2 Chronicles 33:17
in 2 Chronicles 33Nevertheless, 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 verseNevertheless, 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
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
), 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 & Brown1802–1910
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
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.
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲבָל֙ | ʾaval | but | H61 → | 11 times |
| ע֣וֹד | od | still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| זֹבְחִ֖ים | zoechim | [were] sacrificing | H2076 → | 134 times |
| בַּבָּמ֑וֹת | babamot | at the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| רַ֖ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| לַיהוָ֥ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾeloheihem | God their | H430 → | 2601 times |
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 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
1 Kings 22:43And 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.
- 1 Kings 15:14
Through
2 Chronicles 15:17The 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;
- 2 Kings 14:4
Through
2 Chronicles 32:12Did 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.
- 2 Chronicles 31:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
About 2 Chronicles

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.
