2 Kings 23:13

13 The king proceeded to make a clean sweep of all the sex-and-religion shrines that had proliferated east of Jerusalem on the south slope of Abomination Hill, the ones Solomon king of Israel had built to the obscene Sidonian sex goddess Ashtoreth, to Chemosh the dirty-old-god of the Moabites, and to Milcom the depraved god of the Ammonites.

2 Kings 23:13 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:13

And the high places that were before Jerusalem
Not only that were within the city, and at the gates of it, but what were without it:

which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption:
the mount of Olives, so called from the idolatry and corrupt worship performed in it, by way of reproach, with a small alteration of the letters of the word (tyxvm) for (hxvm) ; at the right hand, or south of this mountain, as the Targum; though others say ^F17, on the north side of the mount of Olives, four furlongs or half a mile from Jerusalem, were high places:

which Solomon king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination
of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites,
and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon;
of which (See Gill on 1 Kings 11:5) (See Gill on 1 Kings 11:7)

did the king defile;
by casting unclean things into them. Rauwolff ^F18 says,

``before Mount Zion toward the south, at the other side of the rivulet Kidron, lies the mount of transgression, called Mashith, ( 2 Kings 23:13 ) , this is higher and steeper than any hereabout; there you still see some old walls of habitations, wherein the concubines of Solomon did live;''

and Mr. Maundrell ^F19 observes, that below the hill stands now a village called Siloe, where it is said he kept them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Vid Adrichom. Theatrum T. S. p. 171.
F18 Travels, par. 3. c. 4. p. 233.
F19 Journey from Aleppo p. 102.

2 Kings 23:13 In-Context

11 He hauled off the horse statues honoring the sun god that the kings of Judah had set up near the entrance to The Temple. They were in the courtyard next to the office of Nathan-Melech, the warden. He burned up the sun-chariots as so much rubbish.

12 The king smashed all the altars to smithereens - the altar on the roof shrine of Ahaz, the various altars the kings of Judah had made, the altars of Manasseh that littered the courtyard of The Temple - he smashed them all, pulverized the fragments, and scattered their dust in the Valley of Kidron.

13 The king proceeded to make a clean sweep of all the sex-and-religion shrines that had proliferated east of Jerusalem on the south slope of Abomination Hill, the ones Solomon king of Israel had built to the obscene Sidonian sex goddess Ashtoreth, to Chemosh the dirty-old-god of the Moabites, and to Milcom the depraved god of the Ammonites.

14 He tore apart the altars, chopped down the phallic Asherah-poles, and scattered old bones over the sites

15 Next, he took care of the altar at the shrine in Bethel that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built - the same Jeroboam who had led Israel into a life of sin. He tore apart the altar, burned down the shrine leaving it in ashes, and then lit fire to the phallic Asherah-pole.