And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there, upon the altars: and he burnt men's bones upon them: and returned to Jerusalem.

And he sacrificed upon the altars all the priests of the high places that were there, and burned men's bones upon them. And he returned to Jerusalem.

And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

And he slayeth all the priests of the high places who are there by the altars, and burneth the bones of man upon them, and turneth back to Jerusalem.

And all the priests of the high places there he put to death on the altars, burning the bones of the dead on them; and then he went back to Jerusalem.

And all the priests of the high places, who were in that place, he killed upon the altars. And he burned the bones of the men upon them. And he returned to Jerusalem.

Here, as in 2-Kings 23:16, Josiah may have regarded himself as bound to act as he did (marginal reference "b"). Excepting on account of the prophecy, he would scarcely have slain the priests upon the altars.

Slew all the priests - The lives of these, as corrupters of the people, were forfeited to the law.

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there,.... The idolatrous priests who sacrificed to Baal, and other Heathen deities; for as for others that burnt incense in high places, yet to the true God, those he spared, though they were not suffered to officiate at the altar of God: the others he slew
upon the altars; where they sacrificed:
and burnt men's bones upon them: the bones of the priests, and worshippers of idols, as he had done at Bethel:
and returned to Jerusalem; after he had gone through the land, both of Judah and Israel, and abolished idolatrous worship everywhere.

The priests - By this relation it appears, that after the departure of the king of Assyria, divers of the Israelites who had retired to other parts, and kept themselves out of the conqueror's hands, returned together with their priests to their own land, and to their old trade, worshipping idols; to whom, peradventure, they ascribed this their deliverance from that judgment which Jehovah had brought upon them. And burnt - According to that famous prophecy, 1-Kings 13:1-2.