23
2 Kings

Josiah’s Covenant Renewal and Passover

2 Kings 23:1-30
1The king sent and gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2The king went up to the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people from small to great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the scroll of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD. 3The king stood upon the pillar and cut the covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all heart and with all soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written upon this scroll; and all the people stood in the covenant. 4The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the keepers of the threshold to bring out from the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal and for Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and he carried their dust to Bethel. 5He removed the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, the sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the host of heaven. 6He brought the Asherah out from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the torrent of Kidron, and he burned it in the torrent of Kidron and crushed it to dust and threw its dust upon the graves of the sons of the people. 7He tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove houses for Asherah. 8He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had offered incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the ruler of the city, which is on the left of a man in the gate of the city. 9Nevertheless, the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their kindred. 10He defiled the Topheth that is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, so that no man would cause his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 11He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entrance of the house of the LORD, to the chamber of Nathan-melech the eunuch that was in the colonnade, and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire. 12The altars that were upon the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king tore down from there and threw their dust into the torrent of Kidron. 13The king also defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the mount of destruction, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14And he broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah and filled their place with human bones. 15Also the altar that was in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made by which he caused Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down; he burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16Josiah turned and saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them upon the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God had called who called these words. 17He said, "What is this signpost that I see?" And the men of the city said to him, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and called these words that you have done upon the altar of Bethel." 18He said, "Let him rest; let no man shake his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19Also all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke, Josiah removed; he did to them according to all the deeds that he had done in Bethel. 20He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the high places who were there and burned human bones upon them; then he returned to Jerusalem. 21The king commanded all the people: Keep the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the covenant. 22No such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel or throughout the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23Only in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this Passover kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24Also the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah burned, in order to establish the words of the instruction that are written upon the scroll that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25Before him there was no king like him who returned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the instruction of Moses, and after him none arose like him. 26Surely the LORD did not turn from the burning anger of his great anger that burned against Judah because of all the vexations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27The LORD said, "I will also remove Judah from before my face, as I removed Israel, and I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there.'" 28Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 29In his days Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria upon the river Euphrates; King Josiah went to meet him, and he killed him at Megiddo when he saw him. 30His servants carried him dead from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb; the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Key words in this passage

In this passage

People

Cross-references

Study notes

Josiah binds the nation to the scroll’s demands through a public covenant at the temple and then dismantles every trace of foreign worship from Jerusalem to Bethel and Samaria. The reforms reach their climax in an unprecedented Passover observed strictly according to the written instruction. Yet the account places these acts beside the LORD’s unchanged decision to remove Judah because of Manasseh’s earlier provocations. Even the king’s death at Megiddo and the immediate succession of Jehoahaz leave the sentence on city and temple unaltered. The narrative holds together the completeness of one ruler’s return to the covenant with the fixed consequences of accumulated guilt.

What is Josiah’s Covenant Renewal and Passover about?

Josiah gathers the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, leads the priests, prophets, and all the people to the house of the LORD, and reads the scroll of the covenant in their hearing. He then stands on the pillar and binds himself and the nation to keep the commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all heart and soul. What follows is a sweeping campaign that removes the articles made for Baal and Asherah, burns the Asherah outside the city, tears down the houses of male cult prostitutes, defiles the high places from Geba to Beersheba, and extends the same destruction to Bethel and the cities of Samaria. The king also ends the practice of passing children through fire at Topheth and burns the horses and chariots dedicated to the sun.

The immediate tension in these verses is whether the discovery of the scroll can still reverse the consequences of earlier reigns. Josiah acts with unprecedented thoroughness, yet the account notes that the LORD does not turn from the burning anger kindled by Manasseh. The same chapter records both the unparalleled Passover kept in Josiah’s eighteenth year and the king’s death at Megiddo when he meets Pharaoh-neco. These verses therefore show the last concentrated effort to align Judah with the words of the scroll before the monarchy moves into its final decline.

Where does this passage sit in 2 Kings?

Josiah’s actions in these verses pick up directly from the discovery reported in chapter 22. After Hilkiah brings the scroll to the king and the prophetess confirms both the coming disaster and Josiah’s own reprieve, the narrative moves at once to the public reading and the covenant ceremony at the temple. The king’s command to gather elders, priests, prophets, and the whole people repeats the same cast that heard the scroll in private, now assembled for a binding public act.

The reforms that follow extend the earlier purge of chapter 22 outward in widening circles: first the temple vessels, then the high places from Geba to Beersheba, then Bethel and the cities of Samaria. Each stage reuses language already attached to previous kings—articles made for Baal and Asherah, horses given to the sun, altars built by Manasseh and Solomon—yet the scale and thoroughness exceed anything described before. The account of the Passover likewise measures Josiah’s observance against all earlier kings and judges, declaring it without equal.

Immediately after this peak the text records the LORD’s unchanged decision: the burning anger kindled by Manasseh will still remove Judah. Josiah’s death at Megiddo and the swift accession of Jehoahaz close the section by returning the reader to the pattern of royal succession that has governed the book since the division of the kingdoms. The reforms therefore stand as the last concentrated effort to keep the covenant words, yet they do not alter the sentence already pronounced on the city and the house that bears the LORD’s name.

How is the passage structured?

The account opens with a royal summons that draws the elders of Judah and Jerusalem into the capital, followed immediately by the king’s ascent to the temple accompanied by priests, prophets, and the full range of the people. The reading of the discovered scroll occupies a single concentrated moment before the narrative shifts to the king’s public stance upon the pillar and the collective act of covenant cutting. Once the people are said to stand in the covenant, the text moves without pause into a chain of commands that empty the temple of its forbidden articles and carry their remains outside the city.

From the temple the action widens. The king first clears the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem, then extends the purge along the entire length of Judah from Geba to Beersheba. A brief notice records that the high-place priests are barred from the central altar yet still receive a portion of the offerings, marking a limited concession within the larger program of defilement. The campaign then crosses into the Valley of Hinnom to close the site of child sacrifice, removes the solar installations at the temple entrance, and dismantles the rooftop altars of earlier kings. Only after these Jerusalem-centered acts does the narrative turn northward to Bethel, where the altar of Jeroboam is demolished and the bones from nearby tombs are burned upon it in fulfillment of an earlier prophetic word.

A short exchange at the graves interrupts the destruction, after which the same pattern of removal and burning is applied to the high places throughout Samaria. The king returns to Jerusalem, issues the command to keep the Passover, and the text records that no comparable observance had occurred since the period of the judges. The Passover stands as the final positive act before the narrative records the burning of remaining idolatrous objects and supplies the summary verdict on Josiah’s unparalleled devotion. Immediately afterward the account registers the LORD’s unchanged decision to remove Judah, followed by the terse report of the king’s death at Megiddo and the accession of his son.

What is the historical background?

The high places that Josiah targeted ran along the main north-south ridge of Judah from Geba to Beersheba, local shrines that had operated for generations under royal appointment. Priests assigned to these sites burned incense to Baal, the sun, moon, constellations, and the host of heaven; the same officials also maintained Asherah poles and pillars inside or near the temple precinct itself. Removal of these objects followed a consistent pattern: items were carried out, burned in the Kidron torrent east of the city walls, and their ashes scattered on graves or carried as far as Bethel, the former royal sanctuary of the northern kingdom.

Child sacrifice at Topheth in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom belonged to the cult of Molech and had been practiced by earlier kings of Judah. Defiling that site prevented further offerings of sons and daughters. Similar defilement extended to the roof altars built by Ahaz and the two court altars erected by Manasseh, as well as the high places east of Jerusalem dedicated to Ashtoreth of the Sidonians, Chemosh of Moab, and Milcom of the Ammonites. Breaking the pillars and filling the pits with human bones rendered the locations permanently unfit for renewed use.

The covenant ceremony itself drew on older treaty forms in which a king and people publicly bound themselves to written stipulations. Josiah stood on the pillar, a raised platform or designated stone within the temple court, and declared his intention to keep the commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all heart and soul; the assembled people stood with him in the same obligation. The subsequent Passover was ordered according to the same scroll, requiring the festival to be observed only in Jerusalem rather than at local shrines.

Geographically, Megiddo lay on the main route connecting Egypt with the Euphrates, so Josiah’s fatal encounter with Pharaoh-neco occurred at a strategic crossroads. After the king’s death his servants transported the body back to Jerusalem for burial in the royal tomb, and the people of the land immediately anointed and installed Jehoahaz, following established procedures for royal succession.

What does this passage teach about God?

Josiah stands upon the pillar and cuts the covenant before the LORD, binding himself and the people to walk after the LORD and keep his commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all heart and with all soul. The act treats the scroll not as advisory counsel but as the decisive standard that must reorder national life. Every subsequent command flows from this single commitment: the articles made for Baal and Asherah are removed and burned, the high places from Geba to Beersheba are defiled, and the practices attached to the sun, Molech, and foreign deities are dismantled. The reforms therefore treat idolatry as an active rival to the LORD’s claim rather than a harmless supplement.

The same scroll governs the Passover command. Josiah orders the people to keep the festival exactly as written, and the narrative records that no such observance had occurred since the days of the judges. The detail underscores that covenant obedience is measured by fidelity to the written instruction rather than by ancestral custom or royal precedent. At the same time, the thoroughness of the purge reaches even the graves of long-dead priests and the bones of those who served at Bethel, showing that the covenant’s reach extends to every remnant of earlier provocation.

Yet the LORD’s declaration remains unchanged. Because of the vexations with which Manasseh had provoked him, the burning anger does not turn aside, and the LORD states that Judah will be removed from before his face just as Israel was removed. The passage therefore distinguishes between the possibility of genuine return on the part of a king and people and the fixed consequences of accumulated sin. Josiah’s death at Megiddo and the immediate anointing of Jehoahaz further illustrate that even the most complete human obedience cannot reverse the course already set by earlier generations.

What are the interpretive difficulties?

One question that lingers after the reforms is how far the covenant renewal actually alters Judah’s future. Josiah stands on the pillar and binds the people to the scroll’s words, yet verses 26 and 27 state that the LORD’s anger, kindled by Manasseh’s provocations, remains unrelieved. The text records the king’s wholehearted return to the instruction of Moses and then immediately notes that this return does not turn the divine decision to remove Judah. The narrative therefore leaves open whether any later obedience could have reversed that verdict or whether the earlier kings’ actions had already fixed the outcome.

Another point concerns the priests of the high places. After Josiah defiles their sanctuaries from Geba to Beersheba, these priests are barred from the LORD’s altar in Jerusalem yet still receive a share of unleavened bread among their kindred. The account gives no further explanation of their status or whether this arrangement satisfies the requirements of Deuteronomy for Levitical service. Readers must decide whether the provision reflects a practical concession or an unresolved tension within the reform itself.

The account of Josiah’s death at Megiddo also receives no interpretive comment. Pharaoh-neco’s campaign and the king’s fatal encounter are reported without any link to the preceding religious measures. The text simply records that servants bring the body back and that the people install Jehoahaz. Nothing is said about whether this sudden end undercuts the earlier claim that no king had turned to the LORD as Josiah did.

Finally, the uniqueness of the Passover kept in Josiah’s eighteenth year is asserted without comparison to earlier observances. The claim that nothing like it had occurred since the judges stands as a narrative judgment rather than a historical ledger, and the passage supplies no criteria by which later readers could verify or qualify that statement.

Movement by movement

The Covenant Read and Renewed23:1-3

Josiah sends for the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, then leads the entire company—priests, prophets, and people from small to great—up to the house of the LORD. There he reads aloud every word of the scroll found in the temple. The public reading turns the private discovery into a national hearing. The king next stands upon the pillar and cuts the covenant before the LORD, committing himself to walk after the LORD and keep the commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all heart and all soul so that the words written on the scroll will be established. All the people stand in the covenant with him. This act treats the scroll as the binding standard that must reorder the nation’s life. The ceremony does not erase the earlier verdict that Manasseh’s provocations have fixed the course of judgment; it simply places the present generation under the same terms the scroll records.

Clearing Idols from Temple and Judah23:4-14

The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the keepers of the threshold to bring out from the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal and for Asherah and for all the host of heaven. He burned those objects outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their dust as far as Bethel. The same purge reached the pagan priests appointed by earlier kings of Judah, who had burned incense on the high places to Baal, the sun, the moon, the constellations, and the host of heaven. The Asherah itself was hauled from the temple to the torrent of Kidron, burned there, crushed to dust, and scattered over graves. Houses of male cult prostitutes inside the temple precinct were torn down, along with the structures where women had woven coverings for Asherah.

All the priests from the cities of Judah were assembled and the high places they had used were defiled, from Geba in the north to Beersheba in the south. The Topheth in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom was likewise defiled to stop any parent from causing a son or daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. Horses dedicated to the sun at the entrance of the temple were removed, and the chariots of the sun were burned. Altars built on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room and those Manasseh had placed in the temple courts were dismantled and their dust thrown into the Kidron. High places east of Jerusalem that Solomon had erected for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom were defiled, their pillars broken and their Asherim cut down, the sites then filled with human bones.

Destruction at Bethel and in Samaria23:15-20

The altar at Bethel that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built receives the full force of the reform. Josiah tears it down with the high place itself, burns the remains, grinds everything to dust, and sets the Asherah on fire. He then turns to the graves on the mountain, removes bones, and burns them on the altar to defile it according to the word of the LORD that the man of God had called. When he asks about a particular signpost, men of the city identify it as the tomb of the prophet from Judah whose words are now fulfilled. Josiah commands that those bones remain undisturbed alongside the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. He extends the same actions to every high-place house in the cities of Samaria that the kings of Israel had erected to provoke, removing them all. On those altars he slaughters the priests of the high places who served there and places human bones upon them. Only after these steps does he return to Jerusalem. The account records no change in the LORD’s stance toward Judah despite the thoroughness of the work; the earlier verdict tied to Manasseh stands unchanged even as the northern sites are dismantled.

Passover Kept and Remaining Abominations Removed23:21-25

Josiah commanded all the people to keep the Passover to the LORD their God as it is written in this book of the covenant. The command comes after the long series of removals that emptied Judah of its high places, altars, and images, so the festival now stands as the positive act that completes the king’s response to the scroll. No such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel or throughout the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. The notice fixes the event in Josiah’s eighteenth year and locates it in Jerusalem, marking both its rarity and its central character. Josiah also burned the mediums and the spiritists, the teraphim and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. These final objects are destroyed expressly in order to establish the words of the instruction that are written upon the scroll that Hilkiah the priest found. The same verse that records the burning then states that before Josiah no king had returned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the instruction of Moses, and after him none arose like him. The judgment measures Josiah not by the survival of Judah but by the completeness of his turn to the scroll’s demands.

Unrelenting Anger and Josiah's Death23:26-30

Even Josiah’s unmatched return to the LORD with all his heart, soul, and might leaves the burning anger untouched. The text states plainly that the LORD did not turn from that anger because of every vexation Manasseh had provoked. The divine word then declares the coming removal of Judah from before the LORD’s face, the rejection of the chosen city, and the casting aside of the house where the name was to dwell. These two verses stand apart from the preceding account of reforms and the Passover, offering no hint that the covenant ceremony or the destruction of high places alters the verdict already fixed by earlier kings. The narrative next records only the bare facts of Josiah’s death: Pharaoh-neco marched against Assyria, Josiah went to meet him, and he was killed at Megiddo. His servants brought the body back for burial in his own tomb, after which the people of the land anointed Jehoahaz and placed him on the throne. The account supplies no explanation for the fatal encounter and no indication that Josiah’s obedience postponed or softened the outcome already announced. The earlier promise of a peaceful death for the king himself is simply left beside the record of his violent end at Megiddo, preserving the tension between the reforms that were carried out and the judgment that still stands.

Notes accompany the Anselm Project Bible, an AI translation from the original languages. Tap any verse above for the committee's word-level decisions.

Tap a verse