2 Kings 21:7

7 And he set an idol of wood, that he had made, in the temple of the Lord, of which temple the Lord spake to David, and to Solomon, his son, saying, I shall set my name without end in this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I chose (out) of all the lineages of Israel. (And he set up a wooden idol, that he had made, in the Temple of the Lord, of which Temple the Lord spoke to David, and to his son Solomon, saying, I shall set my name without end in this Temple, and in Jerusalem, which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel.)

2 Kings 21:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the
house
Which was either an image that had been placed in a grove planted by him, and now removed into the house or temple of the Lord; or, as some think, this was a representation of a grove, a carved grove of gold or silver, in the midst of which an image was placed in the temple; though what Selden observes ^F2, seems best of all, that this was an image of Asherah, as in the original text; that is, of Astarte or Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, ( 1 Kings 11:5 ) , the same the Phoenicians are said to call Astroarche, and affirm it to be the moon ^F3: in ( 2 Chronicles 33:7 ) it is called a carved image the idol he had made; and an Arabic writer ^F4 says, it had four faces, which seems to be a figure of the cherubim; but, according to Suidas ^F5, it was the statue of Jupiter, who also says it had four faces:

of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son:
that is, of which house or temple:

in this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever;
see ( 1 Kings 8:29 ) ( 9:3 ) (See Gill on 2 Kings 21:3).

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 De Dis Syris, Syntagm. 2. c. 2. p. 233.
F3 Herodian. l. 5. c. 15.
F4 Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 66.
F5 In voce (manasshva) .

2 Kings 21:7 In-Context

5 And he builded altars to all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s) in the two large places of the temple of the Lord; (And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two large courtyards of the Temple of the Lord;)

6 and he led over his son through the fire; and he used false divinings in altars, on which sacrifice was made to fiends, and he kept false divinings by chittering of birds; and he made men to have evil spirits speaking in the womb, and he multiplied false diviners in entrails of beasts sacrificed to fiends, that he should do evil before the Lord, and stir him to ire. (and he burned, or sacrificed, his own son in the fire; and he practiced false divinings at altars on which sacrifice was made to fiends, and he did false divinings by the twittering of birds; and he made men to have evil spirits speaking in their wombs, and he increased the number of false diviners of the entrails of beasts sacrificed to fiends, and he did evil before the Lord, and stirred him to anger.)

7 And he set an idol of wood, that he had made, in the temple of the Lord, of which temple the Lord spake to David, and to Solomon, his son, saying, I shall set my name without end in this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I chose (out) of all the lineages of Israel. (And he set up a wooden idol, that he had made, in the Temple of the Lord, of which Temple the Lord spoke to David, and to his son Solomon, saying, I shall set my name without end in this Temple, and in Jerusalem, which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel.)

8 And I shall no more make the foot of Israel to be moved from the land which I gave to the fathers of them; so nevertheless if they keep in work all things that I have commanded to them, and all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded to them.

9 Soothly they heard not, but were deceived of Manasseh, that they did evil over heathen men, which the Lord all-brake from the face of the sons of Israel. (But they would not listen, and were deceived by Manasseh, and they did more evil than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.)