2 Chronicles 21:11
in 2 Chronicles 21Jehoram had also built high places on the hills of Judah; he had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot, and led Judah astray.
KJV
Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
See 2Ki 8:18. The writer of Kings only tells us in general terms that Jehoram “did evil in the sight of the Lord,” and “walked in the way of the house of Ahab.” Here, in 2Ch 21:11, 2Ch 21:13, we have particulars of his idolatry.
This site's exposition
caused the people of Jerusalem
Kings describes the idolatry in general terms, as walking in the ways of Ahab's house. Chronicles alone gives the particulars: Jehoram “built high places on the hills of Judah”, and “led Judah astray”. The idolatry was royal policy, laid on a people who had known Jehoshaphat's reform within living memory.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah,....
He used that power for the destruction of the church which was given him for the edification of it. That when he forsook God and his worship his subjects withdrew from their allegiance to him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
To commit fornication - That is, to serve idols. The Israelites were considered as joined to Jehovah as a woman is joined to her husband: when she associates with other men, this is adultery; when they served other gods, this was called by the same name, it was adultery against Jehovah. This is frequently the only meaning of the terms adultery and fornication in the Scriptures.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And Edom rebelled Was it not already stated above (verse 8): “In his days, Edom rebelled?” But this is the manner of Scripture: because a verse is interposed, and it now wishes to continue with “then Libnah rebelled,” it repeats the [original words] stating, “And Edom rebelled.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And a letter came to him from Elijah After he had ascended to heaven, this prophetic letter came to him [i.e., to Joram].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עָשָֽׂה־ | ʾasah- | he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בָמ֖וֹת | vamot | high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| בְּהָרֵ֣י | beharei | in [the] mountains of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| יְהוּדָ֑ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וַיֶּ֙זֶן֙ | vaiyezen | and he made prostitute [themselves] | H2181 → | 94 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יֹשְׁבֵ֣י | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וַיַּדַּ֖ח | vaiyadach | and he thrust aside | H5080 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוּדָֽה׃ פ | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
עָשָֽׂה־he made
ʾasah-H6213 →2628 times
בָמ֖וֹתhigh places
vamotH1116 →102 times
בְּהָרֵ֣יin [the] mountains of
behareiH2022 →546 times
יְהוּדָ֑הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וַיֶּ֙זֶן֙and he made prostitute [themselves]
vaiyezenH2181 →94 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יֹשְׁבֵ֣י[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
וַיַּדַּ֖חand he thrust aside
vaiyadachH5080 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוּדָֽה׃ פJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 17:7They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:20
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.
- Exodus 34:15
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
- Deuteronomy 32:17
They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
- 2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
- Psalms 106:37
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
- 1 Corinthians 10:20
Through
Ezekiel 20:28When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 6:13
Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy…
- Ezekiel 6:13
Through
1 Kings 11:7At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
it leads to
- Numbers 21:29
Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
- Numbers 21:29
Through
Leviticus 20:5then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:39
They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
- Psalms 106:39
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.