2 Kings 23:11
New International Version
He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

New Living Translation
He removed from the entrance of the LORD’s Temple the horse statues that the former kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were near the quarters of Nathan-melech the eunuch, an officer of the court. The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

English Standard Version
And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Berean Standard Bible
And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.

King James Bible
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

New King James Version
Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

New American Standard Bible
And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

NASB 1995
He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

NASB 1977
And he did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Amplified Bible
And he got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah had given [in worship] to the sun at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the annex; and he burned the chariots of the sun.

Christian Standard Bible
He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the LORD’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the eunuch. He also burned the chariots of the sun.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the LORD’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech the court official, and he burned up the chariots of the sun.

American Standard Version
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he killed the horses that the Kings of Yehuda gave to the sun in the entrance of the house of LORD JEHOVAH, in the arched chamber of Nathan the Eunuch of the King that was in Paruda, and the chariots of the sun he burned in fire.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he burned the horses which the king of Juda had given to the sun in the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the treasury of Nathan the king's eunuch, in the suburbs; and he burned the chariot of the sun with fire.

Contemporary English Version
He also got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah used in their ceremonies to worship the sun, and he destroyed the chariots along with them. The horses had been kept near the entrance to the LORD's temple, in a courtyard close to where an official named Nathan-Melech lived.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda had given to the sun, at the entering in of the temple of the Lord, near the chamber of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who was in Pharurim: and he burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.

English Revised Version
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He removed the horses that Judah's kings had dedicated to the sun god at the entrance of the LORD's temple. They were in the temple courtyard near the room of the eunuch Nathan Melech. He also burned the chariots of the sun god,

Good News Translation
He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.)

International Standard Version
He abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the LORD's Temple, near the offices of Nathan-melech, the official, that were in the precincts. He also set fire to the chariots of the sun.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the officer, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Literal Standard Version
And he causes to cease the horses that the kings of Judah have given to the sun from the entering in of the house of YHWH, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech the eunuch, that [is] in the outskirts; and he has burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Majority Standard Bible
And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.

New American Bible
He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun; these were at the entrance of the house of the LORD, near the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the large building. The chariots of the sun he destroyed by fire.

NET Bible
He removed from the entrance to the LORD's temple the statues of horses that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.) He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god.

New Revised Standard Version
He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of the eunuch Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts; then he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

New Heart English Bible
He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

World English Bible
He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of Yahweh’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Young's Literal Translation
And he causeth to cease the horses that the kings of Judah have given to the sun from the entering in of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech the eunuch, that is in the suburbs, and the chariots of the sun he hath burnt with fire.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Josiah Destroys Idolatry
10He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 11And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun. 12He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 4:19
When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars--all the host of heaven--do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

1 Chronicles 26:18
As for the court on the west, there were four at the highway and two at the court.

Job 31:26
if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,

Ezekiel 8:16
So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

Ezekiel 40:17
Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement,


Treasury of Scripture

And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

the sun.

2 Kings 23:5
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

2 Chronicles 14:5
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

2 Chronicles 34:4
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

house of the Lord.

chamberlain.

Jump to Previous
Abolished Building Burned Carriages Causeth Chamber Chamberlain Chariots Court Dedicated Entering Entrance Fire Horses House Judah Kings Melech Nathan Officer Official Outer Part Precincts Removed Room Servant Suburbs Sun Unsexed
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Abolished Building Burned Carriages Causeth Chamber Chamberlain Chariots Court Dedicated Entering Entrance Fire Horses House Judah Kings Melech Nathan Officer Official Outer Part Precincts Removed Room Servant Suburbs Sun Unsexed
2 Kings 23
1. Josiah causes the book to be read in a solemn assembly.
3. He renews the covenant of the Lord.
4. He destroys idolatry.
15. He burns dead men's bones upon the altar of Bethel, as was prophesied.
21. He keeps a most solemn Passover.
24. He puts away witches and all abomination.
26. God's final wrath against Judah.
29. Josiah, provoking Pharaoh Neco, is slain at Megiddo.
31. Jehoahaz, succeeding him,
33. is imprisoned by Pharaoh Neco, who makes Jehoiakim king.
36. Jehoiakim's wicked reign.














(11) He took away.--The same word as "put down" (2Kings 23:5). Here, as there, the Syriac and Arabic render, "he killed," which is possibly a correct gloss.

The horses . . . the sun.--These horses drew "the chariots of the sun" in solemn processions held in honour of that deity. (See Herod, i. 189; Xenoph. Anab. iv. 5. 34, seq.; Quint. Curt. iii 3. 11.) Horses were also sacrificed to the sun. The sun's apparent course through the heavens, poetically conceived as the progress of a fiery chariot and steeds, explains these usages.

Had given--i.e., had dedicated.

At the entering in of the house of the Lord.--This appears right. Along with the next clause it states where the sacred horses were kept; viz., in the outer court of the Temple, near the entrance. (So the LXX. and Vulgate. This rendering involves a different pointing of the Hebrew text--m?bo for mibbo. The latter, which is the ordinary reading, gives the sense, "so that they should not come into the house, &c.")

By the chamber.--Rather, towards the cell; further defining the position of the stalls. As to the cells in the outer court, see the Note on 1Chronicles 9:26; Ezekiel 40:45 seq.

Nathan-melech the chamberiain, or, eunuch, is otherwise unknown. He may have been charged with the care of the sacred horses and chariots. Meleck was a title of the sun-god in one of his aspects (2Kings 23:10.) . . .

Verse 11. - And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun. The custom of dedicating horses to the sun was practiced by many ancient nations; but it is only in Persia that we find horses and chariots so dedicated (Xen., 'Cyrop.,' 8:3. § 12). The idea of the sun-god as a charioteer, who drove his horses daily across the sky, is one common to several of the Aryan nations, as the Greeks, the Romans, the Hindoos, and others;but we do not find it either in Egypt or among the Semitic peoples. The sacrifice of the horse to the sun was more general (Herod., 1:216; Xen., 'Cyrop.,' 8:3. § 24; 'Anab.,' 4:5. § 35; Rig Veda, vol. 2. pp. 112, et seqq., etc.), but does not seem to have been adopted by the Hebrews. It is not at all clear whence the "kings of Judah" - i.e. Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon - derived the idea of maintaining sacred chariots and horses to be used in their sun-worship. They certainly could not have received it, as Keil thinks, "through the Assyrians." At the entering in of the house of the Lord - the horses, i.e., were kept near one of the entrances to the temple, to be ready for use in sacred processions - by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs. There were many "chambers" attached to the temple, which were sometimes used as store-rooms for different materials (1 Chronicles 9:26; 2 Chronicles 31:11, 12; Nehemiah 10:38; Nehemiah 13:5), sometimes as residences (Nehemiah 13:7). In Josiah's time, "Nathan-melech the chamberlain," or rather "the eunuch," occupied one of these. It was situated בַפַדְוָרִים - "in the outskirts" or "purlieus" of the temple. And burned the chariots of the sun with fire (comp. vers. 4, 6, 15, etc.). Josiah burnt all the material objects that had been desecrated by the idolatries; the persons and animals so desecrated he "removed," or deprived of their functions.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And he removed
וַיַּשְׁבֵּ֣ת (way·yaš·bêṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7673: To repose, desist from exertion

from the entrance
מִבֹּ֣א (mib·bō)
Preposition-m | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to the house
בֵית־ (ḇêṯ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of the LORD
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

the horses
הַסּוּסִ֗ים (has·sū·sîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5483: A swallow, swift (type of bird)

that
אֲשֶׁ֣ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

the kings
מַלְכֵ֨י (mal·ḵê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Judah
יְהוּדָ֤ה (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites

had dedicated
נָתְנוּ֩ (nā·ṯə·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

to the sun.
לַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ (laš·še·meš)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

They were
אֲשֶׁ֖ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

in the court
בַּפַּרְוָרִ֑ים (bap·par·wā·rîm)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6503: Probably a structure on the west side of Solomon's temple

near
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the chamber
לִשְׁכַּת֙ (liš·kaṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3957: Room, chamber, hall, cell

of
נְתַן־ (nə·ṯan-)
0
Strong's Hebrew

an official
הַסָּרִ֔יס (has·sā·rîs)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5631: A eunuch, valet, a minister of state

named Nathan-melech.
מֶ֣לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - proper
Strong's 5419: Nathan-melech -- 'given of a king', a leader in Judah

And
וְאֶת־ (wə·’eṯ-)
Conjunctive waw | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

[Josiah] burned up
שָׂרַ֥ף (śā·rap̄)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8313: To be, on fire

the chariots
מַרְכְּב֥וֹת (mar·kə·ḇō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4818: A chariot

of the sun.
הַשֶּׁ֖מֶשׁ (haš·še·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement


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OT History: 2 Kings 23:11 He took away the horses that (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 23:10
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