2 Kings 21:3

2 Kings 21:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
• New International Version (NIV)He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

Context of 2 Kings 21:3

1Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 55 years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2Manasseh did things that the Lord said were evil. He did the same terrible sins that the other nations in Canaan had done. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there. Manasseh built again the altars on the hills that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for people to worship Baal. He also made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bent down low to worship all the stars in the sky. 4He built altars in the Lord's temple. The Lord had said about his temple, ‘That is my home in Jerusalem where people will worship me.’ 5Manasseh built altars to give honour to the stars, in both yards of the Lord's temple.

2 Kings 21:3 word by word

וַיָּ֗שָׁב וַיִּ֙בֶן֙ אֶת־הַבָּמ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִבַּ֖ד חִזְקִיָּ֣הוּ אָבִ֑יו וַיָּ֨קֶם מִזְבְּחֹ֜ת לַבַּ֗עַל וַיַּ֤עַשׂ אֲשֵׁרָה֙ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֗ה אַחְאָב֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיִּשְׁתַּ֙חוּ֙ לְכָל־צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֖ד אֹתָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For he built upבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• againשׁוּבshûb · to return: rescueH7725
• the high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• which Hezekiahחִזְקִיָּהוּchizqîyâh chizqîyâhû yechizqîyâh yechizqîyâhû · HezekiahH2396
• his fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
• had destroyedאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• and he reared upקוּםqûm · to arise: raiseH6965
• altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• for Baalבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
• and madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• a groveאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• as didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• Ahabאַחְאָב'ach'âb 'echâb · AhabH256
• kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• and worshippedשָׁחָהshâchâh · to bowH7812
• all the hostצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · armyH6635
• of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• and servedעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647

Cross-references for 2 Kings 21:3

• 2 Kings 18:4He removed the altars on the hills. He knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped and he cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made. Until then, the Israelites had burned incense as an offering to it. It was called Nehushtan.
• 2 Chronicles 32:12Remember that it was Hezekiah who removed the altars and the special places where you worship the Lord your God. He told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship God only at the altar here in Jerusalem. That is the only place that you may offer sacrifices. ”
• 2 Chronicles 34:3When Josiah had been king for eight years, he was still a young man. At that time he began to worship God, as his ancestor David had done. When he had been king for 12 years, he started to remove the places in Jerusalem and in all Judah where people worshipped false gods. He removed the altars on the hills, the Asherah poles, the idols and the images of false gods.
• 2 Kings 10:18Then Jehu called all the people to come together. He said to them, ‘Ahab served Baal, but he did not do it very well. But I, Jehu, will serve Baal much better!
• 1 Kings 16:31He did the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. He even did something that was even worse. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Ahab served Baal as his god and he worshipped him.
• 1 Kings 18:21Elijah stood up in front of the people and he said, ‘You must now decide who to worship! If the Lord is the true God, worship him. But if Baal is God, worship him.’ But the people said nothing.
• 2 Kings 8:18He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He did what the family of Ahab had done. He married a daughter of King Ahab and he became as wicked as King Ahab's family was. He did things that the Lord said were evil.
• Micah 6:16You have obeyed the rules of King Omri. You have done what King Ahab and all his people did. You have copied their wicked ideas. So I must destroy you and all your things completely. Then people from other countries will not be kind or polite to you. Instead, they will make you ashamed.’
• 2 Kings 17:16They turned away from all the commands of the Lord their God. They used metal to make images of two calves as their idols. They also made an Asherah pole to worship. They worshipped all the stars in the sky and they served Baal.
• 2 Kings 23:4Then the king gave a command to Hilkiah, the leader of the priests, and to the other priests and the temple guards. He told them to bring out from the Lord's temple everything that people used there to worship false gods. People used those things to worship Baal, Asherah and all the stars in the sky. King Josiah burned those things outside Jerusalem, in the fields of the Kidron Valley. Then he took all the ashes to Bethel.
• Deuteronomy 4:19When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, the moon and the stars. They all shine up in the sky. But do not bend down low to them or worship them. They are there because the Lord your God has made them. He has given them to people everywhere in the world.
• Deuteronomy 17:3He may have started to worship false gods that I have commanded you not to worship. Perhaps he worships the sun, the moon or the stars.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3Manasseh built again the altars on the hills that his father Hezekiah had knocked down. He built altars for people to worship idols of Baal. He also made Asherah poles. He bent down low to worship all the stars in the sky.
• Job 31:26I have looked at the sun when it shines brightly. And I have seen the moon when it is very beautiful.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 21:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Made a grove - He made Asherah, the Babylonian Melitta or Roman Venus. See 2 Kings 17:10, and the observations at the end of that chapter; and see here on 2 Kings 21:7; (note). Worshipped all the host of heaven - All the stars and planets, but particularly the sun and the moon.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The first step in the re-establishment of idolatry seems to have been the restoration of the high places where Yahweh was professedly worshipped 2 Kings 18:22, but with idolatrous rites 1 Kings 14:23. The next was to re-introduce the favorite idolatry of Israel, Baal-worship, which had formerly flourished in Judaea under Athaliah 2 Kings 11:18, and Ahaz 2 Chronicles 28:2. After this, Manasseh seems to have especially affected Sabaism, which had been…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5Manasseh turned away from his faith by rebuilding local pagan shrines that his father had destroyed (2 Kings 18:3). He also encouraged evil religious practices linked to Baal worship and set up an Asherah pole (see 2 Kings 18:3; 1 Kings 16:32) and brought back the worship of stars. God had judged the northern kingdom for these sins (2 Kings 17:16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-182Ki 21:1-18. Manasseh's Wicked Reign, and Great Idolatry. 1-3. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign--He must have been born three years after his father's recovery; and his minority, spent under the influence of guardians who were hostile to the religious principles and reforming policy of his father, may account in part for the anti-theocratic principles of his reign. The work of religious reformation which Hezekiah had zealously carried…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 21:3

• Baal
• Groves
• Idolatry
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Manasseh
• Rulers
• Stars

In the dictionaries

• Ahab
• Baal
• Hezekiah
• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Host of heaven
• Kings, The Books of
• Prey
• Stars

Commentaries on 2 Kings 21

• 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