2 Kings 16:4
in 2 Kings 16And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
KJV
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
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This verse in 2 Kings 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He sacrificed ... - Other kings of Judah bad allowed their people to do so. Ahaz was the first, so far as we know, to countenance the practice by his own example.
This site's exposition
even sacrificed his son in the fire
on 2 Kings 16:3-4
Ahaz even sacrificed his son in the fire, the Molech rite forbidden at Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2 to 5. The practice now stands on David's own throne. At 2 Kings 3:27 the king of Moab offered his son in the same fire under siege.
This site's exposition
under every green tree
Barnes observed that Ahaz was the first king to sacrifice on the high places himself, where earlier kings had allowed the people to do it. Henry pictured him on the hills for the view and under the green trees for the shade. Isaiah 1:29 condemns such trees and gardens.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He forsook God's house, was weary of that place where, in his father's time, he had often been detained before the Lord, and performed his devotions on high hills, where he had a better prospect, and under green trees, where he had a more pleasant shade. It was a religion little worth, which was guided by fancy, not by faith.
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ahaz . . . did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord--[See on 2Ch 28:1.] The character of this king's reign, the voluptuousness and religious degeneracy of all classes of the people, are graphically portrayed in the writings of Isaiah, who prophesied at that period.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְזַבֵּ֧חַ | vayzabeach | and he sacrificed | H2076 → | 134 times |
| וַיְקַטֵּ֛ר | vaykater | and he made smoke | H6999 → | 116 times |
| בַּבָּמ֖וֹת | babamot | at the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַגְּבָע֑וֹת | hagevaot | the hills | H1389 → | |
| וְתַ֖חַת | vetachat | and under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵ֥ץ | ʾetz | tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| רַעֲנָֽן׃ | raanan | luxuriant | H7488 → |
וַיְזַבֵּ֧חַand he sacrificed
vayzabeachH2076 →134 times
וַיְקַטֵּ֛רand he made smoke
vaykaterH6999 →116 times
בַּבָּמ֖וֹתat the high places
babamotH1116 →102 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
הַגְּבָע֑וֹתthe hills
hagevaotH1389 →
וְתַ֖חַתand under
vetachatH8478 →505 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֵ֥ץtree
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
רַעֲנָֽן׃luxuriant
raananH7488 →
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 14:23They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Isaiah 57:5
who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Through
Deuteronomy 12:2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- Numbers 33:51–52
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
- Deuteronomy 7:25–26
You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it…
- Exodus 34:12–17
Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Deuteronomy 7:5
Through
2 Kings 14:4Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 12:3
Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
- 2 Kings 12:3
Through
Jeremiah 17:2Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 24:18
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
- 2 Chronicles 24:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.