2 Kings 21:3-13

3 For ¹he rebuilt * the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and ²he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and ³worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

4 ⁴He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "⁵In Jerusalem I will put My name."

5 For he built altars for ⁶all the host of heaven in ⁷the two courts of the house of the LORD.

6 ⁸He made his son pass through the fire, ⁹practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger.

7 Then ¹⁰he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, "¹¹In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.

8 "And I ¹²will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them."

9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh ¹³seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before * the sons of Israel.

The King's Idolatries Rebuked

10 Now the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying,

11 "¹⁴Because * Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, ¹⁵having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and ¹⁶has also made Judah sin ¹⁷with his idols;

12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, ¹⁸both his ears will tingle.

13 '¹⁹I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside * down.

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2 Kings 21:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 21

In this chapter a short history is given of the two wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon; Manasseh is charged with great idolatry, with enchantments and witchcrafts, and seducing the children of Israel, 2Ki 21:1-9 and a prophecy is given out of the destruction of Jerusalem for his sins, 2Ki 21:10-16, and an account is given of his death and burial, 2Ki 21:17,18, and of his son and successor Amon, and the evils committed by him, 2Ki 21:19-22 and of the conspiracy against his life, which succeeded, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead, 2Ki 21:23-26.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 19

1. 2 Kings 18:4
2. 1 Kings 16:31-33
3. Deuteronomy 17:2-5; 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings 23:5
4. 2 Kings 16:10-16
5. 2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Kings 8:29
6. 2 Kings 23:4, 5
7. 1 Kings 7:12; 2 Kings 23:12
8. Leviticus 18:21; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 17:17
9. Leviticus 19:26, 31; Deuteronomy 18:10-14
10. Deuteronomy 16:21; 2 Kings 23:6
11. 1 Kings 8:29; 1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles 7:12, 16
12. 2 Samuel 7:10; 2 Kings 18:11, 12
13. Proverbs 29:12
14. 2 Kings 21:2; 2 Kings 24:3, 4
15. Genesis 15:16; 1 Kings 21:26
16. 2 Kings 21:16
17. 2 Kings 21:21
18. 1 Samuel 3:11; Jeremiah 19:3
19. Isaiah 34:11; Amos 7:7, 8

Footnotes 1

[a]. I.e. a wooden symbol of a female deity