Chapter 23 is the chapter of King Yoshiyahu's purification revolution. After the Sefer Torah is found in the House of Hashem, the king makes a covenant before Hashem and sets out on a comprehensive campaign to eradicate idolatry from Jerusalem, from Yehudah, and from all the borders of Israel: vessels, idolatrous priests, high places, pillars, and asherot, all the way to the altar at Beit El. In this lesson we will follow the Malbim and the commentators through the order of the pesukim, and we will see how a prophecy spoken hundreds of years earlier is fulfilled in every detail, and why specifically the Pesach that was made in the eighteenth year of his reign was unlike any since the days of the Judges.
וַיַּשְׁבֵּת אֶת־הַסּוּסִים אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ מִבֹּא בֵית־יְהֹוָה אֶל־לִשְׁכַּת נְתַן־מֶלֶךְ הַסָּרִיס אֲשֶׁר בַּפַּרְוָרִים וְאֶת־מַרְכְּבוֹת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ שָׂרַף בָּאֵשׁ׃ (יא) - And he did away with the horses that the kings of Yehudah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of the House of Hashem, by the chamber of Netan Melech the officer, which was in the precincts, and he burned the chariots of the sun in fire. (11)
Part of the process of eradicating idolatry was eradicating the sun worshippers. The sun worshippers were people who bowed to the sun, worshippers of the sun. In the early morning hours they would go out from the Temple Mount on horses toward the east, toward Har HaZeitim, toward the place of the sunrise, in order to greet the sun and bow to it. The one in charge of that chamber was Netan Melech the officer, who was an official over the open lands surrounding the city, "which was in the precincts." On "precincts" (parvarim) Rashi says: I do not know what they are. And the Radak explains that parvarim are the open lands of the cities, those tracts surrounding the cities, the "green lungs" of the city, and he was appointed over them.
Two different acts were done here: the horses he "did away with," and the chariots of the sun, those chariots on which they used to ride, he burned in fire in order to nullify the idolatry. The Malbim explains the distinction: the horses are living creatures, and living creatures do not become forbidden. Therefore he did not burn them, and he did not want to commit an act of causing pain to living creatures, but only put a stop to their service, since they themselves do not become forbidden. But the chariots, since they had become an implement used for idolatry and had become forbidden, these he was obligated to burn in fire.
וְאֶת־הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל־הַגָּג עֲלִיַּת אָחָז אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וְאֶת־הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה מְנַשֶּׁה בִּשְׁתֵּי חַצְרוֹת בֵּית־יְהֹוָה נָתַץ הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיָּרָץ מִשָּׁם וְהִשְׁלִיךְ אֶת־עֲפָרָם אֶל־נַחַל קִדְרוֹן׃ (יב) - And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Yehudah had made, and the altars that Menasheh had made in the two courtyards of the House of Hashem, the king broke down, and he hurried from there and cast their dust into the Kidron Valley. (12)
וְאֶת־הַבָּמוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אֲשֶׁר מִימִין לְהַר־הַמַּשְׁחִית אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה שְׁלֹמֹה מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעַשְׁתֹּרֶת שִׁקֻּץ צִידֹנִים וְלִכְמוֹשׁ שִׁקֻּץ מוֹאָב וּלְמִלְכֹּם תּוֹעֲבַת בְּנֵי־עַמּוֹן טִמֵּא הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ (יג) - And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were to the right of the Mount of Corruption, which Shlomo king of Israel had built for Ashtoret the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of Moav, and for Milkom the detestable thing of the children of Amon, the king defiled. (13)
Here a question arises: after all, there were righteous kings before him. Achaz sinned, but after him arose Chizkiyahu; Shlomo built, and after him there were still righteous kings; and Menasheh himself we saw did teshuvah at the end of his days. If so, why did they not eradicate those places? The Malbim explains that Chizkiyahu did indeed put an end to their function, as a righteous king he abolished the idolatrous worship that was done in them, but he did not burn them and was content with abolishing their worship. And so too Menasheh, after he did teshuvah, abolished their worship and did not burn them. Yoshiyahu came and broke them down and burned them.
"The Mount of Corruption" (Har HaMashchit) is Har HaMishchah, which is Har HaZeitim, the Mount of Olives, mishchah from the word for olives and oil. There was the place where the idolatry that Shlomo's wives made was located. Of Shlomo's wives it is written that they turned his heart, and Chazal say: how did they turn his heart? That he made for them places of idolatry in Jerusalem so that they could worship their gods there.
We will not go into explaining Shlomo's deed here, except in a single sentence: Shlomo had a good intention to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty, and the aim was that by marrying wives from all over the world, and specifically daughters of kings, and converting them, they would bear him children who would be educated in his house of study and would be righteous, and each one would return to his land and bring his entire people back in teshuvah. Shlomo understood that within a short period, within twenty or thirty years, he would be able to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty. A very wonderful plan. Except that the Torah said "he shall not multiply wives for himself," and he married a thousand wives and transgressed what the Torah said. The aim was holy and lofty, but the moment Hashem says not to do something, there is no wisdom, no counsel, and no understanding against Hashem, even if the intentions are the very best.
As a result of this he reached a situation in which, in order to keep some of his wives, he was forced to build for them places where they would worship idolatry, so that they would agree to stay. This is "for Ashtoret the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of Moav, and for Milkom the detestable thing of the children of Amon." He himself, Heaven forbid, did not worship and did not believe in this, but it was a compulsion for the sake of his wives. And this is what Chazal said, that his wives did not cause him to sin, yet ultimately they did cause him to sin, since it was forbidden for him to do such a thing.
Another point: Asa and Yehoshafat cleared away all the idolatry that stood before them, but the high places, says the Radak, they did not remove. This is what we saw throughout: "only the high places were not removed, the people still slaughtered and burned incense on the high places." Yoshiyahu shattered even the high places. And why, seeing that on the high places they offered to Hashem? One reason relates to the past: these very high places had in the past been used to offer to idolatry. And a second reason relates to the future: so that they would not offer on them going forward even to Hashem, for once the Beit HaMikdash was built, service on high places was forbidden, and one who offers on a high place is included among those who slaughter outside and is liable for karet, may Hashem save us. So too those places of Ashtoret the abomination of the Sidonim: all of them had become high places for the service of Hashem, and service of Hashem on high places was forbidden, and therefore Yoshiyahu went and uprooted them as well. From here comes the explanation of why the righteous kings before him did not clear away the high places: the high places were the lesser evil, they were for Hashem, and even though the Torah forbade this, it was preferable to their going and actually serving idolatry.
וְשִׁבַּר אֶת־הַמַּצֵּבוֹת וַיִּכְרֹת אֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרִים וַיְמַלֵּא אֶת־מְקוֹמָם עַצְמוֹת אָדָם׃ (יד) - He shattered the pillars and cut down the Asherim, and filled their place with human bones. (14)
The pillar (matzevah) is a stone that they would set up in order to pour oil on it and burn incense upon it, as Yaakov Avinu did for the sake of Hashem. Chazal said that the pillar was beloved in the days of the Avot, but since the Canaanites adopted it and would make a pillar for idolatry, the Torah forbade pillars as well: "and their pillars you shall cut down." Therefore the pillars had to be broken.
He also cut down the Asherim. The Asherah, as we explained, is a tree that would be set up beside the altar built for idolatry, and that tree, as it were, would receive spiritual powers: manifestations of forces of impurity and of demons would descend upon it, since as is known many of the forces of impurity reside in trees.
"And filled their place with human bones": he was not content with breaking and defiling, but rather took out from the graves the bones of the worshippers of the stars and constellations and placed them in those places he had defiled, in order to make the place repulsive, a place of impurity and bones from which people keep their distance, so that no one would ever want to return and renew that idolatry there.
וְגַם אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית־אֵל הַבָּמָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יָרׇבְעָם בֶּן־נְבָט אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱטִיא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל גַּם אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ הַהוּא וְאֶת־הַבָּמָה נָתָץ וַיִּשְׂרֹף אֶת־הַבָּמָה הֵדַק לְעָפָר וְשָׂרַף אֲשֵׁרָה׃ (טו) - Also the altar that was in Beit El, the high place that Yaravam ben Nevat made, who caused Yisrael to sin, that altar too and the high place he tore down, and he burned the high place, ground it to dust, and burned the Asherah. (15)
As we recall, Yaravam ben Nevat used to slaughter and burn incense on the high place in Beit El. Here the text tells us that Yoshiyahu tore down this altar too, even though Beit El was not part of the country of his kingdom: Yoshiyahu reigned in Yehudah, and Beit El was in the portion of Yisrael, in the region of Shomron, where the place of Yaravam was. And even so, even though it was outside the border of Yehudah, he went and cleared away the idolatry from all the territory of Yisrael, and tore everything down. The reason for this we will explain below.
וַיִּפֶן יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ וַיַּרְא אֶת־הַקְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם בָּהָר וַיִּשְׁלַח וַיִּקַּח אֶת־הָעֲצָמוֹת מִן־הַקְּבָרִים וַיִּשְׂרֹף עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וַיְטַמְּאֵהוּ כִּדְבַר יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר קָרָא אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר קָרָא אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה׃ (טז) - Yoshiyahu turned and saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of Hashem that the man of God proclaimed, who had proclaimed these things. (16)
Here we must go back to what we learned in Melachim Aleph chapters 12-13. There we learned that when Yaravam ben Nevat was burning incense upon the altar, a prophet came to him to rebuke him, and his name was Ido. Ido the prophet rebuked him and gave him a sign and an omen: a king will arise whose name is Yoshiyahu, and this king will clear away all the idolatry, and human bones will be burned on the altar upon which you stand and burn incense. And who are these "human bones"? Chazal say: your own bones, Yaravam ben Nevat. Only that he showed honor to royalty and therefore did not say to him explicitly "they will burn your bones," but rather "human bones will be burned upon you."
And if you want to know that my words are true, he said to him, now the altar will be torn apart by the word of Hashem. And so it was: the altar was torn and all the ash upon it was spilled. Yeravam saw that the show had been stolen from him, pointed and said "seize him," and immediately his hand withered. Following this, the Holy One, blessed be He, warned the prophet not to eat bread in the place he was going to, and further warned him not to return by the way he had come.
And there we saw that a false prophet named Chananya ben Azur arrived. He heard from his sons about the miracle and wonder that occurred upon the altar, and it greatly angered him that holiness was succeeding so. He sent to summon him, rode on the donkey until he reached him, and said to him: come sit, return with me and eat bread. He said to him: the Holy One, blessed be He, warned me not to return by the way I am going and not to eat bread. He said to him: yes, but I have now received a prophecy from Hashem who told me to summon you. And he returned with him, and sat and ate at his home. And while eating, the prophecy arrives, and to whom? To the false prophet. From here Chazal learn "great is eating, for it brings near," to such an extent; and what did the eating bring him? It brought him his last meal, it brought him poison, for through this he caused his own death. The Holy One, blessed be He, prophesies to him and tells him that since he did not listen to what he was commanded, he will die. And so it was: the prophet of Hashem returned and rode upon the donkey, and a lion came and killed the prophet but did not harm the donkey.
When the false prophet saw this, he came and eulogized him, and even commanded his sons to bury him in the place where the true prophet Iddo was buried. And why? Because he said to them: I know that what he said will come to pass, and I fear that they will remove even my bones and burn them upon the altar, as the prophet prophesied that they would burn the bones of the Baal worshipers upon the altar. Therefore bury me beside him, for beside him I have protection, since beside him it is certain that no one will go to dig up the grave of the prophet.
And what are "the graves that were there on the mountain"? We explained that they would make cemeteries beside the place of idol worship, just as today they make cemeteries beside churches. Yoshiyahu takes the bones from the graves, as the prophet prophesied, and burns them upon the altar "and he defiled it," for he placed there impure things such as carcasses and the like. "According to the word of Hashem which the man of God proclaimed": just as the man of God proclaimed and prophesied this prophecy, so now the prophecy is being fulfilled, and Yoshiyahu arises and does what the prophet prophesied hundreds of years before him.
וַיֹּאמֶר מָה הַצִּיּוּן הַלָּז אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי רֹאֶה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר הַקֶּבֶר אִישׁ־הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־בָּא מִיהוּדָה וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ עַל הַמִּזְבַּח בֵּית־אֵל׃ (יז) - And he said, what is this monument that I see? And the men of the city said to him, it is the grave of the man of God who came from Yehuda and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Beit El. (17)
What did he see there that was unusual? Chazal say that he saw a grave that on one side had grown entirely with thistles and its face was covered with weeds, and on the other side myrtles and spices were growing. He did not understand how this could be: one grave, on one side thorns and briars and on the other side fragrant plants. He wondered and asked what this was, and they said to him: this is a grave in which a righteous man and a wicked man are buried. The righteous one is Iddo, and the wicked one is Chananya ben Azur who was the false prophet.
And the Radak explains that the grave was different because the false prophet, that old prophet Chananya ben Azur, commanded his sons to make a large monument, something unique, in order to ensure that everyone would know that this is the burial place of the prophet, and through this no one would harm it, for he knew that these things would come to pass.
"And the men of the city said to him" - and how did the men of the city know? They had a tradition from the time the prophet was buried until this time, more than three hundred and fifty years, from son to father. Three hundred and fifty years ago they did not write history books and the like, but they knew through tradition that a prophet had prophesied here that they would in the future remove all these graves and burn their bones upon the altars of the Baal. And so they told him all that had happened, according to the tradition in their hands.
וַיֹּאמֶר הַנִּיחוּ לוֹ אִישׁ אַל־יָנַע עַצְמוֹתָיו וַיְמַלְּטוּ עַצְמוֹתָיו אֵת עַצְמוֹת הַנָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר־בָּא מִשֹּׁמְרוֹן׃ (יח) - And he said, let him be, let no man disturb his bones. So they spared his bones together with the bones of the prophet who came from Shomron. (18)
He said to them: let him be, let no man disturb his bones, for it is a great danger to touch the place where the prophet is buried. And through this "they spared his bones," the bones of the prophet Iddo, and together with them "the bones of the prophet who came from Shomron," referring to Chananya ben Azur, that wicked old man who caused Iddo to sin. And the verse calls even the false prophet by the name "the prophet," and there are opinions that Chananya ben Azur was in the past a true prophet and turned wicked.
וְגַם אֶת־כׇּל־בָּתֵּי הַבָּמוֹת אֲשֶׁר בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַכְעִיס הֵסִיר יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם כְּכׇל־הַמַּעֲשִׂים אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה בְּבֵית־אֵל׃ (יט) - And also all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Shomron, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke, Yoshiyahu removed, and he did to them according to all the deeds that he had done in Beit El.
As we recall, all the kings of Israel were wicked, and there they served all kinds of idolatry, and now Yoshiyahu goes and eradicates the idolatry from the cities of Shomron as well. Yet we mentioned that the cities of Shomron do not belong to him, for he rules over Yehudah, and even so he goes there too. For what reason? Chazal say: because the ten tribes had returned. Yirmiyahu went and brought back the ten tribes, and Yoshiyahu reigned over them. According to this it turns out that the ten tribes that were lost to us were lost only in the second exile, for they were exiled together with us when we went into exile at the destruction of the First Temple, after the first time they had been exiled by Sancheriv. Therefore he now goes to Shomron, for in Shomron people were now living, those who had lived there in the past and returned through Yirmiyahu. This is one explanation, and so Rashi brings from the teaching of Chazal.
And an additional explanation is offered by the Radak: even though the Kutim were dwelling in Shomron and Israel had gone into exile, the high places nevertheless still remained, and he wanted to eradicate the high places so that they would not be a remembrance of sin. And also a small remnant of the common people of Israel still remained there. And so it is also written in Divrei HaYamim, "for out of Ephraim and Menasheh the remnant" in the days of Yoshiyahu: we see that there still remained from Ephraim and Menasheh a remnant of the people of the ten tribes.
וַיִּזְבַּח אֶת־כׇּל־כֹּהֲנֵי הַבָּמוֹת אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם עַל־הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת וַיִּשְׂרֹף אֶת־עַצְמוֹת אָדָם עֲלֵיהֶם וַיָּשׇׁב יְרוּשָׁלָיִם׃ (כ) - And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there upon the altars, and he burned human bones upon them, and he returned to Yerushalayim.
The Malbim makes a precise inference here from the wording of the prophecy of Ido, where it says, "and he shall slaughter upon you the priests of the high places who offer incense upon you, and human bones shall be burned upon you." Now we see that he did not slaughter the priests of the high places upon the altar in Beit El, and why? Because Beit El at that time was already destroyed and there were no priests offering incense upon it. If so, of necessity the prophecy spoke of the cities in the rest of Shomron, for in Beit El there were no longer people, nor any who would offer incense.
And the Malbim asks further: it says there, "for the thing that he called out by the word of Hashem against the altar that is in Beit El and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Shomron shall surely come to pass," but Shomron had not yet been built then, for only afterward did Achav build Shomron, so what does it speak of regarding the houses of the high places in the cities of Shomron? And the answer is that the prophet knew that at the time when they would eradicate the idolatry, there would no longer be people worshipping idolatry in Beit El, for Beit El would by then be destroyed; rather they would be scattered in the cities of Shomron. Therefore it says concerning all the high places in the cities of Shomron that the kings of Israel had made, "and he did to them according to all the deeds that he had done in Beit El."
"And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there": as we said, there still remained there a portion of those wicked ones who persisted in their wickedness, and he slaughters them and burns upon the altars human bones. And what are these "human bones"? The bones of Yeravam. I have not seen this written, but it stands to reason so, based on what the prophet told him, "and human bones shall be burned upon you," which refers to the bones of Yeravam himself. And this is "and he burned human bones upon them," and afterward "and he returned to Yerushalayim."
וַיְצַו הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־כׇּל־הָעָם לֵאמֹר עֲשׂוּ פֶסַח לַיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם כַּכָּתוּב עַל סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית הַזֶּה׃ (כא) - And the king commanded all the people, saying: Make a Pesach to Hashem your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.
כִּי לֹא נַעֲשָׂה כַּפֶּסַח הַזֶּה מִימֵי הַשֹּׁפְטִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁפְטוּ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכֹל יְמֵי מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה׃ (כב) - For there had not been made a Pesach like this one from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Yehudah.
כִּי אִם־בִּשְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה לַמֶּלֶךְ יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ נַעֲשָׂה הַפֶּסַח הַזֶּה לַיהֹוָה בִּירוּשָׁלָיִם׃ (כג) - But in the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyahu this Pesach was made to Hashem in Yerushalayim.
"As it is written in this book of the covenant": as it is written in the Torah. And one must wonder: how can it be said that there had not been made a Pesach like this one since the days of the judges? After all, there were righteous kings: David, Shlomo, Asa, Yehoshafat, Chizkiyahu. "From the days of the judges" is already the era of Shmuel the prophet, and did they not make a Pesach since then? On this there are several explanations.
The Malbim brings one interpretation in the name of the Abarbanel: no Pesach like this had been kept in purity, with the eradication of idolatry and the removal of the high places, until that time. In the days of Shaul, in the days of David, in the days of Shlomo, and up to the days of Chizkiyahu, the high places remained in Israel. Even in the days of Chizkiyahu it is written that not everyone was righteous, for some of them mocked the messengers of King Chizkiyahu. A situation in which everyone kept the Pesach after idolatry had been completely uprooted had not existed since the era of the Judges.
Rashi brings a further interpretation: "there was not kept such a Pesach" means that never had so large a gathering of most of the nation, such a great multitude of all Israel, come together at once to keep the Pesach jointly, since the time of Shmuel. And why specifically the time of Shmuel? Because in his day we saw that he returned Israel to the right path and gathered them at Mitzpah. From that great assembly of people who returned in repentance to do the will of Hashem, there had not been such a situation until the generation of Yoshiyahu.
And another explanation: the emphasis is "this Pesach was kept to Hashem in Yerushalayim." Once the kings of Israel and the kings of Yehudah reigned, the kingdom was divided, and those in Israel would not come to keep the Pesach in Yerushalayim, for he did not allow them to ascend and set up barriers and guards on the roads. Now, however, all of them come to keep the Pesach in Yerushalayim. And how is "all of them" to be understood? This rests on the interpretation Rashi brought above, that Yirmiyahu came and brought back the ten tribes and Yoshiyahu reigned over them, so that now the entire nation of Israel keeps the Pesach together, unlike what had been the case for the past several hundred years.
In this chapter we saw the full scope of Yoshiyahu's revolution: the removal of the horses of the sun and the burning of its chariots, the smashing of the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Achaz and those that Menashe made in the courtyards of the Temple, the defiling of the high places that Shlomo built on the Mount of Olives under pressure from his wives, the breaking of the pillars and the cutting down of the asherot and filling their places with human bones so as to render the site abhorrent forever. We learned Yoshiyahu's innovation in eradicating the high places themselves, on account of the past and on account of the future, and the reason his righteous predecessors were content merely to abolish their service. And above all we saw how the prophecy of Iddo the prophet, spoken in Beit El more than three hundred and fifty years earlier and preserved by tradition from father to son, is fulfilled in every detail by Yoshiyahu, down to the sparing of the grave of the prophet and of the one buried with him. And the culmination of the revolution is the great Pesach in the eighteenth year of his reign, a Pesach the like of which had not been since the days of the Judges: in purity, in the gathering of most of the nation, and in Yerushalayim.