John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 8. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah , etc.] Who were of the sons of Aaron, and had served in the high places there: and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense ; by casting dead carcasses, or the bones of dead men, or dung, or anything that was unclean, into them, by way of contempt: from Geba to Beersheba ; which were the northern and southern boundaries of the land of Judah: and brake down the high places of the gates : of the cities where some think tutelar gods were placed to be worshipped by persons as they went in or out of them: and particularly that which were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city ; of the city of Jerusalem, where this Joshua was chief magistrate under the king; at whose door stood an high place, which, Kimchi thinks, might he greater than the rest, and therefore mentioned alone, yet was not spared on account of its greatness, or of the person to whom it belonged.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 4-14 - What abundance of wickedness in Judah and Jerusalem! One would not have believed it possible, that in Judah, where God was known, in Israel where his name was great, in Salem, in Zion, where his dwelling-plac was, such abominations should be found. Josiah had reigned eightee years, and had himself set the people a good example, and kept u religion according to the Divine law; yet, when he came to search for idolatry, the depth and extent were very great. Both common history and the records of God's word, teach, that all the real godliness of goodness ever found on earth, is derived from the new-creating Spiri of Jesus Christ.
Original Hebrew ויבא935 את853 כל3605 הכהנים3548 מערי5892 יהודה3063 ויטמא2930 את853 הבמות1116 אשׁר834 קטרו6999 שׁמה8033 הכהנים3548 מגבע1387 עד5704 באר שׁבע884 ונתץ5422 את853 במות1116 השׁערים8179 אשׁר834 פתח6607 שׁער8179 יהושׁע3091 שׂר8269 העיר5892 אשׁר834 על5921 שׂמאול8040 אישׁ376 בשׁער8179 העיר׃5892
