And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
Parallel translations
- WEB He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
- BSB Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
- NKJV He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
- NASB Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
- NLT He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He burns the bones of the idolatrous priests on their own altars and purges Judah and Jerusalem. He decisively ended the corrupt priesthood of false worship.
Overview
Burning the priests' bones on their altars defiled the pagan sites permanently, a judgment foretold long before (cf. 1 Kings 13:2). Josiah's actions cleansed the land of entrenched idolatry. The verse reflects the seriousness with which God regards false worship and the depth of Josiah's commitment to remove it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Kgs 13:2And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.
- Jer 3:10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
- Jer 8:1–2At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
- Jer 4:14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
- 2 Kgs 23:16And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
- 2 Kgs 23:20And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 34:7And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
- Num 35:33So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
- Ezek 22:24Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
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Original language
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