The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 402

tries of M1mnsseh and Amon. He renewed gates (see 1 Chron. :nvf. 19-18). Their this oovc>u1mt " before the Lord," i.e. from importance at this time appenrs agnin in eh. his plRtform in the court, directly opposite xxv. 18. To bring forth out of the temple the entranoe to the temple, through which of the Lord all the veBBela that were m1Lde he could, perhaps, see the veil hanging in for Baal. The reformation naturally hogan front of the holy of holi~s-11t any rate with the purging of the temple. So the being, and feeling himself to be, in the rl'form11tion under Jehoiada (eh. xi. JS) 1Lnd immediate presence of God. To walk after that of Mannsseh (2 Chron. xxxiii. 15), the Lord-i.e. to be his trno follower and Under "the vessels" (D'~~lJ) would bo in- servant-nd to keep his commandments and cluded the entire paraphernalie. of worship, his testimonies and hiij statutes. (On the even the two altars whioh had been set up mnltiplication of such terms, see the com- in honour of Baal in the outer and the inner ment upon I Kings ii. 3.) They are intended com-ts (comp.eh. xxi. 5). And for the grove to express" the totality of the Law," all its (see eh. xxi. 3), and for all the host of heavon. requirements without exception. With all The three worships are here united, because their heart and all their soul-obedience there was a close connection between them. was worthless. unless pRid from the heart Bae.I was, in one of his aspects, the sun ; 1tnd and son! (see Deut. iv. 29; xxx. 2; Joel ii. Astarte, the goddess of the "grove "-wor- 12, 13)-to perform the words of this oove- ship, was, in one of her aspeots, the moon. nant that were written in this book. And all The cult of "the host of heaven," though, the people stood to the oovenant. The repre- perhaps, derived from a different source, sentatives of the people, one and all, were naturally became associated with the cults parties to the promise made on their behalf of the sun and moon, And he burned them by the l.-ing, and signified their consent, without Jerusalem in the fields of Xidron. probably as they had done in Horeb, when The Law required that idols should be "Moses took the book of the covenant, nnd burnt with fire (Dent. vii. 25), and likewise read in the audience of the people ; and they "groves" (Deut. xii. 3). It was enough said, All that the Lord has said will we do, to "overthrow " altars (Dent. xii. 3) and to and be obedient" (see Dent. :u..iv. 7). "break" pillars. But Josiah seems to have thought it best to destroy by fire, i.e. in the Vers. 4-27.-Josiah's reforrnation of reli- completest possible way, all the objects, of gion. The reformation of religion by Josiah whatever kind, which had been connected next engages the writer's attention, and is with the idol-worship (see vers. 6, 12, 15, 16). treated, not chronologically, but rather geo- The burning took ;place in " the fields of Kidron," i.e. in the upper po.rt of the Kidron graphically, under the three heads of (I) valley, to the north-east of Jerusalem, in reforms in J ernsalem ; (2) reforms outside order that not even the smoke should pollute Jertl.Blll.em, but in the kingdom of Judah; the town (comp. I Kingsxv.13). And carried and (3) reforms in the territory which had the ashes of them unto Bethel. This was a l-elonged to the kingdom of Samaria (vers. very unnsual precaution, and shows Josiah's extreme scrupulousness. He would not have 4-20;. The celebration of the Passover is even the ashes of the wooden objects, or the then briefly noticed (vel'll. 21-23); and the calcined powder of the metal ones, remain section concludes with a eulogy of Josiah even in the vicinity of the holy city, but (vers. 24, 25), who, however, it is noticed transported them to a distance. In selecting could not, with all :!:I.is piety, obtain a revo- Bethel as the place to convey them to, he was no doubt actuated by the circumstance .:CLtion of the sentence passed on Judah in that that village was in some sense tho fonnt consequence of the sius of Manasseh. The and origin of all the religious impurities fate of Judah was fixecl (vers. 26, 27). which had overflowed the le.nd. That whioh had proceeded from Bethel might well be Ver. 4.-And the king commanded B1lki.ah taken back thither. e high priest, and the priests of the second Ver. 5.-And he put down the idolatro111 der. Not the "depnty-high priests," of priest& ; literally, the chemarim. The same whom there seems to have been only one at word is used of idolatrous priests in Hoa. x. this period of the history (eh. xxv. 18); nor 5 and Zeph. i. 4. It is beet conneP.ted the "heads of the courses," who were not with the Arabic root ohamar, oolere deum, recognized as a distinct class of priests till and with the Syriao cumro, "priest" or much later; but merely the common priests, "sacrificer." The Syrian priests were pro- as distinguished from the high priest. (So bably so called at the time, and the Hebrews Keil, Bahr, and otl1ers.) And the keepers took the word, and applied it to all false of the door; literally, the keepers of the priests or idol lkous priests, reserving their thruhold; i.e. the Levites, whose duty it was own coha111'.m (D';:]~) for true Jehovlstio Lo keep watch and ward at the outer temple prieste onlr, Whom the king• of .Judall on. nm. 1-37.J THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS.