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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
23:6 the grove. The “grove” in the house of the Lord was obviously not a group of trees. The Hebrew word is asherah. There are indications that tree stumps in these groves were carved with various lewd figures and that the prostitute priestesses and priests of Baal led in ritualistic sexual activities in the groves, thereby encouraging the “worshippers” to do likewise. Thus the asherah became identified with wooden images associated with Baal’s fertility rites, and the same name thus became identified with the god’s female consort. For such a wooden image of Asherah or Ashtoreth (equivalent also to Astarah) to be installed in the house of the Lord, with all her immoral ceremonies carried out there, was indeed the height of blasphemy and had certainly incurred God’s wrath.
23:10 Hinnom. The highlight of King Josiah’s reforms was his elimination of child sacrifice by “defiling” the valley of Hinnom, where children had regularly been forced to pass through the fire burning in the outstretched arms of the “god” Molech. The valley was made the garbage dump of the city, and kept continually burning, having the perpetual appearance of an eternal lake of fire. The valley’s name finally became the name gehenna, meaning “hell,” the lake of fire “prepared for the devil” and all those who reject God’s salvation through Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:15).
23:15 altar that was at Beth-el. This was the altar at which Jeroboam had proposed to center the worship activities of the ten-tribe nation of Israel which he was establishing (I Kings 12:28,29), and which led Israel away from the Lord. It was by this altar that an unknown prophet had said that the altar and its priests would eventually be destroyed by a man named Josiah (I Kings 13:1-3).
23:16 polluted it. This event was the fulfillment of a remarkable prophecy (I Kings 13:2) uttered 350 years before.
23:22 such a passover. It is remarkable that, except for the Passover feast held under the brief revival of Hezekiah a century earlier (II Chronicles 30), there is no mention of any Passover observance in either the northern or southern kingdom since the days of Samuel some five hundred years before (II Chronicles 35:18). Yet the Passover had been ordained by God as an everlasting ordinance to be kept each year for a memorial, to keep alive the memory of the divine deliverance at the foundation of their national existence (Exodus 12:24-27). Whether Israel’s neglect of the Passover was a cause or an effect of their recurring national apostasy, it certainly highlighted it, illustrating the vital importance of keeping alive the true understanding of our origins, whether of the world as a whole (Exodus 20:8-11) or of one’s nation and family. It is possible, however, that the Passover custom had been retained as a ritualistic observance of tradition, even if its spiritual significance had been forgotten. When the rediscovered Scriptures were found to describe its origin and meaning, the result was a true Passover celebration.
23:25 with all his heart. Josiah indeed served the Lord with total dedication, doing all he could to cleanse the land of all the evils that had been polluting it for centuries—ever since Solomon, in fact (note II Kings 23:13). The revival of the nation as a whole, however, was only superficial for, as soon as Josiah died, his son and the people returned to their former ways.
23:29 against the king of Assyria. The word translated “against” (Hebrew qara) is more commonly translated “to meet,” which is probably the intent here. That is, Pharaoh-necho was intending to assist the Assyrians against the Babylonians, who had already taken Nineveh. It is probable that Josiah wanted to prevent them from reaching the Assyrians, who had been such a problem to Judah. As it turned out, the Babylonians won a great victory over both the Assyrians and Egyptians at Carchemish, essentially marking the end of the great Assyrian empire.
23:29 he slew him. Josiah had been prophetically warned not to interfere in the Egyptian advance (II Chronicles 35:21). He ignored the warning, however, and died in the battle.
23:33 Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands. Although Pharaoh-nechoh was defeated by the Babylonians, he had in the meantime been victorious over Judah, and put the land to tribute, placing Eliakim (or Jehoiakim) on Judah’s throne. It was only a short while, however, before Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians would take over Judah.