He slew all the priests of the high places …: Translators will recall that the word slew is an archaic way of saying “killed” (New Century Version) or “slaughtered” (New Revised Standard Version). The Hebrew verb here is often used in the context of the ritual slaughter of animals for the purpose of making sacrifices.

Good News Translation refers to the priests as “the pagan priests,” but this does not mean that they were non-Israelite priests. Rather, they were Israelite priests who offered sacrifices not only to Yahweh, but also to other gods. The killing of these pagan priests was in accordance with the law regarding the treatment of people who led others to worship gods other than Yahweh (Deut 13; 17.2-7).

The phrase upon the altars indicates the place where the pagan priests were actually killed and is not to be taken as a further explanation of the adverb there.

Burned the bones of men upon them: As in verse 14, the expression the bones of men is probably not intended to limit the thinking of the reader to males. Rather, it refers to “the bones of human beings.” However, some commentators think that this refers to the bones of the pagan priests who were killed. Contemporary English Version, for example, translates the first half of the verse as “He killed the priests who served at them and burned their bones on the altars.” This rendering fits the context well, but the Hebrew does not say “their bones” but rather “the bones of men,” that is, “human bones” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible), so the Contemporary English Version translation is probably more specific than the Hebrew intends. In any case, this action was certainly a way of defiling the place so that it could no longer be used for religious purposes (see the comments on verses 14 and 16). Compare New Living Translation “he burned human bones on the altars to desecrate them.”

Then he returned to Jerusalem: After Josiah completed his revolutionary destruction of the illegitimate places where Yahweh and gods other than Yahweh were worshiped, he went back to his capital city, Jerusalem.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .