2 Chronicles 20:33
in 2 Chronicles 20The high places, however, were not removed; the people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their fathers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Howbeit the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
KJV
Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The latter clause of this verse helps to reconcile the first clause with the statement that Jehoshaphat “took away the high places” (see 2Ch 15:17 note).
This site's exposition
Azubah the daughter of Shilhi
on 2 Chronicles 20:31-34
The regnal summary: twenty-five years, walking in the way of Asa, doing right in the sight of the LORD. The Howbeit at verse 33, the high places were not taken away, stands beside 17:6, which says he took them away, and the readings hold both: the royal reform removed them and popular use rebuilt them, for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts, the verse's own explanation. The rest of the acts are in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, one of the named sources the Chronicler worked from and openly cites.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Those that were erected to the honour of strange gods were taken away ( ch. xvii. 6 ); but those where the true God was worshipped, being less culpable, were thought allowable, and Jehoshaphat was loth to disoblige the people so far as to take them away, for as yet they had not prepared their hearts to serve the God of their fathers.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the L ORD , before the new court, 6 And said, O L ORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v5-6
Not taken - Not universally; the fault was not in Jehoshaphat, but in the people, who, though they did worship the true God, yet would not be confined to the temple, but for their own conveniency, or from their affection to their ancient custom chose to worship him in the high-places.
Howbeit, the high places were not taken away,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the high places were not taken away--Those on which idolatry was practised were entirely destroyed (2Ch 17:6); but those where the people, notwithstanding the erection of the temple, continued to worship the true God, prudence required to be slowly and gradually abolished, in deference to popular prejudice.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The high places were not taken away - The idolatry, as we have seen, was universally suppressed; but some of the places where that worship had been performed were not destroyed. Some of them still remained; and these, to such a fickle people, became the means of idolatry in reigns less propitious to truth and religion.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֥ךְ | ʾakh | only | H389 → | |
| הַבָּמ֖וֹת | habamot | the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| סָ֑רוּ | saru | they were removed | H5493 → | 299 times |
| וְע֤וֹד | veod | and still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֵכִ֣ינוּ | hekhinu | they directed | H3559 → | 217 times |
| לְבָבָ֔ם | levavam | heart their | H3824 → | 252 times |
| לֵאלֹהֵ֖י | lelohei | to [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲבֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾavoteihem | ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
אַ֥ךְonly
ʾakhH389 →
הַבָּמ֖וֹתthe high places
habamotH1116 →102 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
סָ֑רוּthey were removed
saruH5493 →299 times
וְע֤וֹדand still
veodH5750 →490 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הֵכִ֣ינוּthey directed
hekhinuH3559 →217 times
לְבָבָ֔םheart their
levavamH3824 →252 times
לֵאלֹהֵ֖יto [the] God of
leloheiH430 →2601 times
אֲבֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ancestors their
ʾavoteihemH1 →1212 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
2 Chronicles 12:14And Rehoboam did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 19:3
However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart on seeking God.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 19:3
Through
Deuteronomy 29:4Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
- Isaiah 6:9–10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Proverbs 20:12
Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.
- John 8:43
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.
- Isaiah 63:17
Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Ephesians 4:18
Through
2 Chronicles 19:3However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart on seeking God.”
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 12:12
Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Indeed, conditions were good in Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 12:12
Through
2 Chronicles 30:19who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 23:26
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
- Proverbs 23:26
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.