Bible Strands
2 Kings 23:30
From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of King Josiah’s death at Megiddo by Pharaoh Neco’s forces. The account shifts from royal burial rites to the political succession orchestrated by the people of the land.
The words — וַ/יַּרְכִּבֻ֨/הוּ (va/yar.ki.Vu./hu) means "and they made him ride," describing the servants transporting the corpse. בִּ/קְבֻֽרָת֑/וֹ (bi/k.vu.ra.T/o) translates literally as "in his own grave," specifying Josiah’s personal burial site.
The thread — The chariot transport of a slain king to Jerusalem for burial recurs in 2 Kings 9:28. The people of the land installing Jehoahaz as king parallels the account in 2 Chronicles 36:1.
Why it lands — The text states that royal servants moved a dead king by chariot to his family tomb while the land’s populace simultaneously anointed his son as successor. Readers observe how immediate popular intervention stabilizes leadership when formal succession protocols are interrupted by violent death.
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 his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 9:28 Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David.
- 2 Chronicles 36:1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
- 1 Kings 22:33 And when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
- 2 Kings 14:21 Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
- 2 Kings 21:24 But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
- 2 Chronicles 35:24 So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. And Josiah was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.