2 Kings 21:5

5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.

2 Kings 21:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 21:5

And he built altars for all the host of heaven
Sun, moon, and stars:

in the two courts of the house of the Lord;
in the court of the priests, and in the court of the people; and all this must be supposed to be done, not as soon as he began to reign, but when he was grown up to man's estate, and had children, as the next verse shows; unless it can be thought that those nobles in Judah, who liked not the reformation made by Hezekiah, took the advantage of his youth, and advised him to these idolatries.

2 Kings 21:5 In-Context

3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars.

4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped.

5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.

6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped.