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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal and set up an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.

Context of 2 Kings 21:3

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 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. 4He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts.

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 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.)
• 2 Chronicles 32:12Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?
• 2 Chronicles 34:3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.
• 2 Kings 10:18Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.
• 1 Kings 16:31He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.
• 1 Kings 18:21Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
• 2 Kings 8:18He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• Micah 6:16You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
• 2 Kings 17:16They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.
• 2 Kings 23:4The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.
• Deuteronomy 4:19And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
• Deuteronomy 17:3and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky,
• 2 Chronicles 33:3He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
• Job 31:26if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving 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