2 Chronicles 34:4

4 And they broke down the altars of the Ba'als in his presence; and he hewed down the incense altars which stood above them; and he broke in pieces the Ashe'rim and the graven and the molten images, and he made dust of them and strewed it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

2 Chronicles 34:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 34:4

And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence
He not only ordered them to be broke down, but he went in person, and saw it done; these were the altars Manasseh had reared up to the idols; and though upon his humiliation he cast them out, they were rebuilt by Amon his son, see ( 2 Chronicles 33:3 2 Chronicles 33:15 2 Chronicles 33:22 ) ,

and the images that were above them he cut down;
sun images, as the word signifies; these Chamanim might be representatives of Cham or Ham, the son of Noah, the same with Jupiter Ammon; and there was another Heathen deity, Amanus, Strabo ^F23 speaks of, supposed to be the sun, (See Gill on Leviticus 26:30), these, as Jarchi says, were in the form of the sun, and were set above the altars, over against the sun, to whom worship was paid; though some think this respects not place, but time, and that these were images in times past; in the preceding age, as the Tigurine version:

and the groves, and the carved images and the molten images, he brake
in pieces;
ordered them to be broken; the groves were statues, or images in groves, and thereby distinguished from those made of wood, and were carved, and from those that were of molten metal, and were placed elsewhere:

and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that
had sacrificed unto them,
see ( 2 Kings 23:6 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Geograph l. 11. p. 352.

2 Chronicles 34:4 In-Context

2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Ashe'rim, and the graven and the molten images.

4 And they broke down the altars of the Ba'als in his presence; and he hewed down the incense altars which stood above them; and he broke in pieces the Ashe'rim and the graven and the molten images, and he made dust of them and strewed it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

6 And in the cities of Manas'seh, E'phraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naph'tali, in their ruins round about,