2 Chronicles 29:6

6 For our ancestors acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. {They have turned their backs} [on it].

2 Chronicles 29:6 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 29:6

For our fathers have transgressed, and done that which was evil
in the eyes of the Lord our God
Meaning their more immediate ancestors, his father and theirs, who had committed idolatry; which is a great trespass, and than which there is not a greater evil in the sight of God, nor more provoking to him:

and have forsaken him;
his word, worship, and ordinances:

and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord;
the temple, by neglecting that, and the service of it, and attending the high places: and turned their backs; upon it; though some think this refers to a rite or custom, introduced by Ahaz before he shut up the temple, that instead of looking to the west, when they worshipped, where was the ark of the Lord, he ordered them to turn their faces to the east, where his altar stood.

2 Chronicles 29:6 In-Context

4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square.

5 And he said to them, "Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary.

6 For our ancestors acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. {They have turned their backs} [on it].

7 They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

8 And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "fathers"
• [b]. Literally "And they have given back"