First Kings 22:46 tells us that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, finished the work his father Asa had started by clearing the remaining sacred male prostitutes out of the land. The verse is a short summary note in the royal record, not a sermon or a promise, and its meaning comes from understanding what the words describe and why the writer thought it mattered. The statement is made by the narrator of the book of Kings, who was recording the reign of Jehoshaphat for a people who had come back from exile and needed to know what kind of kings had led the nation.
The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land.
1 Kings 22:46 (WEB)
What 1 Kings 22:46 Means
The phrase “the remnant of the sodomites” refers to men who served in cultic prostitution at pagan shrines, a practice tied to Canaanite worship that Israel’s law condemned. The word “remnant” signals that Asa had already removed most of them, and Jehoshaphat finished what was left. “Put away out of the land” means he drove them out of Judah entirely, which is how the writer describes a king who acted against idolatry in his territory.
The verse describes an action taken by a king. It does not tell you that every problem in Judah was solved, and it does not promise that obedience brings prosperity or protection. Just before it, the text admits that the high places, where people still worshiped in unauthorized ways, were not removed. So the verse reports a real reform that was incomplete, and the honest reader sees both the good and the limits in the account.
The Context of 1 Kings 22:46
First and Second Kings were written as one continuous history of the monarchies of Israel and Judah, and the account of Jehoshaphat appears near the close of the first book’s royal records. Its original audience was a community that had lived through the collapse of both kingdoms and wanted to understand why. Verse 46 sits in a list of notes on Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness, his treaty with Israel in verse 44, and his failed shipping venture in verses 48 and 49.
Because the surrounding verses describe a king who walked in the way of his father and who still left the high places standing, verse 46 reads as one credit among mixed results. It is a reminder that the writers judged kings by their overall direction and by their stance toward the worship of the LORD, not by a flawless record.
Key Phrases in 1 Kings 22:46
2 Chronicles 17:6
His heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD. Furthermore, he took away the high places and the Asherah poles out of Judah.
(WEB)
This verse gives a parallel account of Jehoshaphat’s reign and describes his heart as lifted up in the ways of the LORD. Reading it alongside 1 Kings 22:46 shows that the writers saw his reforms as the fruit of a sincere devotion to God rather than mere policy, which deepens the picture of his character.
Deuteronomy 23:17
There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
(WEB)
This law forbids cultic prostitution in Israel, and it explains the standard the kings were measured against. When you read Jehoshaphat’s cleansing next to this command, you see why the writer treated the removal of these men as a significant act of covenant obedience.
A Short Prayer From 1 Kings 22:46
Lord, you see the places in my life where something unclean still lingers, and you know the habits I have tried to fix and the ones I have left alone. Give me the honesty of Jehoshaphat to name what remains and the courage to clear it out. Help me to finish the work I have started and not settle for half measures, trusting that you are patient with my progress and faithful to complete what you have begun in me.
Thank you that your holiness is not a threat to me but the way you make a people clean. Let my life be ordered toward your worship, and let my example encourage others to walk in your ways. Amen.
