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 twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the heavenly lights and served them. 4And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5He built altars for all the heavenly lights in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord.

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

• he rebuiltשׁוּבshûb · to return: rescueH7725
• he rebuiltבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• the highבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• his fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
• Hezekiahחִזְקִיָּהוּchizqîyâh chizqîyâhû yechizqîyâh yechizqîyâhû · HezekiahH2396
• had destroyedאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• he erectedקוּםqûm · to arise: raiseH6965
• altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• for Baalבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
• and madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• Asherahאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• Ahabאַחְאָב'ach'âb 'echâb · AhabH256
• kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• had doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• the heavenlyשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• lightsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · armyH6635
• and servedעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647

Cross-references for 2 Kings 21:3

• 2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the Asherah. He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
• 2 Chronicles 32:12Is it not the same Hezekiah who removed His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense”?
• 2 Chronicles 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images.
• 2 Kings 10:18Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.
• 1 Kings 16:31And as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
• 1 Kings 18:21Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him so much as a word.
• 2 Kings 8:18He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
• Micah 6:16The statutes of Omri And every work of the house of Ahab are maintained, And you walk by their plans. Therefore I will give you up for destruction, And your inhabitants for derision, And you will suffer the taunting of My people.”
• 2 Kings 17:16And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: two calves. And they made an Asherah, and worshiped all the heavenly lights, and served Baal.
• 2 Kings 23:4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the heavenly lights; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
• Deuteronomy 4:19And be careful not to raise your eyes to heaven and look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the heavenly lights, and allow yourself to be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
• Deuteronomy 17:3and that person has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly lights, which I have commanded not to do,
• 2 Chronicles 33:3For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; he also set up altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and he worshiped all the heavenly lights and served them.
• Job 31:26If I have looked at the sun when it shone, Or the moon going in splendor,

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