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2 Chronicles 34:2 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of his father David, without turning to the right hand or to the left.

Cross Reference

2 Chronicles 29:2 BBE

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.

Deuteronomy 5:32 BBE

Take care, then, to do whatever the Lord your God has given you orders to do; let there be no turning away to the right hand or to the left.

Deuteronomy 17:11 BBE

Acting in agreement with their teaching and the decision they give: not turning to one side or the other from the word they have given you.

Deuteronomy 17:20 BBE

So that his heart may not be lifted up over his countrymen, and he may not be turned away from the orders, to one side or the other: but that his life and the lives of his children may be long in his kingdom in Israel.

Deuteronomy 28:14 BBE

Not turning away from any of the orders which I give you today, to the right hand or to the left, or going after any other gods to give them worship.

Joshua 1:7 BBE

Only take heart and be very strong; take care to do all the law which Moses my servant gave you, not turning from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may do well in all your undertakings.

Joshua 23:6 BBE

So be very strong to keep and do whatever is recorded in the book of the law of Moses, not turning away from it to the right or to the left;

1 Kings 14:8 BBE

And took the kingdom away by force from the seed of David and gave it to you, you have not been like my servant David, who kept my orders, and was true to me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.

1 Kings 15:5 BBE

Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and never in all his life went against his orders, but only in the question of Uriah the Hittite.

2 Kings 22:2 BBE

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of David his father, without turning to the right hand or to the left.

2 Chronicles 14:2 BBE

And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God;

2 Chronicles 17:3 BBE

And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he went in the early ways of his father, not turning to the Baals,

Proverbs 4:27 BBE

Let there be no turning to the right or to the left, keep your feet from evil.

Commentary on 2 Chronicles 34 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 34

2Ch 34:1, 2. Josiah's Good Reign.

1. Josiah was eight years old—(See on 2Ki 22:1). The testimony borne to the undeviating steadfastness of his adherence to the cause of true religion places his character and reign in honorable contrast with those of many of his royal predecessors.

2Ch 34:3-7. He Destroys Idolatry.

3. in the eighth year of his reign—This was the sixteenth year of his age, and, as the kings of Judah were considered minors till they had completed their thirteenth year, it was three years after he had attained majority. He had very early manifested the piety and excellent dispositions of his character. In the twelfth year of his reign, but the twentieth of his age, he began to take a lively interest in the purgation of his kingdom from all the monuments of idolatry which, in his father's short reign, had been erected. At a later period, his increasing zeal for securing the purity of divine worship led him to superintend the work of demolition in various parts of his dominion. The course of the narrative in this passage is somewhat different from that followed in the Book of Kings. For the historian, having made allusion to the early manifestation of Josiah's zeal, goes on with a full detail of all the measures this good king adopted for the extirpation of idolatry; whereas the author of the Book of Kings sets out with the cleansing of the temple, immediately previous to the celebration of the passover, and embraces that occasion to give a general description of Josiah's policy for freeing the land from idolatrous pollution. The exact chronological order is not followed either in Kings or Chronicles. But it is clearly recorded in both that the abolition of idolatry began in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. Notwithstanding Josiah's undoubted sincerity and zeal and the people's apparent compliance with the king's orders, he could not extinguish a strongly rooted attachment to idolatries introduced in the early part of Manasseh's reign. This latent predilection appears unmistakably developed in the subsequent reigns, and the divine decree for the removal of Judah, as well as Israel, into captivity was irrevocably passed.

4. the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them—He treated the graves themselves as guilty of the crimes of those who were lying in them [Bertheau].

5. he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars—A greater brand of infamy could not have been put on idolatrous priests than the disinterment of their bones, and a greater defilement could not have been done to the altars of idolatry than the burning upon them the bones of those who had there officiated in their lifetime.

6. with their mattocks—or, "in their deserts"—so that the verse will stand thus: "And so did [namely, break the altars and burn the bones of priests] he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their deserted suburbs." The reader is apt to be surprised on finding that Josiah, whose hereditary possessions were confined to the kingdom of Judah, exercised as much authority among the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, and others as far as Naphtali, as he did within his own dominion. Therefore, it is necessary to observe that, after the destruction of Samaria by Shalmaneser, the remnant that continued on the mountains of Israel maintained a close intercourse with Judah, and looked to the sovereigns of that kingdom as their natural protectors. Those kings acquired great influence over them, which Josiah exercised in removing every vestige of idolatry from the land. He could not have done this without the acquiescence of the people in the propriety of this proceeding, conscious that this was conformable to their ancient laws and institutions. The Assyrian kings, who were now masters of the country, might have been displeased at the liberties Josiah took beyond his own territories. But either they were not informed of his doings, or they did not trouble themselves about his religious proceedings, relating, as they would think, to the god of the land, especially as he did not attempt to seize upon any place or to disturb the allegiance of the people [Calmet].

2Ch 34:8-18. He Repairs the Temple.

8. in the eighteenth year of his reign … he sent Shaphan—(See on 2Ki 22:3-9).

2Ch 34:19-33. And, Causing the Law to Be Read, Renews the Covenant between God and the People.

19. when the king had heard the words of the law, &c.—(See on 2Ki 22:11-20; 23:1-3).