2 Kings 23:1-3

E. THE COVENANT RENEWED 23:1-3

TRANSLATION

(1) And he sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. (2) And the king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people both small and great; and he read in their presence all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. (3) And the king stood upon the platform, and made the covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all their heart and with all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant which was written in this book. And all the people stood in the covenant.

COMMENTS

After receiving the word from Huldah that the threats in the recently discovered law-book would shortly be fulfilled, the first action of the king was to call a great assembly of the nation. The elders of the nation were officially summoned (2 Kings 23:1). However a great host of men of all classes of society also attended, including representatives of the priests and prophets. In the courts of the Temple the king read or caused to be read the book which had been discovered. AH the words of the book of the covenant were read to the assembly (2 Kings 23:2). The entire Pentateuch could scarcely be read through in less than ten hours. For this reason many scholars feel that the book which is referred to here is Deuteronomy. However, the reading of the entire Pentateuch cannot be ruled out entirely.

Standing upon the platform (not pillar as in KJV) the king made or renewed the old covenant with God which had been broken during the grossly wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon. He renewed this covenant before the Lord, i.e., the platform upon which he was standing was directly opposite the entrance to the Temple. The king pledged to obey from the heart the totality of the Law of Moses. To this commitment the representatives of the people gave their assent and thus became parties to the covenant (2 Kings 23:3).