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2 Chronicles 32:12

in 2 Chronicles 32

Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and upon it shall ye burn incense?

KJV

Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

This verse in 2 Chronicles 32

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

besieged Lachish

on 2 Chronicles 32:9-15

What Chronicles keeps is the charge Hezekiah’s reform provoked: “Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars”. The enemy turns the work into evidence that Judah’s God had been offended. John Gill refers to his notes on the parallel in Isaiah 36 for the speech’s fuller detail.

This site's exposition

worship before one altar

The one altar is the rule of Deuteronomy 12, which bound Israel to sacrifice at the place the LORD would choose. The envoy counts the loss of the high places as an insult to the LORD. He knew the reform and misread its law.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

After, &c. - An emphatical preface, signifying, that notwithstanding all his zeal for God, God saw fit to exercise him with a sore trial. And God ordered it at this time, that he might have an opportunity of shewing himself strong, on the behalf of his returning people. It is possible, we may be in the way of our duty, and yet meet with trouble and danger.
Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places,.... For the sense of this and the three following verses, see the notes on Isa 36:17; see Gill on Isa 36:18, Isa 36:19, Isa 36:20.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The real answer God gave to Sennacherib's blasphemies, and to Hezekiah's prayers, in the total rout of the Assyrian army, to the shame of Sennacherib and the honour of Hezekiah,

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Did not he - Hezekiah - who trusts in his God, did he not transgress?
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 32:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 3 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

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • הֲלֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הוּא֙that

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּHezekiah

    yechizkiyahuH2396 →127 times

  • הֵסִ֥ירdid he remove

    hesirH5493 →299 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בָּמֹתָ֖יוhigh places his

    bamotavH1116 →102 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִזְבְּחֹתָ֑יוaltars his

    mizbechotavH4196 →401 times

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand did he say?

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • לִֽיהוּדָ֤הto Judah

    lihudahH3063 →819 times

  • וְלִֽירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙and to Jerusalem

    velirushalimH3389 →643 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • לִפְנֵ֨י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • מִזְבֵּ֧חַan altar

    mizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • אֶחָ֛דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • תִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּyou will bow down

    tishtachavuH7812 →172 times

  • וְעָלָ֥יוand on it

    vealavH5921 →5755 times

  • תַּקְטִֽירוּ׃you will make smoke

    taktiruH6999 →116 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Kings 18:4

    He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 31:1

      When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Numbers 21:8–9

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

    • 2 Kings 18:22

      But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship…

    • Leviticus 26:30

      I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.

    • 1 Kings 3:2–3

      The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 31:1

    When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 18:4

      He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites…

    • Exodus 23:24

      You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

  • Through

    2 Kings 18:22

    But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship…

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 2:15

      The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.