2 Kings 21:2-12

2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ¹according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

3 For he rebuilt the high places ²that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made ³an Asherah, ⁴as Ahab king of Israel had done, ⁵and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

4 ⁶And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ⁷“In Jerusalem will I put my name. ”

5 And he built altars ⁸for all the host of heaven in ⁹the two courts of the house of the Lord.

6 ¹⁰And he burned his son as an offering^[a] and ¹¹used fortune-telling and ¹²omens and dealt ¹³with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

7 And the carved image of ¹⁴Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, ¹⁵and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

8 ¹⁶And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful 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 led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Denounced

10 And the Lord said by his servants the prophets,

11 ¹⁷“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things ¹⁸more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, ¹⁹and has made Judah also to sin ²⁰with his idols,

12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster^[b] that the ears of everyone who hears of it ²¹will tingle.

2 Kings 21:2-12 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.

Cross References

• 1. 21:2 [ch. 16:3]
• 2. 21:3 ch. 18:4
• 3. 21:3 See Deut. 16:21
• 4. 21:3 1 Kgs. 16:32, 33
• 5. 21:3 ch. 17:16; 23:5; [Deut. 4:19]
• 6. 21:4 Jer. 7:30; 32:34
• 7. 21:4 ver. 7; ch. 23:27; 2 Sam. 7:13; 1 Kgs. 8:29; 9:3; [Deut. 12:11]
• 8. 21:5 [See ver. 3 above]
• 9. 21:5 ch. 23:12; 1 Kgs. 6:36; 7:12
• 10. 21:6 See Lev. 18:21
• 11. 21:6 See Lev. 19:26
• 12. 21:6 ch. 17:17
• 13. 21:6 ch. 23:24; See Lev. 19:31
• 14. 21:7 [See ver. 3 above]
• 15. 21:7 [See ver. 4 above]
• 16. 21:8 [2 Sam. 7:19]
• 17. 21:11 ver. 2; ch. 23:26; 24:3, 4; Jer. 15:4
• 18. 21:11 1 Kgs. 21:26
• 19. 21:11 ver. 16
• 20. 21:11 ver. 21
• 21. 21:12 1 Sam. 3:11; Jer. 19:3

Footnotes

• [a] 21:6 Hebrew 'made his son pass through the fire'
• [b] 21:12 Or 'evil'