He also burned the bones of the priests on 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.
- KJV And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
- BSB Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he 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 13:2He cried against the altar by Yahweh’s word, and said, “Altar! Altar! Yahweh says: ‘Behold, a son will be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you.’”
- Jer 3:10Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
- Jer 8:1–2“At that time,” says Yahweh, “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 4:14Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
- 2 Kgs 23:16As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to Yahweh’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
- 2 Kgs 23:20He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 34:7He broke down the altars, and beat the Asherah poles and the engraved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, then returned to Jerusalem.
- Num 35:33“‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
- Ezek 22:24“Son of man, tell her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.’
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Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
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Original language
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