to him:

and for the grove: the idol of the grove, or Asherah, that is, Ashtoreth, or Astarte, the same with Venus, or the moon, as Baal was the sun, the one the husband, and the other the wife, according to the Jews (s):

and for all the host of heaven: the stars:

and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron; or plain of Kidron, as the Targum; through which the brook Kidron ran:

and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel; where one of Jeroboam's calves was set, and was the source of idolatry; and this he did in contempt of that place; and, to show his detestation of the idolatry there, he made it a dunghill of ashes of things used in idolatrous service; this he could do, that place being in the hands of the kings of Judah from the times of Ahijah, Ch2 13:19.

(r) Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1. (s) Zohar in Gen. fol. 34. 3.

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

By a pillar - Rather, “upon the pillar” (see 2Ki 11:14, note).

Made a covenant - “The covenant.” Josiah renewed the old covenant made between God and His people in Horeb Deu 5:2, so far at least as such renewal was possible by the mere act of an individual. He bound himself by a solemn promise to the faithful performance of the entire Law.

With all their heart - “Their” rather than “his,” because the king was considered as pledging the whole nation to obedience with himself. He and they “stood to it,” i. e., “accepted it, came into the covenant.”

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

The step. His tribune or tribunal, a more eminent place, from whence he might be seen and heard by the people. (Challoner) --- This brazen tribune is described [in] chap. xi. 14., and 2 Paralipomenon vi. 12. --- To the covenant, but with much less exactitude than the king. (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).

By the pillar; of which See Poole "2Ki 11:14"; See Poole "2Ch 34:31".

To the covenant, to wit, as to the taking of it; they declared their consent to it, and their concurrence with the king in that act, which possibly they did by standing upright, as the king himself stood when he took it.

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

3. Stood by a pillar — Rather, by the pillar: the same pillar by which the youthful Joash stood when the high priest Jehoiada made a covenant between the king and the people. See note on 2Ki_11:14.

All the people stood to the covenant — They entered into the covenant like the king, by taking upon themselves solemn vows and oaths to keep the commandments. Stanley remarks that it was “one of those national vows or covenants which were in the monarchy what the vows of individuals had been in the earlier stages of the nation.”

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

And the king stood by a pillar dwOMj; l is not "by the pillar," but (as in 2Ki_11:14) "on the platform" (see the comment on that place)and made a covenant before the Lord; literally, made the covenant; (as in 2Ki_11:17) i.e. made, or renewed, the old covenant with God, (Exo_24:5-8) which had been broken by the complete neglect of the Law, and the manifold idolatries of Manasseh and Amon. He renewed this covenant "before the Lord," i.e. from his platform in the court, directly opposite the entrance to the temple, through which he could, perhaps, see the veil hanging in front of the holy of holies-at any rate being, and feeling himself to be, in the immediate presence of God. To walk after the Lordi.e. to be his true follower and servantand to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes. (On the multiplication of such terms, see the comment upon (1Ki_2:3) They are intended to express "the totality of the Law," all its requirements without exception. With all their heart and all their soul obedience was worthless, unless paid from the heart and soul (see Deu_4:29 Deu_30:2; Joe_2:12, Joe_2:13) to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. The representatives of the people, one and all, were parties to the premise made on their behalf by the king, and signified their consent, probably as they had done in Horeb, when "Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said will we do, and be obedient". (see Deu_24:7)

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

Stood - They declared their consent to it, and their concurrence with the king in that act, which possibly they did by standing up, as the king himself stood when he took it. It is of good use, with all possible solemnity, to oblige ourselves to our duty. And he that bears an honest heart, does not startle at assurances.

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

walk after Yahweh

The way a person lives is spoken of as if that person were walking on a path, and "to walk after" someone is a metonym for doing what that other person does or wants others to do. AT: "live obeying Yahweh" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)

his commandments, his regulations, and his statutes

These words all share similar meanings. Together they emphasize everything that Yahweh had commanded in the law. (See: Doublet)

with all his heart and all his soul

The idiom "with all his heart" means "completely" and "with all his soul" means "with all his being." These two phrases have similar meanings. AT: "with all his being" or "with all his energy" (See: Idiom and Doublet)

that were written in this book

This can be translated in active form. AT: "that this book contained" (See: Active or Passive)

stand by the covenant

This idiom means to "obey the terms of the covenant." (See: Idiom)

translationWords

column

Yahweh

walk

command

decree

statute

heart

confirm

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

At his place. The place where the king stands in the Beis Hamikdosh.

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.