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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in Yahweh’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
- KJV And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
- NKJV Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image.
- NASB And he tore down the cubicles of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.
- NLT He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the Temple of the Lord, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah pole.
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
Josiah tears down the houses of the cult prostitutes within the temple precincts. He uproots even the most degrading corruptions of true worship.
Overview
Ritual prostitution, tied to fertility cults, had defiled the very house of God, showing how deep Judah's apostasy ran. Josiah's removal of these practices restores the moral as well as ceremonial purity of worship. Scripture's call to flee sexual immorality and worship God in holiness finds its fulfillment in the gospel, which cleanses and sanctifies God's temple, the church (1 Cor. 6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 16:16You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!
- 1 Kgs 15:12He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
- 1 Kgs 14:24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- Exod 35:25–26Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen.
- Hos 2:13I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Chr 34:33And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
- Ezek 8:14Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.
- Rom 1:26–27For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
- Gen 19:4–5Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
- 1 Kgs 22:46He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 23:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.