2 Raja-raja 23:3-4

23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed ¹  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ²  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ³  by carrying out the terms ⁴  of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant. ⁵ 

23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ⁶  and the guards ⁷  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ⁸  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ⁹  The king ¹⁰  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ¹¹  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ¹² 

[23:3]  ¹ tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”

[23:3]  ² tn Heb “walk after.”

[23:3]  ³ tn Or “soul.”

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “words.”

[23:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”

[23:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.

[23:4]  ⁷ tn Or “doorkeepers.”

[23:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “for.”

[23:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).

[23:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.

[23:4]  ¹² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.