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2 Chronicles 33:17

in 2 Chronicles 33

Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God.

KJV

Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 33

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places,.... Not in those that were built for idols, at least did not sacrifice to them; for it follows: yet unto the Lord their God only; the Targum is,"to the name of the Word of the Lord their God.''

This site's exposition

the people still sacrificed at the high places

Verse 17 states the reform’s limit: “the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God”. The same gap appears under Jehoshaphat, where 17:6 says he removed the high places and 20:33 says the people had not yet set their hearts.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is an easy thing to debauch men's manners, but not so easy to reform them again. His prosperity, in some measure, after his repentance. He might plainly see it was sin that ruined him; for, when he returned to God in a way of duty, God returned to him in a way of mercy: and then he built a wall about the city of David (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), the reproofs they gave him for his sin and their exhortations to repentance. Note, Sinners ought to consider, that, how little notice soever they take of them, an account is kept of the words of the seers that speak to them from God to admonish them of their sins, warn them of their danger, and call them to their duty, which will be produced against them in the great day.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only--Here it appears that the worship on high places, though it originated in a great measure from the practice of heathenism, and too often led to it, did not necessarily imply idolatry.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The people did sacrifice - “Nevertheless the people did sacrifice on the high places, but only to the name of the Word of the Lord their God.” - Targum.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

and he sacrificed upon it peace-offerings and thanksgiving offerings He brought a thanksgiving offering and thanked the Holy One, blessed be He, for restoring him to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 33:16:1, 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. 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

8 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.

  • אֲבָל֙but

    ʾavalH61 →11 times

  • ע֣וֹדstill

    odH5750 →490 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • זֹבְחִ֖ים[were] sacrificing

    zoechimH2076 →134 times

  • בַּבָּמ֑וֹתat the high places

    babamotH1116 →102 times

  • רַ֖קonly

    rakH7535 →109 times

  • לַיהוָ֥הto Yahweh

    layahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃God their

    ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 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

    1 Kings 22:43

    And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were…

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 15:14

      The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.

    • 2 Kings 12:3

      Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.

    • Proverbs 4:27

      Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 15:17

    The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 14:4

      Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Kings 22:43

      And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Deuteronomy 12:13–14

      Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 32:12

    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’?

    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…

    • 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…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.