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2 Kings 23:4-6
New English Translation
2 Kings 23:4-6
New English Translation
4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests,[a] and the guards[b] to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of[c] Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky.[d] The king[e] burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces[f] of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He eliminated[g] the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices[h] on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices[i] to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.) 6 He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it.[j] He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.[k]
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- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “for.”
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
- 2 Kings 23:5 tn Perhaps, “destroyed.”
- 2 Kings 23:5 tn Or “burn incense.”
- 2 Kings 23:5 tn Or “burned incense.”
- 2 Kings 23:6 tn Heb “and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.”
- 2 Kings 23:6 tc Heb “on the grave of the sons of the people.” Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural “graves.” tn The phrase “sons of the people” refers here to the common people (see BDB 766 s.v. עַם), as opposed to the upper classes who would have private tombs.
2 Kings 23:4-6
New International Version
2 Kings 23:4-6
New International Version
4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers(A) to remove(B) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense(C) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.(D) 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley(E) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder(F) and scattered the dust over the graves(G) of the common people.(H)
2 Kings 23:4-6
King James Version
2 Kings 23:4-6
King James Version
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
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