I discovered something very interesting in preparing my sermon on Josiah. I really believe that all the English translations have got this verse wrong. Instead of saying Josiah "broke in pieces" the altars, the correct translation would be that he "ran from there", but only the NASB margin seems to have that reading.
I'm still at a loss to figure out why this is the case – to get "broke in pieces" one must fiddle with the Hebrew text. The word is ירץ, which is derived from רוץ, "to run". Yet all the translators (and most, but not all, of the commentators – Iain Provan is a happy exception) want to revocalise and derive the word from רצץ, "to crush".
Of course, to say that King Josiah ran isn't what we'd expect. A king isn't supposed to run, he's supposed to walk in a calm and dignified manner. But Josiah isn't your average king, and the fact that he runs to the Kidron demonstrates his passionate desire to obey God's Word.
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