2 Kings 23:17 - Exposition

Then he said, What title is that that I see? rather, What pillar is that that I see? Josiah's eye caught sight of a "pillar" or obelisk ( צִיוֹן ) among the tombs, or in their neighborhood, and he had the curiosity to ask what it was. And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which earns from Judah (see 1 Kings 13:1 ). The "pillar" could not have been the actual "sepulcher," but was no doubt a monument connected with it. Many of the Phoenician excavated tombs are accompanied by monuments above ground, which are very conspicuous (see Renan's 'Mission de Phenicie,' pls. 11; et seq .). And proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel (see 1 Kings 13:2 ). According to the present text of Kings, Josiah was prophesied of by name , as the king who would defile the altar; but it is possible that the words, "Josiah by name" ( יאשִׁיָהוּ שְׂמוֹ ), have crept in from the margin.