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2 Kings 18:22

in 2 Kings 18

But 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 before this altar in Jerusalem’?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But if ye say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

KJV

But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

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This verse in 2 Kings 18

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away - This was artfully malicious. Many of the people sacrificed to Jehovah on the high places; Hezekiah had removed them, (2Ki 18:4), because they were incentives to idolatry: Rab-shakeh insinuates that by so doing he had offended Jehovah, deprived the people of their religious rights, and he could neither expect the blessing of God nor the cooperation of the people.

This site's exposition

whose high places and whose altars

Rab-shakeh anticipates the one answer he expects, we trust in the Lord our God, and turns Hezekiah's own reform against him: is not that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away. A pagan officer states the facts of verse 4 correctly and then reads them backward, as if removing idolatrous shrines had offended the God those shrines dishonored rather than pleased him. The verse is the speech's sharpest irony, true information delivered toward a false conclusion.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 18:19 · Written before 373.

As I have already said, Sennacherib is a type of the devil, and this hypothesis is perfectly confirmed by the words that in this passage the Rabshakeh boastfully speaks against God when he makes false promises to the people, trying to take away from [God] …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

What an idol did he make of that prince whose creature he was! God is the great King, but Sennacherib was in his eye a little god, and he would possess them with the same veneration for him that he had, and thereby frighten them into a submission to him. But to those who by faith see the King of kings in his power and glory even the king of Assyria looks mean and little.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

If that be represented by ignorant and malicious men as evil and a provocation to God which is really good and pleasing to him, we must not think it strange. If this was to be sacrilegious, Hezekiah would ever be so. [2.] That God had given orders for the destruction of Jerusalem at this time (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

His great piety, which was the more wonderful because his father was very wicked and vile, one of the worst of the kings, yet he was one of the best, which may intimate to us that what good there is in any is not of nature, but of grace, free grace, sovereign grace, which, contrary to nature, grafts into the good olive that which was wild by nature ( Rom. xi.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The destruction of numerous shrines and altars where Yahweh had been worshipped 2Ki 18:4 seemed to the Rab-shakeh conduct calculated not to secure the favor, but to call forth the anger, of the god. At any rate, it was conduct which he knew had been distasteful to many of Hezekiah’s subjects.

The words behind it

24 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.

  • וְכִי־and if

    vekhi-H3588 →4482 times

  • תֹאמְר֣וּןyou will say !

    tomrunH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלַ֔יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּGod our

    ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times

  • בָּטָ֑חְנוּwe trust

    batachenuH982 →120 times

  • הֲלוֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • ה֗וּא[is] he

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֨ר[the one] whom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הֵסִ֤ירhe has removed

    hesirH5493 →299 times

  • חִזְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙Hezekiah

    chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בָּמֹתָ֣יוhigh places his

    bamotavH1116 →102 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִזְבְּחֹתָ֔יוaltars his

    mizbechotavH4196 →401 times

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he has said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • לִֽיהוּדָה֙to Judah

    lihudahH3063 →819 times

  • וְלִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םand to Jerusalem

    velirushalimH3389 →643 times

  • לִפְנֵי֙<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֣חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • תִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּyou will bow down

    tishtachavuH7812 →172 times

  • בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃in Jerusalem

    birushalimH3389 →643 times

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

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Chronicles 31:1When 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 altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.4 works2 Kings 18:4He 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 had burned incense to it.4 works1 Chronicles 22:1Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”3 worksIsaiah 36:7But 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 before this altar’?2 worksDaniel 3:15Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”2 worksMatthew 27:43He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”2 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Chronicles 32:12Did 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’?2 works1 Corinthians 2:15The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.2 works1 Kings 3:3And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.2 works2 Chronicles 15:8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.2 works2 Chronicles 30:14They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.2 works2 Kings 18:19The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?2 works2 Kings 21:3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.2 worksJoshua 22:29Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God, which stands before His tabernacle.”2 worksNumbers 23:1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”2 works1 Kings 22:43And 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 not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.2 works

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

    Matthew 27:43

    He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 22:8

      “He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”

  • Through

    Daniel 3:15

    Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I…

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:29

      But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

    • Exodus 5:2

      But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

    • Daniel 3:17

      If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

    • 2 Kings 18:35

      Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

    • 2 Chronicles 32:15–17

      So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver…

  • Through

    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…

    it leads to

    • 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…

  • Through

    Isaiah 36:7

    But 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 Kings 18:4–5

      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…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 18:19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 18 →