Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 23:19
And all the houses also of the high places that [were] in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the LORD] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
19. high places that were in the cities of Samaria ] It would seem from this that when the ten tribes had been carried away the king of Judah exercised some sort of authority over the people in the northern kingdom. But the high places in Samaria were most likely the places in which purely heathen idolatry was practised. They therefore differed from the high places in Judah, and to their priests Josiah was more severe than to the Levitical priests who had conducted the worship of Jehovah on the high places in his own kingdom. The injunction to slay idolaters is found in Deu 17:2-5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. That were in the cities of Samaria] Israel had now no king; and Josiah, of the blood royal of Judah, had certainly a direct right to the kingdom; he had, at this time, an especial commission from God, to reform every abuse through the whole land-all that ground that was given by the Lord as an inheritance to the twelve sons of Jacob. Therefore he had every right to carry his plans of reformation into the Samaritan states.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
By what authority he did this, See Poole “2Ki 23:15“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And all the houses also of the high places,…. The temples of the idols there, and the houses for the priests to dwell in:
that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away; particularly in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, unto Naphtali, 2Ch 34:6 the Israelites that remained there acknowledging Josiah as their king; and perhaps, after the defeat of Sennacherib, many of the cities of Israel might put themselves under the protection of Hezekiah, and especially upon the destruction of the Assyrian empire; and Manasseh, with his liberty, might have his kingdom enlarged by the king of Babylon; and which being continued and increased in the times of Josiah, might be the reason of his opposing the king of Egypt in favour of the king of Babylon:
and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel; defiled them, and broke down the altars in them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(19) The houses also of the high placesi.e., temples or chapels attached to the high places.
Josiah took away.Comp. 2Ch. 34:6, from which it appears that the kings zeal carried him as far as Naphtali. The question has been asked, how it was that Josiah was able to proceed thus beyond the limits of his own territory. It is possible that, as a vassal of Assyria, he enjoyed a certain amount of authority over the old domains of the ten tribes. We have no record of either fact, but his opposition to Necho favours the idea that he recognised the Assyrian sovereign as his suzerain. Moreover, it is in itself likely that the remnant of Israel would be drawn towards Judah and its king as the surviving representatives of the past glories of their race, and would sympathise in his reformation, just as the Samaritans, in the times of the return, were eager to participate in the rebuilding of the Temple. (Comp. 2Ch. 34:9.) Another supposition is that, as the fall of the Assyrian empire was imminent, no notice was taken of Josiahs proceedings in the west.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Houses also of the high places Temples erected on heights, and devoted to idolatrous purposes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 23:19. Cities of Samaria City of Samaria; Houbigant. Josiah, perhaps, may be thought by some to have followed the dictates of his zeal rather too far, in destroying the images and altars, and other monuments of idolatry, in the kingdom of Israel, where he had neither any regal nor judicial authority; but it should be remembered, that his authority in this regard was founded upon an ancient prediction, wherein he is particularly named and appointed to this work of reformation by God himself, and that consequently he could not be guilty of an infringement upon another’s right, even though he had no further permission. But the ten tribes, we are to recollect, being now gone into captivity, the ancient right which David and his posterity had to the whole kingdom of Israel, before it was dismembered by Jeroboam and his successors, devolved upon Josiah. The people who escaped the captivity were united with his subjects, and put themselves under his protection; they came to the worship of God at Jerusalem, and, doubtless, gladly complied with the extirpation of idolatry; at which the Cuthites, the new inhabitants of the country, who worshipped their gods in another manner, were not at all offended. The kings of Assyria, it is true, were the lords and conquerors of the country; but from the time of Manasseh’s restoration they seem to have conferred upon the kings of Judah, who might thereupon become their homagers, a sovereignty in all the land of Canaan. So that Josiah, upon various pretensions, had sufficient power and authority to visit the kingdom of Israel, and to purge it from idolatry, as well as his own. See Le Clerc and Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
What a delightful view of Josiah is here given? He first sets his heart to cleanse the temple; and next offers himself and his people to the Lord. And as this passover was typical of Christ, no doubt Josiah and his people had an eye to Jesus in it. And what a delightful testimony the Holy Ghost hath given of it. Surely there never was holden such a passover through all the periods of the history of Canaan. How is Josiah’s memory blessed in this view!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 23:19 And all the houses also of the high places that [were] in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the LORD] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
Ver. 19. And did to them according. ] See on 2Ki 23:15 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD. Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read “Jehovah” in the text.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the houses: 2Ki 17:9, 1Ki 12:31, 1Ki 13:32
the cities: 2Ch 30:6-11, 2Ch 31:1, 2Ch 34:6, 2Ch 34:7
the kings: 2Ki 8:18, 1Ki 16:33, Mic 6:16
to provoke the Lord: 2Ki 17:16-18, 2Ki 21:6, Psa 78:58, Jer 7:18, Jer 7:19, Eze 8:17, Eze 8:18
Reciprocal: 2Ki 17:32 – the houses Hos 8:6 – shall