2 Kings 23:6

2Ki 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 stamped [it] small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

Ver. 6. And he brought out the grove.] See on 2Ki 21:7.

Upon the graves of the children of the people.] The vulgar sort, the rascality, who are usually most irrational, and so most idolatrous. "Thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief," said Aaron of those that said unto him, "Make us gods," &c. {Exo 32:22-23}

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 23:6. And cast the powder thereof upon the graves — By the law, a ceremonial uncleanness was contracted by the touch of a grave, so that by casting these ashes here, he declared them most impure, and that none could touch them without making themselves unclean thereby. The Chaldee renders it, He cast it into the graves, to signify that he would have all idolatry buried out of his sight, as a loathsome thing. Of the children of the people — The common people, whose graves were made together in some common place, which was generally accounted very impure and contemptible, and therefore a fit place for this filth to be thrown into. But the Hebrew here is more properly rendered, Of that people; that is, those idolatrous people, as it is expressed 2Ch 34:4.

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

He removed the grove which idolaters for devotion had planted near unto the Temple, contrary to the commandment of the Lord, Deut. 16:21, or as some read, the similitude of a grove which was hung in the Temple.

Both in contempt of the idols and reproach of them which had worshipped them in their lives.

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

brought out the grove--that is, Asherah, the mystic tree, placed by Manasseh in the temple [Kg2 21:5; Ch2 33:5], removed by him after his conversion [Ch2 33:15], but replaced in the sanctuary by his wicked son Amon [Kg2 21:20-21]. Josiah had it taken to Kidron, burnt the wood, ground the metal about it to powder, and strewed the ashes "on the graves of the children of the people." The poor were buried in a common on part of the valley of Kidron. But reference is here made to the graves "of those that had sacrificed" (Ch2 34:4).

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 6. He brought out the grove] He brought out the idol Asherah. 2Kg 21:26.

Upon the graves of the children of the people.] I believe this; means the burial-place of the common people.

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

(6) And he brought out the grove . . .—The Asherah set up by Manasseh (2Ki_21:3; 2Ki_21:7), and removed by him on his repentance (2Ch_33:15), but restored (probably) by Amon (2Ki_21:21).

Unto the brook . . . at the brook.—Unto the ravine . . . in the ravine, or wady.

The graves of the children (sons) of the people—i.e., the common graves (Jer_26:23); a mark of utter contempt: 2Ch_34:4 paraphrases, “the graves of them that sacrificed unto them.”

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

6. without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron] So that nothing of the polluting idol might remain, even in its destruction, within the holy city. On the brook Kidron, and its connexion with the destruction of other idols, see note on 1Ki_15:13.

upon the graves of the children of the people] R.V. of the common people. The A.V. renders the same words thus in Jer_26:23. Those who could not afford to have graves cut out of the rocks and made secure by a stone at the entrance, were laid in the ground at some distance from the city. The reason for desiring a grave in the rock was lest the prowling wild beasts, which were not uncommon in the land, might disturb the dead bodies. The Chronicler (2Ch_34:4) says the dust was strewn ‘on the graves of them that had sacrificed’ unto the idols. This would imply that a special burying-place had been made for those who had adopted the idolatries that had been introduced; a thing which is very improbable.

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 brake down the houses of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord,.... Near the temple were apartments, in which men, the worshippers of idols, prostituted their bodies to each other; committing that unnatural sin with one another, which has its name from Sodom, and from which those are so called, and which sin they committed in honour of the idols they worshipped; to such vile affections were they, in a judicial manner, delivered up, because of their idolatry; see Rom 1:27 the word signifies "Holy Ones", they being called so by an antiphrasis; though Abarbinel thinks these were the idolatrous priests, whom the worshippers of idols reckoned "holy", and so built houses for them near the temple to lodge in; the Targum is,"and broke down the houses of things consecrated to idols,''where they were put; and Theodoret on the place observes, that by an homonymy, they called the demons or idols themselves "Holy Ones"; and it is not likely, indeed, that the Sodomites should be

where the women wove hangings for the grove; that is, for Astarte, as the same writer observes: or "curtains", as the Jewish writers generally interpret it, in which either the idol was enclosed, or these made apartments for the idolaters to commit their abominable wickedness privately; though the Syriac and Arabic versions are,"they wove garments for the idols that were there;''and so the Septuagint version, of the Complutensian edition; that is, they wove garments for the goddess Astarte, which they dressed her with: the word signifies "houses", and may mean the shrines of the idol made of woven work.

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

Grove. The idol of Astarte, or the representation of a grove in sculpture. (Haydock) --- People, who were not rich enough to have a sepulchre. Jeremias (xix. 11.) threatens the people of Jerusalem with such a burial. (Calmet) --- The common people here means the idolaters, 2 Paralipomenon xxxiv. 4. (Haydock)

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 grove: See Poole "2Ki 23:4". Of the children of the people, i.e. of the common people, whose graves were made together in some common place, which was generally accounted very impure and contemptible, and therefore a fit place for this filth to be thrown into. Or, of bastards, who are oft called

the children of the people; who as they had this brand of infamy laid upon them, that they might not enter into the congregation of the Lord, Deu 23:2; so possibly they were exposed to this further ignominy, to be buried in a peculiar, and in the most infamous place. Or rather, as it is in the Hebrew, of that people, i.e. those idolatrous people, as it is explained, 2Ch 34:4, and here sufficiently implied in this and the foregoing verse.

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

6. Brought out the grove — Rather, the Asherah image, mentioned in 2Ki_21:7.

Kidron — See on 2Ki_23:4.

Graves of the children of the people — That is, of the common people. See Jer_26:23. 2Ch_34:4, says, “Upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them;” but that passage seems to refer to other images of Asherah, to which, however, many of the common people may have often sacrificed. The object of casting the powder, or dust, of these images on the graves may have been either to defile them as the graves of idolaters, or, what is more probable, to dishonour the dust of the idols.

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 brought out the grove from the house of the Lord. The Asherah set up by Manasseh, (2Ki_21:3 and 7) and if removed, (2Ch_33:15) then replaced by Amon, (2Ch_33:22) is intended. (On its probable form, see the comment upon 2Ki_21:7) Without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron (see the comment on ver. 4), and burned it at the brook Kidron. After the example of Asa, who had treated in the same way the idol of the queen-mother Maachah. (1Ki_15:13) Asa followed the example of Moses, (Exo_32:20) when he destroyed the golden calf. And stamped it small to powder. Metals may be calcined by intense heat, and reduced into a state in which a very small application of force will crush them into a fine powder. It is clear from the present passage, that Manasseh"s Asherah was made of metal, at any rate in part. And cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people; i.e. "upon the graves of the common people". (comp. Jer_26:23, where the expression used in the Hebrew is the same) The common people were not buried, like the better sort, in rock-hewn sepulchers, but in graves of the ordinary description. Burial-places were regarded as unclean, and were thus fit receptacles for any kind of impurity.

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

The people - Of that people, those idolatrous people, as it is explained, 2 Chron. xxxiv, 4.

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

grove

(See Scofield "Deu 16:21").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

This continues to tell what King Josiah did in response to the message from Yahweh.

He brought out ... and burned it ... He beat it ... and threw ... He cleared

The word "he" refers to Josiah. He would have commanded his workers to do these things. Hilkiah and the priests who assisted him did these things. AT: "He had them bring out ... and burn it ... He had them beat it ... and throw ... He had them clear" (See: Metonymy)

wove garments

"made clothes"

translationWords

temple

Yahweh

grave

prostitute

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