2 Kings 23:11 Komentář

We have here, I. The happy continuance of the goodness of Josiah's reign, and the progress of the reformation he began, reading the law (Kg2 23:1, Kg2 23:2), renewing the covenant (Kg2 23:3), cleansing the temple (Kg2 23:4), and rooting out idols and idolatry, with all the relics thereof, in all places, as far as his power reached (v. 5-20), keeping a solemn passover (Kg2 23:21-23), and clearing the country of witches (Kg2 23:24); and in all this acting with extraordinary vigour (Kg2 23:25). II. The unhappy conclusion of it in his untimely death, as a token of the continuance of God's wrath against Jerusalem (Kg2 23:26-30). III. The more unhappy consequences of his death, in the bad reigns of his two sons Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, that came after him (Kg2 23:31-37).

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 23 This chapter treats of Josiah's reading the book of the law, and of him and the people renewing the covenant with God, Kg2 23:1, and of his removing idols and idolatry in every shape, and witchcraft, out of the land, which he did in the sincerity of his heart, Kg2 23:4, yet the wrath of God was still determined upon the land, Kg2 23:26 and Josiah was taken away by an untimely death, Kg2 23:29 and was succeeded by two sons of his, one after another, whose reigns were wicked, Kg2 23:31.

And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made,.... Which were on the roof of the royal palace; the roofs of houses in Judah being flat, Deu 21:8 altars might be built upon them; so, in Arabia, altars were built on the tops of houses to offer incense thereon daily to the sun (p); as here by Manasseh and Amon very probably, which might be chosen because nearer the heavens; for which reason the Heathens made use of high places to worship in, see Jer 19:13. and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord; Kg2 21:5. did the king beat down; ordered to be demolished: and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron; that there might be no remains of them to be put to any superstitious use. (p) Strabo, Geograph l. 16. p. 539.

"He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had given, etc." [2 Kings 23:11] What follows about the same king Josiah, he also removed the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entrance of the temple of the Lord; and shortly after: He burned the chariots of the sun with fire; this shows that the Jews at all times were devoted to all kinds of idolatry and superstition, so much so that in adoration of the sun, which they believed to be a god after the manner of the Gentiles, they attached his image which they had made to horses and chariots, and this in the courts of the temple of the Lord. For the Gentiles are accustomed to depict or make an image of the sun in this way, placing a young boy in a chariot, and attaching horses to him as if rushing towards the sky. They represent him as a boy because the sun, as if born anew each day with its rise, never falls into old age through the ages. But that they attribute chariots and horses to him is believed to have been taken from the miracle of the prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot with fiery horses, as John, the bishop of Constantinople, estimates. For that which is called Helios in Greek means the sun (as even Sedulius shows, when he sang about Elijah's ascent, saying: How well the fiery path of heaven suits Elijah, who glows rightly even by name. He was worthy of this aid: for if one letter of the Greek word is changed by accent, it means the sun. Hearing from the Israelites, reputed to have divine letters, that Elijah was transported to the heavens by a fiery chariot and fiery horses, or certainly seeing this depicted among other things on the wall, the Greeks, deceived by the similarity of the name, believed this to signify the sun's passage through the heavens, and transformed a divinely performed miracle into a testimony of error, conceived by human folly; the Jews themselves, imitating them, strove not to be less foolish than the most foolish of the Gentiles in any matter.

Josiah reads in the temple to the elders of Judah, the priests, the prophets, and the people, the book of the covenant which had been found, Kg2 23:1, Kg2 23:2. He makes a covenant, and the people stand to it, Kg2 23:3. He destroys the vessels of Baal and Asherah, and puts down the idolatrous priests; breaks down the houses of the sodomites, and the high places; defiles Topheth; takes away the horses of the sun; destroys the altars of Ahaz; breaks in pieces the images; and breaks down and burns Jeroboam's altar at Beth-el, Kg2 23:4-15. Fulfills the word of the prophet, who cried against the altar at Beth-el, Kg2 23:16-18. Destroys the high places in Samaria, slays the idolatrous priests, and celebrates a great passover, Kg2 23:19-23; and puts away all the dealers with familiar spirits, etc., Kg2 23:24. His eminent character; he is mortally wounded at Megiddo, and buried at Jerusalem, Kg2 23:25-30. Jehoahaz reigns in his stead, and does evil in the sight of the Lord, Kg2 23:31, Kg2 23:32. Is dethroned by Pharaoh-nechoh; and Eliakim, his brother, called also Jehoiakim, made king in his stead; the land is laid under tribute by the king of Egypt, and Jehoiakim reigns wickedly, Kg2 23:33-37.

The horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun - Jarchi says that those who adored the sun had horses which they mounted every morning to go out to meet the sun at his rising. Throughout the East the horse, because of his swiftness and utility, was dedicated to the sun; and the Greeks and Romans feigned that the chariot of the sun was drawn by four horses - Pyroeis, Eous, Aethon, and Phlegon. See the note on Kg2 2:11. Whether these were living or sculptured horses, we cannot tell; the latter is the more reasonable supposition.

JOSIAH CAUSES THE LAW TO BE READ. (Kg2 23:1-3) the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders--This pious and patriotic king, not content with the promise of his own security, felt, after Huldah's response, an increased desire to avert the threatened calamities from his kingdom and people. Knowing the richness of the divine clemency and grace to the penitent, he convened the elders of the people, and placing himself at their head, accompanied by the collective body of the inhabitants, went in solemn procession to the temple, where he ordered the book of the law to be read to the assembled audience, and covenanted, with the unanimous concurrence of his subjects, to adhere steadfastly to all the commandments of the Lord. It was an occasion of solemn interest, closely connected with a great national crisis, and the beautiful example of piety in the highest quarter would exert a salutary influence over all classes of the people in animating their devotions and encouraging their return to the faith of their fathers.

took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun--Among the people who anciently worshipped the sun, horses were usually dedicated to that divinity, from the supposed idea that the sun himself was drawn in a chariot by horses. In some cases these horses were sacrificed; but more commonly they were employed either in the sacred processions to carry the images of the sun, or for the worshippers to ride in every morning to welcome his rise. It seems that the idolatrous kings, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon, or their great officers, proceeded on these horses early on each day from the east gate of the temple to salute and worship the sun at his appearing above the horizon.