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2 Chronicles 34:5

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does 2 Chronicles 34:5 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 34:5 — American Standard Version

Context — 2 Chronicles 34

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
2And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.
4And they brake down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the sun-images that were on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves [of them] that had sacrificed unto them.
5And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
6And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their ruins round about.
7And he brake down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.
8Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Jehovah his God.
← 2 Chronicles 34:42 Chronicles 34:6 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, etc.] On which they sacrificed, in detestation of their idolatry, and to deter from it; and this he did according to the prophecy of him, above three hundred and fifty years before: and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem; from idolatry, and all the monuments of it.”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars--A greater brand of infamy could not have been put on idolatrous priests than the disinterment of their bones, and a greater defilement could not have been done to the altars of idolatry than the burning upon them the bones of those who had there officiated in their lifetime.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“he: Kg1 13:2; Kg2 23:16; Jer 8:1, Jer 8:2 cleansed: Ch2 34:7; Num 35:33; Jer 3:10, Jer 4:14; Eze 22:24 2 Chronicles 34:6”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, i.e., he caused the bones of the idolatrous priests to be taken from their graves and burnt on the spot where the destroyed altars had stood, that he might defile the place with the ashes of the dead. In these words is summarized what is stated in Kg2 23:13 and Kg2 23:14 as to the defilement of the places of sacrifice built upon the Mount of Olives by the bones of the dead, and in Kg2 23:16-20 as to the burning of the bones of the high priests of Bethel, after they had been taken from their graves, upon their own altars. מזבחותים is an orthographical error for מזבּחותם. 2 Chronicles 34:6”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification