The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the guards of the threshold to bring out of the Temple of Yahweh all the articles that were made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the army of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
“second rank.” That is, the rank just below the High Priest.
“and carried their ashes to Bethel.” The idea was to pollute Bethel and make it unclean (cp. 2 Kings 23:15).
REV Bible
