2 Chronicles 30:14
in 2 Chronicles 30They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
KJV
And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd they arose,.... Before they slew and ate the passover: and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem; which Ahaz had set up in every corner of Jerusalem, to offer sacrifices upon, 2Ch 28:24. and all the altars for incense took they away; for as there were some to offer sacrifices on, there were others to burn incense upon, not to the Lord, but to idols, as the Targum adds: and cast them into the brook Kidron; having reduced them to dust and ashes, see 2Ch 29:16.
This site's exposition
feast of unleavened bread in the second month
on 2 Chronicles 30:13-14
The great congregation gathers before it worships: they arise and take away the altars that were in Jerusalem, the network Ahaz had scattered through the city in 2 Chr 28:24, and cast every one into the brook Kidron. The passover the letter promised cannot be kept beside the altars that letter's own reform stands against, so the city is cleared of them in the same movement that assembles the people. Barnes notes Hezekiah's priority up to now had run the other way, building the true worship before tearing down the old, and only here does the work turn fully to what still stood.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The best preparation we can make for the gospel passover is to cast away our iniquities, our spiritual idolatries. The celebration of the passover. In this the people were so forward and zealous that the priests and Levites blushed to see themselves out-done by the commonalty, to see them more ready to bring sacrifices than they were to offer them.
"What shall we do," says Hezekiah, "about the passover? It is a very comfortable ordinance, and has been long neglected. The time has elapsed for this year; we cannot go about it immediately; the congregation is thin, the people have not notice, the priests are not prepared,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The continuance of the idolatrous altars to this time shows that Hezekiah had been more anxious to construct than to destroy, to establish the Yahweh-worship than to root out idolatry. Now, however, that the more important work was done, the temple open, and the daily service restored, attention could be turned to the secondary object of removing from the city all traces of the late apostasy.
How the passage was read
On 2 Chronicles 30:1-27On 2 Chronicles 30:1-27
The Passover held a month late
Hezekiah's great Passover is kept in the SECOND month, and that is not an irregularity he invented: the Law itself provides a one-month make-up date for those unclean or far off (Numbers 9:10–11, the “Second Passover”). Hezekiah applies the provision nationally because the priests and the people could not be ready in time. Notice the chapter's heart: many northerners ate the Passover ritually unclean, and the king prays for them, “may the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God,” and the LORD heals the people. The feast's paperwork bends; the seeking heart is heard.
What the Jewish commentators add
the altars for incense a place where there were priests and Levites.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and the priests and the Levites were embarrassed that they had delayed to consecrate themselves. They tarried so long and did not come until now for the following reason: they could not believe that this was true beforehand, because Ahaz had dismissed them from officiating as priests.
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.
Sources: Numbers 9:10–11 (the Second-Passover provision) · Mishnah Pesachim 9:1 (the provision in the oral law)
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּקֻ֕מוּ | vaiyakumu | and they arose | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וַיָּסִ֙ירוּ֙ | vaiyasiru | and they removed | H5493 → | 299 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַֽמִּזְבְּח֔וֹת | hamizbechot | the altars | H4196 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם | birushalim | [were] in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וְאֵ֤ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַֽמְקַטְּרוֹת֙ | hamkaterot | the incense altars | H6999 → | 116 times |
| הֵסִ֔ירוּ | hesiru | they removed | H5493 → | 299 times |
| וַיַּשְׁלִ֖יכוּ | vaiyashlikhu | and they threw [them] | H7993 → | 125 times |
| לְנַ֥חַל | lenachal | to [the] wadi of | H5158 → | 141 times |
| קִדְרֽוֹן׃ | kidron | Kidron | H6939 → | 11 times |
וַיָּקֻ֕מוּand they arose
vaiyakumuH6965 →628 times
וַיָּסִ֙ירוּ֙and they removed
vaiyasiruH5493 →299 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַֽמִּזְבְּח֔וֹתthe altars
hamizbechotH4196 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם[were] in Jerusalem
birushalimH3389 →643 times
וְאֵ֤תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַֽמְקַטְּרוֹת֙the incense altars
hamkaterotH6999 →116 times
הֵסִ֔ירוּthey removed
hesiruH5493 →299 times
וַיַּשְׁלִ֖יכוּand they threw [them]
vaiyashlikhuH7993 →125 times
לְנַ֥חַלto [the] wadi of
lenachalH5158 →141 times
קִדְרֽוֹן׃Kidron
kidronH6939 →11 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 28:24Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 29:7
They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn incense or present burnt offerings in the Holy Place of the God of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 29:7
Through
2 Samuel 15:23Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:2
“Why do you have these?” asked the king. Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine…
- 1 Kings 2:37
On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”
- 2 Samuel 16:2
Through
2 Kings 18:22But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship…
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 Chronicles 31:1
Through
2 Chronicles 15:16King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:13–24
He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
- Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- 2 Kings 23:6
He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of…
- 1 Kings 15:13–24
Through
2 Chronicles 29:16So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 15:16
King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron…
- 2 Chronicles 15:16
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.