{"id":64284,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:49","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-332\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T08:51:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T05:51:58","slug":"wall-332","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-332\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-II Kings-23"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"332","date":"20261207","book":"II Kings","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"332","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"63722","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - 2 Kings Chapter 23      ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - 2 Kings Chapter 23","slug":"jps-audio-bible-2-kings-chapter-23","old_id":"63722","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"2 Kings Chapter 23","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_2_Kings_Chapter_23","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"332","date":"20261207","wall_id":"332"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"114854","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Point of No Return ","post_title":"The Point of No Return","slug":"the-point-of-no-return","old_id":"114854","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah.  Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Despite extensive reforms, there\u2019s no averting the evil decree\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout the books of Kings there have been many accounts of idol worship - whether Baal, Molech, Asherah, or others. Chapter 23 goes into excruciating detail over the various types of idol worship that Josiah destroyed:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 4- Baal, Asherah, constellations in the Temple.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 5- idolatrous priests, incense burners, Baal, Asherah, moon, sun, constellations in the city proper.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 6- The official Temple Asherah tree.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 7- Asherah tent city where women wove coverings for Asherah worship and Asherah prostitutes lived.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 8- More priests, altars destroyed at the city entrances, including by the mayor of the city.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 10- The Topheth fire pit used for Molech worship.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 11- Horses and chariots used for sun worship.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 12- Royal idol worship altars in the palace and Temple.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 13- Altars that Solomon built to Asherah (Phoenicians), Chomesh (Moav), and Milcom (Ammon).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 14- Worship pillars and more Asherah trees.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 15- The golden calves and altars set up by Jeroboam in the North and Asherah trees.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 19- Altars and houses of idol worship in the North.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 20- Priests who still worshiped in the North.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 24- soothsayers, necromancers, and house idols.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Josiah\u2019s destruction of the golden calves fulfills the prophecy made in I Kings 19. This fulfillment, though, raises more questions about that prophecy. Why would God send a prophet to foretell the destruction of the calves far into the future, and well after the exile of the North? The destruction of the idols set up by Solomon in Verse 13 implies that these idols lasted even longer than the golden calves set up by Jeroboam. Why didn\u2019t God rail against these long-lasting idols just like the golden calves? Why does the chapter take such pains to go through all the different types of idol worship?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is possible that all three of these things are connected. Usually, if something is going to happen that has consequences for the near-term, the sign should also be something near-term. The fact that the prophecy regarding the golden calves was something well after the expulsion of the North is indicative of the fact that it did not matter. The punishment was locked in and the man of God knew that these idols would be the death knell of the North. The sign was not that they would be destroyed to show they were wrong, but that they would outlast the destruction of the North.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, God did not have to single out Solomon\u2019s idols, because the nation and the king had already been punished for them. God had split the unified kingdom. Finally, the tragedy of Josiah\u2019s campaign is that it was so extensive and yet it was too late. The decree has already been set and even his extensive campaign only stalled the destruction until after he died. All three instances tell of a nation that had already passed the point of no return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":114855,"alt":"","title":"-6460ef568b0cb--6460ef568b0cc2kings23-no 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Point of No Return","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Despite extensive reforms, there\u2019s no averting the evil decree","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":114855,"alt":"","title":"-6460ef568b0cb--6460ef568b0cc2kings23-no 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Kings","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"332","date":"20261207","wall_id":"332"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"942","name":"Josiah","old_id":"1342"}]},{"order":3,"id":"64507","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Who\u2019s Who Of Ancient Idolatry    ","post_title":"A Who\u2019s Who Of Ancient Idolatry","slug":"a-whos-who-of-ancient-idolatry","old_id":"64507","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And an interesting sympathetic reading of the bamot (high places)\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter spares no detail in describing the efforts of King Josiah to eliminate all vestiges of idolatry from his kingdom. So much so, in fact, that it reads like a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of ancient Near Eastern religions. Here\u2019s a sampling:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll the objects made for Baal and Asherah and all the host of heaven\u2026 the sun and moon and constellations\u201d (4-5);<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTopheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no one might consign his son or daughter to the fire of Molech\u201d (10);<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe shrines (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) facing Jerusalem\u2026 which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites\u201d (13);<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe altar in Bethel [and] the shrine (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) made by Jeroboam son of Nebat\u201d (15);<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll the cult places (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) in the towns of Samaria\u201d (19).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gersonides (Ralbag) addressed the attribution of \u201cshrines\u201d to Solomon, observing that they were actually introduced by Solomon\u2019s foreign wives (see 1 Kings 11:1 ff.), but were ascribed to him because he tolerated them. Radak was troubled by the failure of several of Josiah\u2019s righteous predecessors (e.g., Asa and Jehoshaphat) to remove the idols and intimated that their tolerance of the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (high places) was nigh idolatrous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We ought to note that while the other forms of worship listed here are clearly idolatrous, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (high places), while prohibited once the Temple was established, were used to serve God. In this regard, a most unusual interpretation of the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was offered by the Netziv (R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, 1816-1893), who presumed that they were born of an irresistible, yet positive, impulse to serve God. After Jeroboam prohibited pilgrimage to Jerusalem and established the golden calves in Dan and Beersheba, people could not reconcile themselves to never again sacrificing to God. Hence, in conscious violation of strict Torah law, they persisted to worship God at the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bamot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The Netziv likened their behavior to that of the 250 elders who mimicked Aaron\u2019s offering of incense (Numbers 16-17)\u2014 knowing fully well that it would cost them their lives\u2014 because they could not resist the impulse to be so close to God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: William Blake, The Golden Calf, 1800 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64508,"alt":"","title":"2kings23-William_Blake- 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Who\u2019s Who Of Ancient Idolatry","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And an interesting sympathetic reading of the bamot (high places)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64508,"alt":"","title":"2kings23-William_Blake- 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Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He marshals all his heart, soul and might to fuse politics and law into an ideal regime","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The familiar commandment to love God recited daily in the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shema<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> demands an all embracing commitment of the self toward God which no other love entails, including that of loving one\u2019s neighbor. Uniquely Deuteronomy mandates a saturating love of God <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(6:5; 10:12).In the entire history of biblical monarchy only King Josiah is characterized in the language of the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Shema<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by his exceptional <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>turn to God with all his heart and all his soul and all his might according to the entire Teaching (Torah) of Moses<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(2Kings 23:25).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The chapter prefaces this accolade of supreme dedication with a lengthy record of approximately twenty verses detailing Josiah's radical extirpation of idolatry in all its forms. He eradicated, banished, demolished, and defiled every single vestige of its presence within his jurisdiction. He located and razed every possible monument, symbol, and venue of idolatrous worship and sacrifice including shrines, altars, fetishes, and images literally pulverizing much of it into dust. Only the God of Israel (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YHVH<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) remained as the sole viable option for sacred devotion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, King Josiah who is the sole biblical embodiment of conduct imbued with \u201call of the heart, soul, and might\u201d actualizes externally what the love of God demands internally- a space that is so God-suffused that it leaves no room for anything else but God. Verse 25 commences with the singularity of Josiah among the kings <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>since there was no other king like him previously<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in this unmitigated devotion of heart, soul, and might. The instrument of his impassioned fidelity to God is the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Torah of Moses<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which presents another striking image of identity distinguishing him from all his royal predecessors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In their thirst for power the other kings projected a persona distinct from the Torah that, in accordance with law of the king in Deuteronomy 17, was to accompany the king in all his monarchic capacities. While they presented a disjuncture between their authority and the Torah's, Josiah's governance projected a merger of the throne and the Torah. He fused politics and law into an ideal regime where the king's personal identity is overwhelmed by the constitution which he represents.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Josiah's incomparable devotion to God then, driven by the same existential ingredients of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">heart, soul, and might<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, offers a paradigm for what the love of Deut. 6:5 entails: the absolute submergence of identity in the divine object of love leaving no other object within the purview of the lover. Occupying the uppermost echelons of power and dominance, the king must marshal supreme exertion in order to suppress a personality that is most prone to self- aggrandizement. Josiah's model militates against the monarchic current whose tendency was to subjugate others rather than submit themselves to a higher authority.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64511,"alt":"","title":"2kings23-josiah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","width":300,"height":168,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah-300x168.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":168,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":168,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":168,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":168,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":168,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":168,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":168}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Josiah, The 'Shema' King\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He marshals all his heart, soul and might to fuse politics and law into an ideal regime","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64511,"alt":"","title":"2kings23-josiah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","width":300,"height":168,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah-300x168.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":168,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":168,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":168,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":168,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":168,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":168,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings23-josiah.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":168}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"332","date":"20261207","wall_id":"332"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"447","name":"Heart","old_id":"847"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"585","name":"Soul","old_id":"985"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"942","name":"Josiah","old_id":"1342"}]},{"order":5,"id":"64515","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Biblical Snapshots: Why Is This Passover Different From All Other Passovers?   ","post_title":"Biblical Snapshots: Why Is This Passover Different From All Other Passovers?","slug":"biblical-snapshots-why-is-this-passover-different-from-all-other-passovers","old_id":"64515","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/53Q5IrU2p7o ","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Biblical Snapshots","tile_main_caption":"2 Kings 23: Why Is This Passover Different From All Other Passovers?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/53Q5IrU2p7o","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"332","date":"20261207","wall_id":"332"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":6,"id":"64475","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Josiah\u2019s Religious Revolution      ","post_title":"Josiah\u2019s Religious Revolution","slug":"josiahs-religious-revolution","old_id":"64475","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It begins with the reading of the scroll","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seforno (Deut. 31:26) suggests that the scroll found was indeed Moses's scroll, but not the five books of the Torah: Seforno suggests that this was a special scroll written for the king. If we understand his comment in context, he would be referring to the scroll with selected texts that was read during the <em>Hak'hel<\/em> ceremony, and which accompanied the king on a constant basis (Deut. 17:18-20).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The passages in the scroll were designed to spur the nation, <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that they may hear and so learn to revere the Lord your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching...to revere the Lord your God as long as they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan to possess (Deut. 31:12-13).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seforno suggests that it additionally contained the text of Joshua's covenantal ceremony, held at the end of his life (Josh. 24:26). This creative solution circumvents the issue of the absence of Torah scrolls in ancient Israel, a situation that would imply a total disruption of the tradition. It also furnishes an interesting understanding as to the king's shock upon reading the document, as it is unlikely he would have been familiar with a text from Joshua's era. Whether the content of the scroll was select texts from the Deuteronomy covenant or Joshua's covenantal speech, both are directed at the repudiation of idolatry and seem particularly suited to this historical juncture (II Kings 23:1-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This public reading of the \"scroll of the covenant\" is a key feature of covenantal ceremonies, first at Mount Sinai itself (Ex. 24:4-8), then before Moses' death (Deut. 28:69; 29:9-28; 31:28), and later at Mount Ebal after Joshua leads Israel into the land of Canaan (Josh. 8:3o-35). Each of these mass gatherings served to confirm Israel's commitment to Torah. 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He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 -  from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"332","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When the cultic is political","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">23:4 \u201cAnd the king charged Hilkiah the high priest and the assistant priests and the guards of the thresholds to bring out from the Lord\u2019s temple the vessels made for Baal and Asherah and for all the array of the heavens, and he burnt them outside Jerusalem in the Kidron fields and bore off their ashes to Bethel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bethel was one of the two main sanctuaries of the northern kingdom. Scattering the ashes of the statues of Baal and Asherah on that site would be a way of confirming its illegitimacy or impurity. Josiah\u2019s access to Bethel and, later in this chapter, to other northern sites probably reflects the decline of Assyrian power in the later part of the seventh century BCE. It would appear that the Assyrians at this point had vacated much of the northern kingdom that it conquered in 721 BCE and that Josiah attached these regimes to his own kingdom. Many scholars suspect that his campaign to establish the absolute exclusivity of the Jerusalem cult was at least in part an effort to consolidate his rule over the entire country, in effect reviving the united kingdom that existed in the era of Solomon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From: Robert Alter, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton &amp; Co., 2019, ad loc. 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That is where the commandment appears to concentrate all of the worship of God solely in the place \u201cthat the LORD your God will choose amidst all your tribes as His habitation, to establish His name there\u201d (Deut. 12:5).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>The guilty parties<\/em>. These are the names of the kings mentioned in the chapter that supported idol worship in Jerusalem: Menasseh, Ahaz, and\u2026. Solomon.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>The prophet from Bethel<\/em>. 32 chapters ago, a man of God from Judah prophesied on the altar in Bethel what would happen in this chapter. The old prophet from Bethel, who wanted to insure that he would not suffer the fate that was expected for his ilk, asked to be buried with that man of God. Did his plan work? You can find the answer in verses 16-19.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Non-pareil<\/em>. That\u2019s what verse 25 says about Josiah: \u201cThere was no king like him before who turned back to the LORD with all his heart and soul and might, in full accord with the Teaching of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Irreparable<\/em>. Even the far reaching reforms that Josiah implemented couldn\u2019t cancel the destruction that awaited. 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