Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 34:6
Josiah did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Josiah acts as king of Judah, executing a military and religious campaign northward immediately after purging altars in Jerusalem and Judah (2 Chronicles 34:5).
The words — בְּ/חַרְבֹתֵי/הֶ֖ם (be./char.bo.tei./hem) = "with/ swords/ their" (literal: "in their ruins") marks the devastated territories, and סָבִֽיב (sa.Viv) = "all around" defines the perimeter of his operations.
The thread — This northern extension of Josiah’s reforms parallels his earlier work at Bethel (2 Kings 23:15) and echoes Hezekiah’s earlier outreach to Ephraim and Manasseh (2 Chronicles 30:1).
Why it lands — The text records Josiah’s physical destruction of idolatrous sites across former tribal territories, demanding recognition that covenant renewal requires systematic removal of competing worship centers.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 13:20 Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles.
- 2 Kings 23:15 He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.
- 2 Chronicles 30:1 Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 30:10 And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them.
- 2 Chronicles 31:1 When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.
- Proverbs 25:18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
- Isaiah 7:25 For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.