Bonaventure, on Sir 49:3

“He was directed by God unto the repentance of the nation, and he took away the abominations of wickedness.”

“The exercise of piety consists first in the reverence of divine veneration. Whence in Ecclesiasticus it is said of Josiah that he took away the abominations of impiety and governed his heart unto the Lord, and in the days of sinners he strengthened piety. It is certain that before the coming of Christ, the worship of God did not flourish except among the Israelite people, and it did not flourish in the whole people, because the ten tribes in the time of Jeroboam worshiped idols, namely the golden calf; nor did the worship of God flourish even throughout the whole time in the two tribes, because David was the best worshiper of God, but afterward came Manasseh, the worst, who made the people commit idolatry; but after him came Josiah, who began to reign in his eighth year and took away all idolatry, and in the days of sinners he strengthened piety, that is, divine worship.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.