2 Raja-raja 23:5

23:5 He eliminated ¹  the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices ²  on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices ³  to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.)

2 Raja-raja 23:2

23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud ⁴  all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.

2 Raja-raja 14:5

14:5 When he had secured control of the kingdom, ⁵  he executed the servants who had assassinated his father. ⁶ 

2 Raja-raja 1:4

1:4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.

Yehezkiel 8:16

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ⁷  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ⁸  were about twenty-five ⁹  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ¹⁰  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ¹¹  toward the east!

[23:5]  ¹ tn Perhaps, “destroyed.”

[23:5]  ² tn Or “burn incense.”

[23:5]  ³ tn Or “burned incense.”

[23:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “read in their ears.”

[14:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure in his hand.”

[14:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father.”

[8:16]  ⁷ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ⁸ sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).

[8:16]  ⁹ tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.

[8:16]  tn Or “exactly twenty-five.”

[8:16]  ¹⁰ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “the sun god.”

[8:16]  sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).