And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
And as Josiah turned himself, he spied, the sepulchres that were there in the mount. 'The "mount," doubtless, is the same as the mountain, on the east of Beth-el, described in the history of Abraham. The "sepulchres" must be the numerous rock-hewn tombs still visible in the whole descent from that "mountain" to the Wady Suweinit. In one of these, though we know not which, lay side by side the bones of the two prophets-the aged, prophet of Beth-el and his brother and victim, "the man of God from Judah" - and they were left to repose. From that time the desolation foretold by Amos and Hosea (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5; Hosea 10:8; Amos 5:5) has never been disturbed; and Beth-el, "the house of God," has become literally Beth-aven, "the house of nought"' (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 220).
According to the word of the Lord ... In carrying on these proceedings, Josiah was prompted by his own intense hatred of idolatry. But it is remarkable that this act was predicted 326 years before his birth, and his name also was expressly mentioned, as well as the very place where it should be done (1 Kings 13:2).