2 Raja-raja 16:15

16:15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar ¹  offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.” ² 

2 Raja-raja 23:8

23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined ³  the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. ⁴  He tore down the high place of the goat idols ⁵  situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.

[16:15]  ¹ tn That is, the newly constructed altar.

[16:15]  ² tn Heb “for me to seek.” The precise meaning of בָּקַר (baqar), “seek,” is uncertain in this context. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189.

[23:8]  ³ tn Heb “defiled; desecrated,” that is, “made ritually unclean and unusable.”

[23:8]  ⁴ sn These towns marked Judah’s northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.

[23:8]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads “the high places of the gates,” which is problematic in that the rest of the verse speaks of a specific gate. The translation assumes an emendation to בָּמוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים (bamot hashÿ’arim), “the high place of the goats” (that is, goat idols). Worship of such images is referred to in Lev 17:7 and 2 Chr 11:15. For a discussion of the textual issue, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 286-87.