American Standard Version
2 Kings 18:4
4He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
2 Kings 18:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
- New International Version (NIV)He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
- English Standard Version (ESV)He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
- New King James Version (NKJV)He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.
Context of 2 Kings 18:4
2Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan. 5He trusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him. 6For he clave to Jehovah; he departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses.
Read all of 2 Kings 182 Kings 18:4 word by word
ה֣וּא׀ הֵסִ֣יר אֶת־הַבָּמ֗וֹת וְשִׁבַּר֙ אֶת־הַמַּצֵּבֹ֔ת וְכָרַ֖ת אֶת־הָֽאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה וְכִתַּת֩ נְחַ֨שׁ הַנְּחֹ֜שֶׁת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֣ה מֹשֶׁ֗ה כִּ֣י עַד־הַיָּמִ֤ים הָהֵ֙מָּה֙ הָי֤וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מְקַטְּרִ֣ים ל֔וֹ וַיִּקְרָא־ל֖וֹ נְחֻשְׁתָּֽן׃Read the interlinear
- removedסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
- highבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
- pillarsמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
- cutכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
- Asherahאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
- Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- incenseקָטַרqâţar · to offer: burnH6999
- calledקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call byH7121
Cross-references for 2 Kings 18:4
- 2 Kings 12:3Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
- 2 Kings 14:4Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
- 2 Kings 15:4Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
- Leviticus 26:30And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-images, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul shall abhor you.
- 1 Kings 3:2Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of Jehovah until those days.
- 1 Kings 15:14But the high places were not taken away: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with Jehovah all his days.
- 1 Kings 22:43And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah: howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
- Psalms 78:58For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
- Ezekiel 20:28For when I had brought them into the land, which I sware to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink-offerings.
- 2 Kings 23:4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.
- Deuteronomy 7:5But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.
- Deuteronomy 12:2Ye shall surely destroy all the places wherein the nations that ye shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
- Judges 6:25And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Take thy father’s bullock, even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;
- 1 Kings 15:12And he put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
- 2 Chronicles 19:3Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thy heart to seek God.
- 2 Chronicles 31:1Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake in pieces the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
Commentaries on 2 Kings 18:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Brake in pieces the brazen serpent - The history of this may be seen in Numbers 21:8; (note), Numbers 21:9; (note). We find that this brazen serpent had become an object of idolatry, and no doubt was supposed to possess, as a telesm or amulet, extraordinary virtues, and that incense was burnt before it which should have been burnt before the true God. And he called it Nehushtan - נהשתן . Not one of the versions has attempted to translate this word. Jarchi…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4He removed the high places - This religious reformation was effected in a violent and tumultuous manner (marginal reference). The “high places,” though forbidden in the Law (Deuteronomy 12:2-4, Deuteronomy 12:11-14; compare Leviticus 26:30), had practically received the sanction of Samuel 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 9:12-14, David 2 Samuel 15:32, Solomon 1 Kings 3:4, and others, and had long been the favorite resorts of the mass of the people (see 1 Kings 3:2…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Unlike Ahaz (2 Kings 16:2), Hezekiah was more like David. Hezekiah destroyed false worship objects, including pagan shrines, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles (see 2 Kings 16:3–10; 17:9–11, 19). The bronze serpent used by Moses (Numbers 21) had become an object of improper worship.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. He removed the high places and brake the images, &c.--The methods adopted by this good king for extirpating idolatry, and accomplishing a thorough reformation in religion, are fully detailed (2Ch 20:3; 31:19). But they are indicated very briefly, and in a sort of passing allusion. brake in pieces the brazen serpent--The preservation of this remarkable relic of antiquity (Nu 21:5-10) might, like the pot of manna and Aaron's rod, have remained an…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 18:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Kings 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries