Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, 2 but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.
23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined 9 the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. 10 He tore down the high place of the goat idols 11 situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.
23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel 13 at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. 14 He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. 15
1 tn Heb “and [on] every good portion they were throwing each man his stone and they filled it.” The vav + perfect (“and they filled”) here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause (where a customary imperfect is used, “they were throwing”). See the note at 3:4.
2 tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”
3 tn Heb “Am I God, killing and restoring life, that this one sends to me to cure a man from his skin disease?” In the Hebrew text this is one lengthy rhetorical question, which has been divided up in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “Indeed, know and see that he is seeking an occasion with respect to me.”
5 tn Heb “and she saw, and look.”
6 tn Or “conspiracy, conspiracy.”
7 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
8 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
9 tn Heb “defiled; desecrated,” that is, “made ritually unclean and unusable.”
10 sn These towns marked Judah’s northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.
11 tc The Hebrew text reads “the high places of the gates,” which is problematic in that the rest of the verse speaks of a specific gate. The translation assumes an emendation to בָּמוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים (bamot hashÿ’arim), “the high place of the goats” (that is, goat idols). Worship of such images is referred to in Lev 17:7 and 2 Chr 11:15. For a discussion of the textual issue, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 286-87.
12 tc The MT reads, “he ran from there,” which makes little if any sense in this context. Some prefer to emend the verbal form (Qal of רוּץ [ruts], “run”) to a Hiphil of רוּץ with third plural suffix and translate, “he quickly removed them” (see BDB 930 s.v. רוּץ, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem [מ] that immediately follows the verb on the form מִשֳׁם, misham, “from there”). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of רָצַץ (ratsats), “crush,” with third plural suffix.
13 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
14 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.
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.