2 Chronicles 34:5
New International Version
He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem.

New Living Translation
He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Berean Standard Bible
Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

King James Bible
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

New King James Version
He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

New American Standard Bible
Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

NASB 1995
Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

NASB 1977
Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
Then Josiah burned the bones of the [pagan] priests on their altars and purged and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Christian Standard Bible
He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

American Standard Version
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

Contemporary English Version
Josiah then had the bones of the pagan priests burned on the altars. And so Josiah got rid of the worship of foreign gods in Judah and Jerusalem.

English Revised Version
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he made Judah and Jerusalem clean.

Good News Translation
He burned the bones of the pagan priests on the altars where they had worshiped. By doing all this, he made Judah and Jerusalem ritually clean again.

International Standard Version
He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, thus purging Judah and Jerusalem.

Majority Standard Bible
Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

NET Bible
He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

New Heart English Bible
He burnt the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

World English Bible
He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and he has burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleanses Judah and Jerusalem,

Young's Literal Translation
and the bones of the priests he hath burnt on their altars, and cleanseth Judah and Jerusalem,

Smith's Literal Translation
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and he will cleanse Judah and Jerusalem.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols, and he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And after that, he burned the bones of the priests upon the altars of the idols. And so did he cleanse Judah and Jerusalem.

New American Bible
and the bones of the priests he burned upon their altars. Thus he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard Version
He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And the bones of the priests who served them, he dug out of their graves and brought them and burned them, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And the bones of the Priests who were working for them he dug from their graves, and he brought and he burned them and purified Yehuda and Jerusalem
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon the altars, and purged Juda and Jerusalem.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Josiah Destroys Idolatry
4Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6Josiah did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them.…

Cross References
2 Kings 23:20
On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

1 Kings 13:2
And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”

2 Kings 23:16-18
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who had foretold these things. / Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.” / “Let him rest,” said Josiah. “Do not let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, along with those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

Jeremiah 8:1-2
“At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. / They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.

1 Kings 13:32
for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”

2 Kings 23:24
Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.

Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

Exodus 32:20
Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.

Leviticus 26:30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.

1 Kings 14:10
Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!

2 Kings 21:3-5
For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven. / Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.” / In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven.

2 Kings 21:12-15
this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it. / I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down. / So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, ...

2 Kings 22:17
because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’

2 Kings 23:4-5
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. / 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.

2 Kings 23:6
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.


Treasury of Scripture

And he burnt the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

he

1 Kings 13:2
And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

2 Kings 23:16
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.

Jeremiah 8:1,2
At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: …

cleansed

2 Chronicles 34:7
And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

Numbers 35:33
So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

Jeremiah 3:10
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

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2 Chronicles 34
1. Josiah's good reign
3. He destroys idolatry
8. He takes order for the repair of the temple
14. Hilkiah, having found a book of the law,
21. Josiah sends to Huldah to enquire of the Lord
23. Huldah prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem, but respite thereof in Josiah's time
29. Josiah, causing it to be read in a solemn assembly, renews the covenant with God














Then he burned the bones of the priests
This phrase refers to King Josiah's actions during his religious reforms. The Hebrew word for "burned" is "שָׂרַף" (saraph), which implies a complete destruction by fire. This act was a symbolic gesture of purging idolatry from the land. The "priests" mentioned here were not Levitical priests but those who served at the high places, which were unauthorized sites of worship. Historically, this act was a fulfillment of the prophecy given in 1 Kings 13:2, where a man of God predicted that a king named Josiah would defile the altar at Bethel. By burning the bones, Josiah was making a public statement against the idolatrous practices that had infiltrated Judah and Israel.

on their altars
The "altars" refer to the places where sacrifices were made to false gods. The Hebrew word "מִזְבֵּחַ" (mizbeach) is used for altars, which were central to worship practices. Archaeological findings have uncovered various altars throughout ancient Israel, often associated with Canaanite deities. By desecrating these altars, Josiah was not only fulfilling prophecy but also demonstrating a return to the worship of Yahweh alone. This act was a direct challenge to the syncretism that had plagued the nation, emphasizing the need for purity in worship.

So he cleansed
The Hebrew root for "cleansed" is "טָהֵר" (taher), which means to purify or make clean. This cleansing was both physical and spiritual, as Josiah sought to remove the defilement of idolatry from the land. In a broader biblical context, cleansing is often associated with repentance and a return to covenant faithfulness. Josiah's reforms were a call to the people of Judah to renew their commitment to the Lord, aligning with the Deuteronomic emphasis on covenant renewal and obedience.

Judah and Jerusalem
"Judah" and "Jerusalem" represent the southern kingdom and its capital, the heart of the Jewish nation. Jerusalem, in particular, held significant religious importance as the location of the Temple, the center of Yahweh worship. By cleansing both Judah and Jerusalem, Josiah was ensuring that the entire kingdom was rid of idolatrous practices. Historically, this was a time of national revival, as Josiah's reforms led to a renewed focus on the Law of Moses and the proper worship of God. This cleansing was a pivotal moment in the history of Judah, setting the stage for the spiritual renewal that would follow.

(5) And he burnt . . . upon their altar.--See 2Kings 23:13-14; 2Kings 23:16; 2Kings 23:20 for details. Literally, and bones of priests he burnt. They were bones taken from the graves of the idolatrous priests, who were thus punished, while their altars were irreparably defiled. (For the horror with which such a violation of the dead was then regarded, see Amos 2:1.)

And cleansed (i.e., "purged," 2Chronicles 34:3) Judah and Jerusalem.--This phrase does not occur at all in the parallel account. . . .

Verse 5. - Note herein the striking fulfilment of 1 Kings 13:1-3, of which our parallel (2 Kings 23:12-14, 16-20) gives a more detailed account, especially as regards Israel, though not failing to recognize Judah and Jerusalem's share in the need of purgation and punishment.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then he burned
שָׂרַ֖ף (śā·rap̄)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8313: To be, on fire

the bones
וְעַצְמוֹת֙ (wə·‘aṣ·mō·wṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 6106: A bone, the body, the substance, selfsame

of the priests
כֹּֽהֲנִ֔ים (kō·hă·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3548: Priest

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

their altars.
מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֑ם (miz·bə·ḥō·w·ṯām)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4196: An altar

So he cleansed
וַיְטַהֵ֥ר (way·ṭa·hêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2891: To be clean or pure

Judah
יְהוּדָ֖ה (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites

and Jerusalem.
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (yə·rū·šā·lim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel


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OT History: 2 Chronicles 34:5 He burnt the bones of the priests (2 Chron. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr)
2 Chronicles 34:4
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