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15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin.[a] He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust, including the Asherah pole.[b] 16 When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought;[c] he burned them on the altar and defiled it, just as in the Lord’s message that was announced by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. Then the king turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.[d] 17 He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet[e] who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:15 tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.
  2. 2 Kings 23:15 tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.
  3. 2 Kings 23:16 tn Heb “and he sent and took the bones from the tombs.”
  4. 2 Kings 23:16 tc The MT is much shorter than this. It reads, “according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.” The LXX has a much longer text at this point. It reads: “[which was proclaimed by the man of God] while Jeroboam stood by the altar at a celebration. Then he turned and saw the grave of the man of God [who proclaimed these words].” The extra material attested in the LXX was probably accidentally omitted in the Hebrew tradition when a scribe’s eye jumped from the first occurrence of the phrase “man of God” (which appears right before the extra material) and the second occurrence of the phrase (which appears at the end of the extra material).sn This recalls the prophecy recorded in 1 Kgs 13:2.
  5. 2 Kings 23:17 tn Heb “man of God.”

15 Even the altar(A) at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam(B) son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah(C) looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance(D) with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

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