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2 Chronicles 33:17

in 2 Chronicles 33

Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God.

KJV

Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 33

Commentary

2 notes on this verse
Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places,.... Not in those that were built for idols, at least did not sacrifice to them; for it follows: yet unto the Lord their God only; the Targum is,"to the name of the Word of the Lord their God.''

This site's exposition

did sacrifice still in the high places

The reform has a ceiling verse 17 states plainly: the people still sacrificed in the high places, though only to the Lord their God and not to the idols Manasseh had thrown down. The same gap appears in Jehoshaphat's reign, where 17:6 says he took the high places away and 20:33 says the people's hearts were not yet prepared for their full removal; a king's decree and a people's habit move at different speeds. Manasseh's own reform, coming after decades of the opposite example, could unmake the idols but not the custom in one stroke.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

and he sacrificed upon it peace-offerings and thanksgiving offerings He brought a thanksgiving offering and thanked the Holy One, blessed be He, for restoring him to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 33:16:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 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

8 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אֲבָל֙but

    ʾavalH6111 times

  • ע֣וֹדstill

    odH5750490 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • זֹבְחִ֖ים[were] sacrificing

    zoechimH2076134 times

  • בַּבָּמ֑וֹתat the high places

    babamotH1116102 times

  • רַ֖קonly

    rakH7535109 times

  • לַיהוָ֥הto Yahweh

    layahwehH30686520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃God their

    ʾeloheihemH4302601 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 22:43

    And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were…

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 15:14

      The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.

    • 2 Kings 12:3

      Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.

    • Proverbs 4:27

      Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 15:17

    The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 14:4

      Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Kings 22:43

      And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Deuteronomy 12:13–14

      Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 32:12

    Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’?

    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 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…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 2 Chronicles

Solomon Receives the Queen of Sheba, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Solomon Receives the Queen of Sheba, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Chronicles.