מלכים ב, פרק כ״ג, פסוק ט״ו

King Josiah's campaign to purify the land from idolatry reaches a critical turning point as he pushes beyond his own borders to confront the deep historical roots of foreign worship. The city of Bethel was not part of his territory in the Kingdom of Judah; rather, it belonged to the northern Kingdom of Israel [מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. However, Josiah refused to limit his efforts to his own cities. He took personal responsibility to eliminate idolatry, including the infamous golden calf, from every part of the Land of Israel [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל].

Because Bethel was a central site for foreign worship, Josiah completely leveled it to its very foundations [מלבי״ם]. He targeted the entire physical infrastructure of the site, which included the main structure built specifically to house the idols and altars [מצודת דוד]. Josiah systematically shattered the altar and this main building, and then burned both the structure and the sacred tree. To ensure nothing remained, he aggressively pounded and crumbled the leftover debris until it was reduced to fine crumbs, completely turning the site into dust [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].