2 Chronicles 14:3
in 2 Chronicles 14He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and brake down the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim,
KJV
For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 14
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
did that which was good and right
on 2 Chronicles 14:2-5
Asa's reform runs point by point: the altars of strange gods, the high places, the images and the groves come down, and he commands Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and do the law and the commandment, the seeking refrain the Chronicler tracks through every reign that follows. Kings and Chronicles do not agree on the detail: 1 Kings 15:14 says the high places were not removed under Asa, while this chapter says they were, the same tension the record states again of Jehoshaphat at 2 Chronicles 17:6 against 20:33. Henry reads the reform as ground recovered since Solomon's old age, when idolatry first got a foothold and went unchecked.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), they being a great provocation to a jealous God and a great temptation to a careless unthinking people. He hoped by destroying the idols to reform the idolaters, which he aimed at, rather than to ruin them. He revived and established the pure worship of God; and, since the priests did their part in attending God's altars, he obliged the people to do theirs (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
For he took away the altars of the strange gods,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And he commanded Judah to seek unlike the Ten Tribes, who sought other, new Gods, which came up of late, and did not seek the God of their fathers.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֛סַר | vaiyasar | and he removed | H5493 → | 299 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִזְבְּח֥וֹת | mizbechot | [the] altars of | H4196 → | 401 times |
| הַנֵּכָ֖ר | hanekhar | <the> foreignness | H5236 → | |
| וְהַבָּמ֑וֹת | vehabamot | and the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| וַיְשַׁבֵּר֙ | vayshaber | and he broke down | H7665 → | 147 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּצֵּב֔וֹת | hamatzevot | the sacred pillars | H4676 → | |
| וַיְגַדַּ֖ע | vaygada' | and he cut down | H1438 → | 22 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֲשֵׁרִֽים׃ | haasherim | the Asherah poles | H842 → | 40 times |
וַיָּ֛סַרand he removed
vaiyasarH5493 →299 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִזְבְּח֥וֹת[the] altars of
mizbechotH4196 →401 times
הַנֵּכָ֖ר<the> foreignness
hanekharH5236 →
וְהַבָּמ֑וֹתand the high places
vehabamotH1116 →102 times
וַיְשַׁבֵּר֙and he broke down
vayshaberH7665 →147 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּצֵּב֔וֹתthe sacred pillars
hamatzevotH4676 →
וַיְגַדַּ֖עand he cut down
vaygada'H1438 →22 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֲשֵׁרִֽים׃the Asherah poles
haasherimH842 →40 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
Deuteronomy 7:5Instead, 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.
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 12:2–3
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.
- Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- Leviticus 26:1
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am…
- Exodus 23:24
Through
Exodus 34:13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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…
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 16:21
Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
- Deuteronomy 7:5
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.