מלכים ב, פרק כ״ג, פסוק י״ט

King Josiah’s sweeping campaign of spiritual purification extended far beyond the borders of his own kingdom of Judah. His efforts reached northward into the territories of the former northern kingdom, where he worked decisively to uproot the idolatrous sites established by the kings of Israel.

A natural question arises regarding how a king of Judah could exert authority in Samaria, a region whose original inhabitants had long been exiled by the Assyrian empire and replaced by foreign settlers. Commentators explain that the physical structures of the ancient high places had simply remained standing long after the Israelites were exiled [רד״ק]. Furthermore, a remnant of Israelites from various northern tribes had survived in the land, remaining scattered and continuing their idolatrous practices. Additionally, ancient tradition teaches that the prophet Jeremiah had successfully brought back some of the exiled members of the ten northern tribes. This return effectively made Josiah the ruler over all the Israelites, granting him legitimate governmental authority to act within these northern territories [רש״י, רד״ק].

Exercising this authority, the king systematically dismantled the shrines. He purged the cities of Samaria by burning, destroying, and completely defiling all the idolatrous altars and places of worship [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

This thorough eradication was also driven by the intention to fulfill an ancient prophecy. A prophet of God had once foretold that the priests who served at the high places would be sacrificed upon the central altar in the city of Bethel. However, by the time Josiah arrived, the altar in Bethel was already in ruins and abandoned by its priests. To carry out the divine word, Josiah executed the idolatrous priests he found in the other cities of Samaria. Because the local shrines scattered throughout the northern kingdom were viewed as direct offshoots of the primary altar in Bethel, destroying these branches was considered exactly the same as performing the act upon the root altar of Bethel itself [מלבי״ם].