What Does 2 Kings 23:14 Mean in the King James?

And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

2 Kings 23:14 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

Human bones fill the places of the broken sacred forms, making mortality the site’s new visible sign.

THE MEANING

This verse holds desecration in physical view: standing images are smashed, sacred poles cut down, and human bones placed where they stood. What once claimed reverence now bears the visible mark of death and defilement.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that a sacred object makes its site inviolable is undone here: the images are shattered and their place is deliberately defiled.

THE ROOT

עַצְמוֹת

atsmot

GROWS FROM

ע־צ־ם

ʿ-ṣ-m

The noun ⁨עֶצֶם⁩ means bone and can also mean substance or self; the related adjective ⁨עָצוּם⁩ means mighty or strong.

The word for bones belongs to a root-family that also carries the sense of a person’s substance or self. These are not abstract signs of death: human remains make mortality the tangible reality occupying the site.

ALSO GROWS

ʿetsem: Bone; also substance or self.

עֶצֶם

The singular form carries the sense of the body’s underlying substance, sharpening the material force of the bones placed here.

ʿatsum: Mighty, strong, or numerous.

עָצוּם

This related form evokes the strength associated with a living body; here, only its bones remain.

מַצֵּבוֹת

matzevot

GROWS FROM

נ־צ־ב

n-ṣ-b

To stand or set upright.

The word rendered “images” refers to standing pillars or stones. Their root carries the sense of standing upright, so breaking them and filling their places with bones reverses what stands at these sites.

ALSO GROWS

nitsav: Standing or stationed.

נִצָּב

It reveals the upright posture carried by the objects that are broken.

matzevah: A standing pillar or monument.

מַצֵּבָה

This is the singular form of the word translated “images,” showing that the objects are erected markers, not merely pictures.

THE PATTERN

A sacred appearance can be dismantled, and what lies beneath or takes its place can expose death and uncleanness.

But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

Deuteronomy 7:5 · KJVAltars, images, and sacred poles are all named as things that can be brought down.

And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

Isaiah 2:18 · KJVThe verse makes the abolition of idols complete rather than leaving their sacred claim intact.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Matthew 23:27 · KJVThe polished religious exterior is exposed as a surface concealing bones and uncleanness.

THE THREAD

Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Ezekiel 37:5 · KJV

The Hebrew word for “bones” is ⁨עַצְמוֹת⁩ (atsmot) in both verses. Here bones mark the sites with death; in Ezekiel, breath enters those same bones and they live, making the word’s link between human remains and embodied life visible.

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