By this; i.e. "by the punishment inflicted." God accepts punishment as an expiation of sin; and this punishment of Judah was especially intended to be expiatory, and to remove at once his guilt, and the evil temper which had led him into sin.
Its fruit would be a revulsion from idolatry, which would show itself in a fierce determination to destroy all idolatrous emblems and implements, altars, groves, images, and the like. This spirit was strongly shown in the Maccabee period (see 1 Macc.
5:44, 68; 10:84; 13:47, etc.). He maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones. A calcining of the stones into lime is probably intended. It was usual to subject the idolatrous objects to the action of fire, and then to stamp them into powder (2 Kings 23:4, 2 Kings 23:6, 2 Kings 23:11, 2 Kings 23:12, 2 Kings 23:15, etc.
). The groves and images.