And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his'soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king stood upon the step: and made a covenant with the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies and his ceremonies, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and to perform the words of this covenant, which were written in that book: and the people agreed to the covenant.

And the king stood on the dais, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart, and with all his soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king standeth by the pillar, and maketh the covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commands, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all the heart, and with all the soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written on this book, and all the people stand in the covenant.

And the king took his place by the pillar, and made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in the book; and all the people gave their word to keep the agreement.

And the king stood on the platform, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people stood to the covenant.

The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll; and all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king stood upon the step. And he struck a covenant before the Lord, so that they would walk after the Lord, and keep his precepts and testimonies and ceremonies, with all their heart and with all their soul, and so that they would carry out the words of this covenant, which had been written in that book. And the people agreed to the covenant.

By a pillar - Rather, "upon the pillar" (see 2-Kings 11:14, note).
Made a covenant - "The covenant." Josiah renewed the old covenant made between God and His people in Horeb Deuteronomy 5:2, so far at least as such renewal was possible by the mere act of an individual. He bound himself by a solemn promise to the faithful performance of the entire Law.
With all their heart - "Their" rather than "his," because the king was considered as pledging the whole nation to obedience with himself. He and they "stood to it," i. e., "accepted it, came into the covenant."

Stood by a pillar - He stood, על העמוד al haammud, "upon the stairs or pulpit." This is what is called the brazen scaffold or pulpit which Solomon made, and on which the kings were accustomed to stand when they addressed the people. See 2-Chronicles 6:13, and the parallel places.
Made a covenant - This was expressed,
1. In general. To walk after Jehovah; to have no gods besides him.
2. To take his law for the regulation of their conduct.
3. In particular. To bend their whole heart and soul to the observance of it, so that, they might not only have religion without, but, piety within.
To this all the people stood up, thus giving their consent, and binding themselves to obedience.

And the king stood by (b) a pillar, and made a (c) covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
(b) Where the king had his place, (2-Kings 11:14).
(c) As Joshua did, (Joshua 24:22, Joshua 24:25).

And the king stood by a pillar,.... As the manner of kings was, 2-Kings 11:14 and is thought to be the brasen scaffold erected by Solomon, on which he stood at the dedication of the temple, and now Josiah at the reading of the law, 2-Chronicles 6:13, it is said to be his place, 2-Chronicles 34:31; see Gill on 2-Kings 11:14.
and made a covenant before the Lord: agreed and promised in the presence of God, both he and his people:
to walk after the Lord: the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; closely to attend to that:
and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes: all the laws of God, moral, civil, and ceremonial:
with all their heart, and all their soul: cordially and sincerely:
to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book: lately found, and now read unto them:
and all the people stood to the covenant: agreed to it, and promised to keep it; so the Targum,"all the people took upon them the covenant,''engaged to observe it.

all the people stood to the covenant--that is, they agreed to the proposals made; they assented to what was required of them.

The king stood העמּוּד על, as in 2-Kings 11:14. For וגו ויּכרת see 2-Kings 11:17. ללכת, i.e., he bound himself solemnly to walk after the Lord, that is to say, in his walk to follow the Lord and keep His commandments (see at 1-Kings 2:3). - בּבּרית...ויּעמוד, all the people entered into the covenant (Luther and others); not perstitit, stood firm, continued in the covenant (Maurer, Ges.), which would be at variance with Jeremiah 11:9-10; Jeremiah 25:3., and other utterances of the prophets.
2 Kings 23:4-20
The eradication of idolatry. - According to 2-Chronicles 34:3-7, this had already begun, and was simply continued and carried to completion after the renewal of the covenant.

Stood - They declared their consent to it, and their concurrence with the king in that act, which possibly they did by standing up, as the king himself stood when he took it. It is of good use, with all possible solemnity, to oblige ourselves to our duty. And he that bears an honest heart, does not startle at assurances.