2 Kings 21:7

7 And he set the graven image of the Asherah that he had made, in the house of which Jehovah had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever;

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).

---

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 built altars to all the host of heaven in both courts of the house of Jehovah.

6 And he caused his son to pass through the fire, and used magic and divination, and appointed necromancers and soothsayers: he wrought evil beyond measure in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

7 And he set the graven image of the Asherah that he had made, in the house of which Jehovah had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever;

8 neither will I any more cause the foot of Israel to wander away from the land that I gave their fathers; if they will only take heed 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 would not hearken, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the children of Israel.