And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
King Josiah removed the horses that the previous kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun god. These horses were kept at the entrance to the Lord's temple, near the room of Nathan-melech, an official who lived in the outer court. Josiah also burned up the chariots that were used for sun worship.
King Josiah destroyed all the horses and chariots that previous kings had used for worshiping the sun god, removing this idol worship from God's temple.
📚 Historical Context
This took place during King Josiah's religious reforms around 621 BC, when he was purging Judah of all forms of idol worship. Previous kings had introduced sun worship practices, including keeping sacred horses and chariots at the temple entrance, which was a common practice in ancient Near Eastern religions. Josiah was systematically removing all traces of false worship to restore proper worship of the God of Israel.
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