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13 The king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of the Destroyer,[a] which Solomon, king of Israel, had built in honor of Astarte, the Sidonian horror, of Chemosh, the Moabite horror, and of Milcom, the Ammonites’ abomination.(A) 14 He broke to pieces the pillars, cut down the asherahs, and filled the places where they had been with human bones.(B)

15 Likewise the altar which was at Bethel, the high place built by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin—this same altar and high place he tore down and burned, grinding the high place to powder and burning the asherah.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 23:13 Mount of the Destroyer: the name of the mountain in Hebrew is a wordplay. “The Mount of the mashchit” means “the Mount of the Destroyer” or perhaps “the Mount of Destruction.” The word plays on mishchah, “anointment,” and on mashiach, “anointed one,” both of which are references to the ceremony that consecrated the king. The mountain in question was the Mount of Olives, whose trees produced oil for the royal anointing. In the present context, both sides of the wordplay allude to Solomon, the anointed king (mashiach), whose building of non-Yahwistic shrines on this very mountain resulted in the destruction (mashchit) of the Davidic realm (see 1 Kgs 11:4–13). Horror…abomination: all three idols are described with pejorative terms.

13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon(A) king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable(B) god of the people of Ammon.(C) 14 Josiah smashed(D) the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.(E)

15 Even the altar(F) at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam(G) son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.

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