The Meaning of 2 Kings 23:16 Explained

2 Kings 23:16

KJV: And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

YLT: And Josiah turneth, and seeth the graves that are there in the mount, and sendeth and taketh the bones out of the graves, and burneth them on the altar, and defileth it, according to the word of Jehovah that the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

Darby: And Josiah turned himself, and saw the sepulchres that were there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah, that the man of God had proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

ASV: And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And as Josiah  turned  himself, he spied  the sepulchres  that [were] there in the mount,  and sent,  and took  the bones  out of the sepulchres,  and burned  [them] upon the altar,  and polluted  it, according to the word  of the LORD  which the man  of God  proclaimed,  who proclaimed  these words. 

What does 2 Kings 23:16 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Kings 23:15-25 - Proving His Whole-Heartedness
Josiah carried his drastic reforms even to Samaria, thus fulfilling a prophecy uttered 350 years before. See 1 Kings 13:2-3. The old leaven having now been cleared out, the Passover could be celebrated. We cannot keep the feast of joy and worship till the work of self-purgation has been undertaken. See 1 Corinthians 5:7. In that great feast some of the ten tribes also joined. There was therefore an affirmation of the spiritual unity of the entire nation, though, like the professing Church of today, it was outwardly in fragments. We must never let go of our belief in the Holy Universal Church, however distracted and divided to outward seeming it may be.
Though these reforms were carried through by the king's strong hand, the generality of the nation remained idolatrous and corrupt, and yielded a feigned rather than a felt repentance. See Jeremiah 3:10; Jeremiah 4:3-4; Jeremiah 4:14; Jeremiah 5:1-3, etc. Therefore judgment could not be averted. External reformation is not enough to secure the permanence of national life. We must rend our hearts rather than our garments, Joel 2:13. There is a sorrow that needs not to be repented of, and a sorrow which "worketh death," 2 Corinthians 7:10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Kings 23

1  Josiah causes the book to be read in a solemn assembly
3  He renews the covenant of the Lord
4  He destroys idolatry
15  He burns dead men's bones upon the altar of Bethel, as was prophesied
21  He keeps a most solemn Passover
24  He puts away witches and all abomination
26  God's final wrath against Judah
29  Josiah, provoking Pharaoh Neco, is slain at Megiddo
31  Jehoahaz, succeeding him,
33  is imprisoned by Pharaoh Neco, who makes Jehoiakim king
36  Jehoiakim's wicked reign

What do the individual words in 2 Kings 23:16 mean?

And as turned Josiah and he saw - the tombs that [were] there on the mountain and he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned [them] on the altar and defiled it according to the word of Yahweh which proclaimed the man of God who proclaimed words these
וַיִּ֣פֶן יֹאשִׁיָּ֗הוּ וַיַּ֨רְא אֶת־ הַקְּבָרִ֤ים אֲשֶׁר־ שָׁם֙ בָּהָ֔ר וַיִּשְׁלַ֗ח וַיִּקַּ֤ח הָֽעֲצָמוֹת֙ מִן־ הַקְּבָרִ֔ים וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ף עַל־ הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ וַֽיְטַמְּאֵ֑הוּ כִּדְבַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרָא֙ אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר קָרָ֔א הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה

וַיִּ֣פֶן  And  as  turned 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: פֹּונֶה 
Sense: to turn.
יֹאשִׁיָּ֗הוּ  Josiah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄאשִׁיָּה 
Sense: son of Amon by Jedidah who succeeded his father to the throne of Judah and reigned for 3 years; his reign is noteworthy for the great revivals back to the worship of Jehovah which he led.
וַיַּ֨רְא  and  he  saw 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַקְּבָרִ֤ים  the  tombs 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: קֶבֶר  
Sense: grave, sepulchre, tomb.
אֲשֶׁר־  that  [were] 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
בָּהָ֔ר  on  the  mountain 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
וַיִּשְׁלַ֗ח  and  he  sent 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַח  
Sense: to send, send away, let go, stretch out.
וַיִּקַּ֤ח  and  took 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
הָֽעֲצָמוֹת֙  the  bones 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine plural
Root: עֶצֶם 
Sense: bone, essence, substance.
מִן־  out 
Parse: Preposition
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
הַקְּבָרִ֔ים  of  the  tombs 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: קֶבֶר  
Sense: grave, sepulchre, tomb.
וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ף  and  burned  [them] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂרַף  
Sense: to burn.
הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ  the  altar 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִזְבֵּחַ  
Sense: altar.
וַֽיְטַמְּאֵ֑הוּ  and  defiled  it 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: טָמֵא 
Sense: to be unclean, become unclean, become impure.
כִּדְבַ֣ר  according  to  the  word 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
יְהוָ֗ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
קָרָא֙  proclaimed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
אִ֣ישׁ  the  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים  of  God 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
קָרָ֔א  proclaimed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
הַדְּבָרִ֖ים  words 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
הָאֵֽלֶּה  these 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, common plural
Root: אֵהֶל 
Sense: these.

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