2 Kings 21:23
in 2 Kings 21Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.
KJV
And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
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This verse in 2 Kings 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd the servants of Amon conspired against him,.... Some of his domestic servants, and perhaps his courtiers, not on account of his idolatry, but for some ill usage of them: and slew the king in his own house: which they had an opportunity to do, being his servants.
This site's exposition
conspired against him and killed the king
on 2 Kings 21:23-24
Amon's own servants conspire against him and kill him in his palace. The people of the land kill "all those who had conspired against King Amon" and make his son Josiah king. Their act keeps the throne in David's line at the moment a palace coup might have broken it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There is no sin more grievous than idolatry, for it is an impiety against God, and yet even this sin has been forgiven, on sincere repentance. But if anyone sins in direct opposition and on purpose to try whether God will punish the wicked or not, such a one shall have no remission, although he says to himself, "All is well, and I will walk according to the customs of my evil heart." Such a one was Amon the son of Manasseh.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
His servants, who should have guarded him, murdered him; his own house, that should have been his castle of defence, was the place of his execution. He had profaned God's house with his idols, and now God suffered his own house to be polluted with his blood. How unrighteous soever those were that did it, God was righteous who suffered it to be done.
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the L ORD , after the abominations of the heathen, whom the L ORD cast out before the children of Israel.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:91%@v1-2
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This conspiracy may have been due to the popular reaction against the extreme idolatry which the young king had established.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign--This prince continued the idolatrous policy of his father; and, after an inglorious reign of two years, he was massacred by some of his own domestics.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The servants of Amon conspired - What their reason was for slaying their king we cannot tell. It does not seem to have been a popular act, for the people of the land rose up and slew the regicides. We hear enough of this man when we hear that he was as bad as his father was in the beginning of his reign, but did not copy his father’s repentance.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְשְׁר֥וּ | vaiyiksheru | and they conspired | H7194 → | 44 times |
| עַבְדֵֽי־ | ʾavdei- | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אָמ֖וֹן | ʾamon | Amon | H526 → | 17 times |
| עָלָ֑יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וַיָּמִ֥יתוּ | vaiyamitu | and they killed | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בְּבֵיתֽוֹ׃ | beveito | in own house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
וַיִּקְשְׁר֥וּand they conspired
vaiyiksheruH7194 →44 times
עַבְדֵֽי־[the] servants of
ʾavdei-H5650 →799 times
אָמ֖וֹןAmon
ʾamonH526 →17 times
עָלָ֑יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וַיָּמִ֥יתוּand they killed
vaiyamituH4191 →839 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
בְּבֵיתֽוֹ׃in own house his
beveitoH1004 →2046 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 15:27Then Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging the city.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:14
Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day—yes, even today!
- Joshua 19:44
Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
- Joshua 21:23
From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,
- 1 Kings 16:9
However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 16:15
In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines,
- 1 Kings 14:14
Through
2 Kings 12:20And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 24:24–27
Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was…
- 2 Kings 14:5
As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.
- Judges 9:6
Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.
- 2 Chronicles 24:24–27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2.23; 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.