2 Kings 23:20 — compare Bible translations

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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ ἐθυσίασε πάντας τοὺς ἱερεῖς τῶν ὑψηλῶν τοὺς ὄντας ἐκεῖ ἐπὶ τῶν θυσιαστηρίων, καὶ κατέκαυσε τὰ ὀστᾶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπʼ αὐτὰ, καὶ ἐπεστράφη εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.
(Kai ethusiase pantas tous hiereis tōn hupsaʸlōn tous ontas ekei epi tōn thusiastaʸriōn, kai katekause ta osta tōn anthrōpōn epʼ auta, kai epestrafaʸ eis Hierousalaʸm.)

BrTr And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places that were there on the altars, and burnt the bones of men upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

ULT And he sacrificed on the altars all of the priests of the high places who, were there, and he burned bones of man on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

UST Josiah also ordered his servants to kill all the priests of those hilltop shrines right on the altars where they had offered sacrifices to false gods. Then he had them burn human bones on those altars so that no one could use them for worship again. After that, Josiah went back to Jerusalem.

BSB On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

OEB No OEB KI2 23:20 book available

WEBBE He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burnt men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

NET He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

LSV And he slays all the priests of the high places who [are] there by the altars, and burns the bones of man on them, and turns back to Jerusalem.

FBV Josiah slaughtered all the priests who were there at the high places on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

T4T He ordered that all the priests who offered sacrifices on the altars on the tops of hills must be killed on those altars. Then he burned human bones on every one of those altars to desecrate them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

LEB Then he slaughtered all of the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and he burned the bones of the humans on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

BBE And all the priests of the high places there he put to death on the altars, burning the bones of the dead on them; and then he went back to Jerusalem.

Moff No Moff KI2 23:20 book available

JPS And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

ASV And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

DRA And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there, upon the altars: and he burnt men’s bones upon them: and returned to Jerusalem.

YLT And he slayeth all the priests of the high places who [are] there by the altars, and burneth the bones of man upon them, and turneth back to Jerusalem.

Drby And he sacrificed upon the altars all the priests of the high places that were there, and burned men's bones upon them. And he returned to Jerusalem.

RV And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
(And he slew/killed all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burnt men’s bones upon them; and he returned to Yerusalem.)

SLT And he will sacrifice all the priests of the heights which were there upon the altars, and he will burn the bones of man upon them, and he will turn back to Jerusalem.

Wbstr And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

KJB-1769 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.[fn]
(And he slew/killed all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burnt men’s bones upon them, and returned to Yerusalem.)

23.20 slew: or, sacrificed

KJB-1611 And he [fn]slew all the priests of the high places that were there, vpon the altars, and burnt mens bones vpon them, and returned to Ierusalem.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

23:20 Or, sacrificed.

Bshps And he sacrifised all the priestes of the high places that were there, euen vpon the aulters, and burnt mens bones vpon them, and returned to Hierusalem.
(And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men’s bones upon them, and returned to Yerusalem.)

Gnva And he sacrificed all the Priests of the hie places, that were there vpon the altars, and burnt mens bones vpon them, and returned to Ierusalem.
(And he sacrificed all the Priests of the high places, that were there upon the altars, and burnt men’s bones upon them, and returned to Yerusalem.)

Cvdl And all ye prestes of the hye places that were there, offred he vp vpon the altares, and so brent he mens bones theron, and came agayne to Ierusalem.
(And all ye/you_all priests of the high places that were there, offered he up upon the altars, and so burnt he men’s bones thereon, and came again to Yerusalem.)

Wycl And he killide alle the preestis of hiye thingis, that weren there on the auteris, and he brente mennus boonus on tho auteris; and he turnede ayen to Jerusalem;
(And he killed all the priests of high things, that were there on the altars, and he burnt men's bones on those altars; and he turned again to Yerusalem;)

Luth Und er opferte alle Priester der Höhen, die daselbst waren, auf den Altären; und verbrannte also Menschenbeine drauf. Und kam wieder gen Jerusalem.
(And he sacrificed all priest(s) the/of_the heights, the there were, on/in/to the altars; and burnt also human_bones on_it. And came again to/toward Jerusalem.)

ClVg Et occidit universos sacerdotes excelsorum qui erant ibi super altaria, et combussit ossa humana super ea: reversusque est Jerusalem.
(And killed in_the_universes priests of_the_heights who/which they_were there over altars, and burnt bones human over them: and_returned it_is Yerusalem.)

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Josiah’s Reforms throughout Judah and Israel

2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles

If ever there was a point in biblical history when the worship of Yahweh seemed all but extinguished, it was during the years leading up to King Josiah’s birth. Yet it was against this incredibly dark backdrop that the Lord raised up Josiah of Judah to bring about one of the greatest spiritual reforms his nation had ever seen. Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh, one of the most wicked and idolatrous kings of Judah (2 Kings 21:1-9; 2 Chronicles 33:1-9), though Manasseh later repented (2 Chronicles 33:12-19), and the son of Amon, another wicked, idolatrous king (2 Kings 21:18-22; 2 Chronicles 33:20-23). After his father’s death, Josiah became king at the young age of eight, so perhaps it was this lack of influence from his wicked father during some of his most formative years as a leader that enabled him to become such a force for spiritual renewal throughout Judah. Whatever the reason for his spiritual fervor, Josiah’s passion also coincided with a period of Assyrian decline, which allowed him to expand his renewal even to the lands once ruled by the northern kingdom of Israel. Josiah began his reforms by commissioning repairs to be made to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. During these repairs, the book of the law, likely the book of Deuteronomy, was found in the Temple and brought to Josiah. When Josiah read the book, he tore his clothes in anguish over the punishment that surely awaited the nation for their disobedience to the laws of Moses. He called for all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to gather by the pillar of the Temple, and he read the law to them as well and led them to establish a new covenant to follow the laws of Moses. Josiah then began a great purge of idolatry throughout Jerusalem, Judah, and even Israel. Utensils used for pagan worship were removed from the Temple in Jerusalem and burned in the Kidron Valley, and their ashes were carried to Bethel. The image of Asherah was also removed and burned in the Kidron Valley, and the remains were ground to dust and spread over graves of the common people. The houses of the male prostitutes in the Temple area were also broken down. The horses and chariots dedicated to the sun by the kings of Judah were removed, and the chariots were burned. The altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz and the altars that Manasseh had made in Temple courtyard were pulled down and broken in pieces, and the rubble was thrown into the Kidron Valley. A place called Topheth in the Hinnom Valley was defiled so that no one would make a son or daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech. Just east of Jerusalem the high places built by King Solomon for his pagan wives on the Mount of Corruption (also called the Mount of Olives; 1 Kings 11:7-8) were defiled. Josiah’s reforms throughout Judah included putting away the mediums, wizards, teraphim, idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land. At Bethel he tore down the altar and the high place erected by Jeroboam son of Nebat. He burned the high place, crushing it to dust, and burned the sacred pole. There he also saw tombs of people who must have been associated with the pagan rituals there, so he removed the bones and burned them on the altar, thus defiling it, as was prophesied years earlier (1 Kings 13:1-10). Josiah then extended his reforms to lands that formerly belonged to Israel but were now directly governed by Assyria. Throughout the towns of Samaria all the shrines of the high places were removed, the priests of the high places were slaughtered on the pagan altars, and their bones were burned on them. Throughout the rest of the land of Israel and Judah–in Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali–Josiah also broke down the altars, ground the sacred poles and images into powder, and demolished all the incense altars. When Josiah returned to Jerusalem, he celebrated the Passover in a way that exceeded all the Passover celebrations since the time of the Judges.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Final Campaign against Judah

2 Kings 23:19-25:30; Jeremiah 39

The final collapse of the southern kingdom of Judah as an independent nation came at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 B.C. Judah had already become a vassal of Egypt in 609 B.C. when King Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo (see “Josiah Battles Neco” map). Then in 605 B.C., after Egypt and Assyria were defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, Judah’s vassal loyalty transferred to Babylon. At that time, some of the Judean nobility were sent into exile, including Daniel and his friends (Daniel 1:1-7). Several years later in 597 B.C. a second exile occurred in retaliation for King Jehoiakim’s refusal to continue paying tribute to Babylon, and this likely included the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:1-3). Finally, in 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar conquered many of the fortified towns throughout Judah and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple after King Zedekiah refused to submit to his Babylonian overlords any longer. Nebuchadnezzar began this campaign into Judah by heading south along the Great Trunk Road and dividing his forces near Aphek, sending some of them to Jerusalem from the north and others from the southwest. At some point during his siege of Jerusalem, King Hophra of Egypt advanced toward Judah to support Judah’s rebellion against Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege to confront Hophra (Jeremiah 37:5-8). It is unclear exactly what transpired between Hophra’s forces and Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, but apparently Hophra’s forces returned to Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar’s forces returned to finish besieging Jerusalem. When the Babylonians finally breached the main northern wall, it became clear that all hope was lost, and King Zedekiah and his sons fled on horseback through a gate at the southeastern corner of Jerusalem (see “Jerusalem during the Early Old Testament” map). They followed the Ascent of Adummim toward Jericho, perhaps seeking to escape to Ammon, but the Babylonians captured Zedekiah and his sons on the plains of Jericho and sent them to Riblah. There they killed Zedekiah’s sons, blinded Zedekiah, and sent him to Babylon to die in exile. After completely destroying Jerusalem and the Temple, the Babylonians sent many other Judean nobles and their families to Babylon (see “Judah Is Exiled to Babylon” map) and appointed a Judean named Gedaliah as governor over the region at Mizpah, thus bringing an end to the independent kingdom of Judah. Around this time it also appears that the Edomites took advantage of Judah’s vulnerable situation and captured territory for themselves in the Negev. In response, the prophets Obadiah and Ezekiel pronounced blistering curses upon the Edomites (Obadiah 1:1-21; Ezekiel 25:12-14).

Parallel 2 KI 23:20

Josiah’s Reforms throughout Judah and Israel

Nebuchadnezzar’s Final Campaign against Judah

Parallel 2 KI 23:20