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.
2 KINGS 23:6KJVWhat does 2 Kings 23:6 mean?
2 Kings 23:6 describes how King Josiah removed an object called "the grove" from the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, took it outside the city to the Kidron Valley, burned it, crushed it into powder, and scattered the remains on the graves of common people. This action was part of Josiah’s efforts to get rid of idol worship and restore proper worship of God.
The verse takes place during King Josiah’s religious reforms in Judah. Josiah is personally overseeing the removal of objects used for worshipping other gods from the temple, which had been corrupted over time. The “grove” refers to an image or symbol associated with the goddess Asherah, and destroying it so thoroughly shows Josiah’s determination to eliminate all traces of idol worship from the land.
The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 23:6
- "grove" (אֲשֵׁרָה, ʾăshērāh): This word refers to a wooden idol or a sacred pole representing the Canaanite goddess Asherah. Its presence in the temple shows how far idol worship had entered Israel’s religious life, and its destruction is a key part of Josiah’s reforms.
- "house" (בַּיִת, bayit): This is the Hebrew word for "house," here meaning the temple, the central place of worship for the LORD (יהוה, YHWH). The fact that the Asherah image was inside the temple highlights the seriousness of the corruption Josiah was addressing.
- "burned" (שָׂרַף, saraph): This word means to burn or destroy by fire. Burning the Asherah image was a way to make sure it could never be used again.
- "powder" (עָפָר, ʿāphār): This means dust or fine powder. Josiah did not just burn the idol; he ground it to dust, showing complete destruction.
Why 2 Kings 23:6 matters
- The verse clears up that Josiah’s reforms were not just about removing idols but about destroying them completely, so they could not be restored or reused.
- It emphasizes how deeply idol worship had penetrated, even into the temple itself, and how determined Josiah was to restore true worship.
- The scattering of the idol’s remains on graves may have been meant to defile the idol further, making it unfit for any future use, and to show contempt for the false worship it represented.