2 Kings 23:7
5 Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
6 He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.
8 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate.
9 Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.
- KJV
- And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
- WEB
- He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the LORD’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
- ASV
- And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
- DARBY
- And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, which were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove tents for the Asherah.
- BLB
- And he tore down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that [were] in the house of YHWH, where the women had woven houses for the Asherah.
- ÅB
- Han rev ned tempel-bolernes[^2] huser, som lå like ved Herrens hus, hvor kvinnene vevde småtelt for Astarte.
- OTB
- Han rev også ned husene til de mannlige kultprostituerte som var i Herrens hus, hvor kvinnene vevde hengsler for Ashera.
- B1930
- Han rev ned tempel-bolernes huser, som lå like ved Herrens hus, hvor kvinnene vevde småtelt for Astarte. / < 1KG 14, 24.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ezekiel 16:16
You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!
Read in context1 Kings 15:12
He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
Read in context1 Kings 14:24
There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
Read in contextExodus 35:25–26
Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen.
Read in contextGenesis 19:4–5
Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
Read in contextEzekiel 8:14
Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.
Read in contextRomans 1:26–27
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
Read in context2 Chronicles 34:33
And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Read in context