He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah. He also tore downThis phrase indicates a decisive action taken by King Josiah, reflecting his commitment to purifying the worship practices in Judah. The Hebrew root for "tore down" is "nathats," which means to break down or destroy. This action symbolizes a complete eradication of idolatrous practices, emphasizing the need for spiritual renewal and the removal of sin from the community. the quarters of the male cult prostitutes
The term "quarters" refers to the physical spaces or rooms used by male cult prostitutes, known in Hebrew as "qadesh," which means "consecrated" or "devoted." These individuals were involved in pagan rituals that were abhorrent to the worship of Yahweh. The presence of such practices within the temple precincts highlights the extent of spiritual corruption that had infiltrated the religious life of Judah. Josiah's reform was a return to the covenantal faithfulness demanded by God. in the house of the LORD
This phrase underscores the gravity of the situation, as these idolatrous practices were taking place within the very temple dedicated to Yahweh. The Hebrew term "bayith" for "house" signifies not just a physical structure but a place of divine presence. The defilement of the temple with pagan practices was a direct affront to God's holiness, necessitating Josiah's reforms to restore the sanctity of worship. where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah
The mention of women weaving tapestries for Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, indicates the syncretism that had pervaded Judah's worship. The Hebrew word "Asherah" refers to both the goddess and the wooden poles or images associated with her worship. The act of weaving tapestries suggests a form of devotion and artistic expression that was misdirected towards idolatry. Josiah's actions were aimed at redirecting such devotion back to the true God, emphasizing the importance of worship that aligns with divine commandments. Persons / Places / Events 1. JosiahThe king of Judah who initiated religious reforms to restore the worship of Yahweh and eliminate idolatry. 2. House of the LORDRefers to the temple in Jerusalem, the central place of worship for the Israelites. 3. Male Cult ProstitutesIndividuals involved in pagan rituals, often associated with fertility cults, which were contrary to the worship of Yahweh. 4. Women Weaving Tapestries for AsherahWomen engaged in creating items for the worship of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, indicating the syncretism present in Judah. 5. AsherahA Canaanite goddess often associated with fertility and worshiped alongside Yahweh by some Israelites, contrary to God's commandments. Teaching Points Commitment to Purity in WorshipJosiah's actions remind us of the importance of maintaining purity in our worship and eliminating anything that detracts from the true worship of God. Courage in LeadershipJosiah's reforms required courage and conviction. As believers, we are called to stand firm in our faith and lead others towards righteousness, even when it is counter-cultural. The Danger of SyncretismThe presence of Asherah worship within the temple illustrates the danger of blending true worship with pagan practices. We must guard against allowing secular or non-biblical influences to infiltrate our faith. Repentance and RestorationJosiah's actions were part of a broader movement of repentance and restoration. We are encouraged to continually seek God's forgiveness and strive to restore our relationship with Him. The Role of Scripture in ReformJosiah's reforms were driven by the rediscovery of the Book of the Law. This highlights the importance of Scripture in guiding our lives and prompting spiritual renewal. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Josiah's commitment to removing idolatry challenge us in our personal lives and communities today? 2. In what ways can we identify and eliminate modern forms of idolatry that may have infiltrated our worship or daily lives? 3. How can we demonstrate courage in our faith when faced with societal pressures that contradict biblical teachings? 4. What steps can we take to ensure that our worship remains pure and focused solely on God? 5. How can the rediscovery of Scripture lead to personal and communal spiritual renewal in our context today? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 12:3This verse commands the Israelites to destroy places of pagan worship, similar to Josiah's actions in tearing down the quarters of the male cult prostitutes. 1 Kings 14:24Describes the presence of male cult prostitutes in the land, highlighting the ongoing struggle against idolatry and immorality in Israel. 2 Chronicles 34:33Chronicles Josiah's reforms, emphasizing his commitment to leading the people back to the worship of Yahweh. Romans 1:24-25Discusses the consequences of idolatry and exchanging the truth of God for lies, relevant to the idolatrous practices Josiah sought to eliminate. People Ahaz, Ammonites, Ashtoreth, Ben, Chemosh, Eliakim, Hamutal, Hilkiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, Jeroboam, Joshua, Josiah, Manasseh, Melech, Milcom, Moabites, Molech, Nathan, Nathanmelech, Nebat, Pedaiah, Pharaoh, Pharaohnechoh, Sidonians, Sodomites, Solomon, Zebudah, ZidoniansPlaces Assyria, Beersheba, Bethel, Egypt, Euphrates River, Geba, Hamath, Jerusalem, Kidron, Libnah, Megiddo, Moab, Riblah, Rumah, Samaria, Topheth, Valley of HinnomTopics Asherah, Ashe'rah, Brake, Breaketh, Broke, Coverings, Cult, Grove, Hangings, Houses, Making, Male, Prostitutes, Pulled, Purposes, Quarters, Robes, Sex, Shrine, Sodomites, Temple, Tents, Weaving, Whoremongers, Women, WoveDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 23:7 5212 arts and crafts
5551 spinning and weaving
6238 homosexuality 2 Kings 23:1-7 6735 repentance, examples 2 Kings 23:1-20 7241 Jerusalem, significance 2 Kings 23:1-24 8466 reformation 2 Kings 23:1-25 5345 influence
7245 Judah, kingdom of 2 Kings 23:4-7 6209 pagans
8747 false gods 2 Kings 23:4-20 4906 abolition Library Reformation Lessons
Eversley. 1861. 2 Kings xxiii. 3, 4, 25, 26. "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. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other SermonsWhether the Old Law was Suitably Given at the Time of Moses?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law was not suitably given at the time of Moses. Because the Old Law disposed man for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above ([2068]AA[2],3). But man needed this salutary remedy immediately after he had sinned. Therefore the Law should have been given immediately after sin. Objection 2: Further, the Old Law was given for the sanctification of those from whom Christ was to be born. Now the promise concerning the "seed, which is Christ" …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Christ Should have Been Born in Bethlehem?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ should not have been born in Bethlehem. For it is written (Is. 2:3): "The law shall come forth from Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But Christ is truly the Word of God. Therefore He should have come into the world at Jerusalem. Objection 2: Further, it is said (Mat. 2:23) that it is written of Christ that "He shall be called a Nazarene"; which is taken from Is. 11:1: "A flower shall rise up out of his root"; for "Nazareth" is interpreted "a flower." …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Prophets Always Know the Things which they Prophesy?
Objection 1: It would seem that the prophets always know the things which they prophesy. For, as Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 9), "those to whom signs were shown in spirit by means of the likenesses of bodily things, had not the gift of prophecy, unless the mind was brought into action, so that those signs were also understood by them." Now what is understood cannot be unknown. Therefore the prophet is not ignorant of what he prophesies. Objection 2: Further, the light of prophecy surpasses …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether the Prophecy which is Accompanied by Intellective and Imaginative vision is More Excellent than that which is Accompanied by Intellective vision Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the prophecy which has intellective and imaginative vision is more excellent than that which is accompanied by intellective vision alone. For Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 9): "He is less a prophet, who sees in spirit nothing but the signs representative of things, by means of the images of things corporeal: he is more a prophet, who is merely endowed with the understanding of these signs; but most of all is he a prophet, who excels in both ways," and this refers …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Fall of Solomon
'For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. 7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Rediscovered Law and Its Effects
'And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. 10. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Entering the Covenant: with all the Heart
"And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and all their soul."--2 CHRON. xv. 12 (see xxxiv. 31, and 2 Kings xxiii. 3). "The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul."--DEUT. xxx. 6. "And I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall turn to Me with their whole heart."--JER. xxiv. 7 (see xxix. 13). …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life The Sins of Communities Noted and Punished.
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." This is predicated of the judgments of God on those who had shed the blood of his saints. The Savior declares that all the righteous blood which had been shed on the earth from that of Abel down to the gospel day, should come on that generation! But is not this unreasonable and contrary to the Scriptures? "Far be wickedness from God and iniquity from the Almighty. For the work of man shall be render unto him, and cause every …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects The Whole Heart
LET me give the principal passages in which the words "the whole heart," "all the heart," are used. A careful study of them will show how wholehearted love and service is what God has always asked, because He can, in the very nature of things, ask nothing less. The prayerful and believing acceptance of the words will waken the assurance that such wholehearted love and service is exactly the blessing the New Covenant was meant to make possible. That assurance will prepare us for turning to the Omnipotence …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND NEBUCHADREZZAR. The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library of Kouyunjik--Phraortes …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 23:7 NIV2 Kings 23:7 NLT2 Kings 23:7 ESV2 Kings 23:7 NASB2 Kings 23:7 KJV
2 Kings 23:7 Commentaries
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