Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 21:3
For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.
3. For he built up again the high places ] The R.V. omits ‘up’. On Hezekiah’s destruction of the high places, see 2Ch 30:14 ; 2Ch 31:1.
and he reared up altars for Baal ] The Chronicler says for ‘the Baalim’, by which is most likely intended the various aspects or attributes under which Baal was worshipped. The LXX. uses the feminine article and says the altars were reared ; which is due to the use of the word bosheth = shame, which is feminine, to avoid the abominated name Baal. The desire to avoid this word is seen in proper names, among which Ishbosheth is put for Eshbaal, the name of a son of Saul (1Ch 8:33; 1Ch 9:39), also Mephibosheth is used instead of Meribbaal (cf. 2Sa 9:6 with 1Ch 8:34) and Jerubbesheth for Jerubbaal (cf. Jdg 6:32 with 2Sa 11:21).
and made a grove ] R.V. an Asherah. The Chronicler here too uses the plural ‘Asheroth’ (A.V. groves). On Asherah, which was probably a wooden image of a goddess so called, see note on 1Ki 14:15 and 2Ki 13:6.
Ahab king of Israel ] Who first, at the instigation of Jezebel his wife, introduced the worship of Baal and Asherah into Israel from Phnicia.
worshipped all the host of heaven ] See note on 2Ki 17:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The first step in the re-establishment of idolatry seems to have been the restoration of the high places where Yahweh was professedly worshipped 2Ki 18:22, but with idolatrous rites 1Ki 14:23. The next was to re-introduce the favorite idolatry of Israel, Baal-worship, which had formerly flourished in Judaea under Athaliah 2Ki 11:18, and Ahaz 2Ch 28:2. After this, Manasseh seems to have especially affected Sabaism, which had been previously unknown in Judaea (compare 2Ki 17:16 and note).
Worshipped all the host of heaven – Sabaism, or pure star-worship, without images, and without astrological superstitions, included a reverence for the sun, the moon, the chief stars, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac (2Ki 23:5 note). The main worship was by altars, on which incense was burned Jer 19:13. These altars were placed either upon the ground 2Ki 21:5, or upon the house-tops 2Ki 23:12; Zep 1:5. The sun was worshipped with the face toward the east Eze 8:16; chariots and horses were dedicated to him 2Ki 23:11. The star-worship of the Jews has far more the character of an Arabian than an Assyrian or Chaldaean cult. It obtained its hold at a time when Assyria and Babylonia had but little communication with Judaea – i. e., during the reign of Manasseh. It crept in probably from the same quarter as the Molech worship, with which it is here (and in 2Ch 33:3-6) conjoined.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Made a grove] He made Asherah, the Babylonian Melitta or Roman Venus. See 2Kg 17:10, and the observations at the end of that chapter; and see here on 2Kg 21:7.
Worshipped all the host of heaven] All the stars and planets, but particularly the sun and the moon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The host of heaven; the stars, which the Gentiles had transformed into gods. See Poole “Deu 4:19“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed,…. The temples and altars upon them, see
2Ki 18:4,
and he reared up altars for Baal; in the high places he rebuilt:
and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel: which was either an idol itself, or a shade of trees where idols were placed; or rather Asherah, rendered “a grove”, is the same with Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, the figure of which he made and worshipped; for groves were not so soon and easily planted, raised, and made; so the same in
1Ki 16:33
and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them: the sun, moon, and stars, particularly the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) For he built up again.The LXX. and Vulg. imitate the Hebrew idiom, and he returned and builti.e., and he rebuilt.
The high places . . . altars for Baal . . . a grove (an Ashrah).The idols, the sun-pillars, the ashrim, the sacred trees, and all the other pagan or half-pagan symbols, so plainly inconsistent with the prophetic faith, were of the very substance of Israels worship in the popular sanctuaries (Prof. Robertson Smith).
As did Ahab.See 1Ki. 16:32-33.
Worshipped all the host of heaven.See Notes on 2Ki. 17:16, and comp. 2Ki. 23:12. The Babylonian star-worship and astrology, with concomitant superstitions, had been introduced under Ahaz.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. As did Ahab See notes on 1Ki 16:30-33.
Host of heaven See note on 2Ki 17:16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Summary Of His Evil Life ( 2Ki 21:3-9 ).
The full evil of the life of Manasseh is brought out by a detailed description of all the abominations that he committed (2Ki 21:3-7), followed by two summaries, one in 2Ki 21:9 and one in 2Ki 21:16, thereby making up a threefold indictment of the ‘completeness’ of his evil. Whilst it was true that his subjection to the King of Assyria would have required that at a minimum he introduce into the Temple an Assyrian altar, and the worship of Assur and the host of heaven (whose power was claimed by the Assyrians as having brought about his subjection, and who would need to ‘watch over’ the observance of the treaty made between them which would have been lodged in the Temple), it was not required of him that he go to excess in other directions. The Assyrians did not interfere with the local religion. Thus his excesses in that regard may well have partly been due to the fact that when he came to the throne as sole ruler at a comparatively young age he was under the influence of parties who had endeared themselves to him during his co-regency with a view to a return to the old ways once Hezekiah was dead. It may also have included bitterness at the thought that his destiny, according to the famous prophet of YHWH Isaiah, was to become a eunuch in the service of the King of Babylon (2Ki 20:18). It may be that he felt that the ancient gods of the land would offer him a better future.
Analysis.
a
b And he built altars in the house of YHWH, of which YHWH said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name” (2Ki 21:4).
c And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of YHWH (2Ki 21:5).
d And he made his son pass through the fire, and practised augury, and used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards (2Ki 21:6 a).
c He wrought much evil in the sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger (2Ki 21:6 b).
b And he set the graven image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which YHWH said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever, nor will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them” (2Ki 21:7-8).
a But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do what is evil more than did the nations whom YHWH destroyed before the children of Israel (2Ki 21:9).
Note that in ‘a’ we have described the restoration of the perverted worship of the gods of Canaan, and in the parallel the fact that Manasseh did more evil that the nations whom YHWH had destroyed because of their worship of the perverted gods of Canaan. In ‘b’ he desecrated the place in which YHWH had put His Name, and in the parallel he did the same. In ‘c’ be built altars to the host of heaven in the courts of the house of YHWH, and in the parallel he wrought much evil in the sight of YHWH to provoke Him to anger. Centrally in ‘d’ he practised child sacrifice, and engaged in the occult.
2Ki 21:3
‘For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.’
Manasseh did not, of course, do all this himself. Rather he rescinded the order of Hezekiah against the old high places, so that those of the people so inclined, which were many, could once again restore the high places with their semi-Canaanite worship, and set up altars for Baal, while he himself seemingly set up an altar of Baal and an Asherah image in the Temple in the same way as Ahab had done (compare 2Ki 16:3; 1Ki 16:30-33). It was a deliberate reversal of Hezekiah’s reforms. The worship of the host of heaven, which would include Assur the sun god, was probably required by his Assyrian conquerors, but it was one thing to give formal recognition to them, it was quite another to enter into their worship enthusiastically. He appears to have ‘gone over the top’. He was seemingly not too reluctant a vassal.
2Ki 21:4
‘And he built altars in the house of YHWH, of which YHWH said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” ’
In view of 2Ki 21:3; 2Ki 21:5 this would appear to refer to (or at least include) altars for Baal. And he set them up in the very place where YHWH had promised to David that he would ‘put His Name’ (by allowing the introduction of the Ark, ‘whose name was called by the Name of YHWH of Hosts Who dwells between the cherubim’ – 2Sa 6:2). It was thus a direct confrontation with YHWH.
For ‘in Jerusalem will I put My Name’ see 1Ki 11:36; 1Ki 14:21. YHWH had put His Name in Jerusalem in response to David’s action in bringing the Ark of YHWH (which was called after the Name of YHWH – 2Sa 6:2) into Jerusalem as his capital city. It was David’s desire that YHWH would adopt Jerusalem as the present place where He put His Name, and YHWH had responded to him because of His love for him. It was thus for David’s sake that He had adopted Jerusalem. And now Manasseh was restoring it to its old owners, the gods of Canaan. This was thus an open rejection by Manasseh of his own Davidic status, and of the uniqueness of the God of David.
In Deuteronomy 12 YHWH had made clear that He would put His Name wherever the Tabernacle was set up, and the Ark placed within it. And that place had varied from time to time. But there was no specific thought in Deuteronomy of Jerusalem. Deuteronomy simply had in mind the setting up of one Central Sanctuary at whatever place YHWH chose at any particular time (although it nowhere says it would be the only sanctuary. It would be the central one around which the tribes united). This was initially at Shechem (as Deuteronomy itself recognised), and eventually for a long time at Shiloh. It was David, and then Solomon, who decided to set it up at Jerusalem, and it was for David’s sake that YHWH recognised Jerusalem as the place where He would put His Name. It is a mistake to read Jerusalem specifically back into Deuteronomy 12.
2Ki 21:5
‘And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of YHWH.’
It would appear that the old court around the Temple had been divided into two (compare 2Ki 23:12). This would probably be necessary in order to house the altar of YHWH in one section and the altars of Baal in the other (the worship of both could not take place in the same area simultaneously). Altars to his overlord’s gods, recognised in terms of the host of heaven, would thus have to be set up in both sections. The worship of the host of heaven was widespread, even though the gods might have different names. But here, as the Assyrian gods are mentioned nowhere else in the passage, it is seemingly connected with Assyria (where ‘the host of heaven’ was certainly worshipped), for their presence and worship would certainly have been required.
Alternatively the mention of the two courts may have in mind the ‘middle court’, possibly mentioned in 2Ki 20:4, which may have been a court in the palace complex which was alongside the court of the Temple. But we would expect the altars to be erected before the door of the Sanctuary which favours the first idea above (compare 2Ki 23:12).
‘The host of heaven.’ Anyone who was a polytheist and connected the gods with the sun, moon and stars would necessarily think of ‘the host of heaven’ every time that he looked up to the stars at night. There it was spread before him, a great host. Thus we have mention of ‘the host of heaven’ as early as Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3; compare Gen 1:2. The Assyrians had, however, schematised the idea.
2Ki 21:6
‘And he made his son pass through the fire, and practised augury, and used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards.’
This may signify that he also introduced the worship of Molech (Melech) the god of the Ammonites who required child sacrifice, or alternatively that he transferred those practises to the worship of Baal, as would occur in the future in Jeremiah’s day (Jer 19:5). That passing through the fire involved such child sacrifice is clear from Jer 19:5. He also indulged in the occult, using divination by omens, enchantments, consultations with familiar spirits through mediums, and wizardry, all of which was forbidden by the Law of YHWH (Lev 19:26; Deu 18:10-14).
2Ki 21:6
‘He wrought much evil in the sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger.’
Not only did he introduce false worship in abundance, but Manasseh also ‘wrought much evil, in the sight of YHWH’, provoking Him to anger. Central to this was his rejection of the covenant requirements of YHWH (compare 2Ki 21:16, where his wrong behaviour clearly goes beyond a simple indulging in false worship, serious though that was. Canaanite worship, with its perverted sex acts, did, of course, openly result in flagrant disobedience to YHWH’s other commandments).
2Ki 21:7
‘And he set the graven image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which YHWH said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever,” ’
Chief among his crimes was the setting up of the image of the mother goddess of the Canaanite religion, not only in Jerusalem which was a crime in itself, but also in the very house of which YHWH had said to David and Solomon, ‘There will I put My Name’ (1Ki 11:36; 1Ki 14:21). The setting up of the Asherah with its evil and lascivious associations appears to have been looked on, if that were possible, as even more serious than the pillars and altars of Baal (compare 2Ki 13:6; 1Ki 16:33). The sexual extravagances associated with Asherah are here set in stark contrast to the purity of the Name of YHWH.
2Ki 21:8
“Nor will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”
At that time YHWH had promised that He would not cause the feet of Israel to wander out of the land which He had given to their fathers any more. In other words there would be no danger of exile for them. They would be safe in the land. But it had been conditional on their observing to do all that He had commanded them, and all that had been commanded to them by Moses as written in the Law of Moses, YHWH’s servant. And we have already seen that three major exiles of God’s people had already resulted because of their disobedience. The first was in 2Ki 15:29, following the destruction and annexation of the region around Naphtali, when many from those regions were transported; the second in 2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 18:11-12 following the destruction of Samaria; and the third in 2Ki 18:13 (read in the light of the Assyrian annals), resulting from the initial invasion of Judah. Indeed every Assyrian and Babylonian, and even Egyptian, invasion would result in many exiles, for these nations never went back without taking captives with them, (compare Isa 11:11-12; Isa 43:5-6; Isa 49:12; Isa 56:8). So, as for many nations of the other nations (e.g. 2Ki 16:9), exile was a common occurrence for the Israelites, and continually brought home the warning that if they were disobedient God would spew them out of the land (Lev 18:28; Lev 20:22). (What is erroneously called ‘The Exile’ in popular Biblical teaching, as though there was only one, is only recalled because it resulted from the destruction of Jerusalem and we have records about some of them returning. But exile was not uncommon. In those days people lived in expectation of the possibility of exile if they rebelled (compare 2Ki 18:32). So it did not take a prophet to forecast the possibility of exile. What the prophet did was explain the reason for the exile.
This prophecy is not actually elsewhere recorded in Scripture. The closest to it is found in 1Sa 7:10 where we read, ‘and I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more’, but there were many prophecies that were not included in Kings (consider the examples found in Chronicles) so that there is no good reason for denying the genuineness of this prophecy.
2Ki 21:9
“But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do what is evil more than did the nations whom YHWH destroyed before the children of Israel.’
However, in spite of all that YHWH had said the people did not listen. And Manasseh ‘seduced them’ and led them into such evil ways that they were even more evil than the nations whom YHWH had (only in part because of Israel’s disobedience) destroyed before the children of Israel. It is clear therefore that this could have only one inevitable end, that they would be spewed out of the land (Lev 18:28; Lev 20:22). A further series of exiles was inevitable.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ki 21:3. A grove Or, Aschera [Astarte].
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 21:3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
Ver. 3. He built up again the high places, &c. ] Which he, perhaps, was persuaded to believe to be the old religion, and therefore by all means to be restored. The Papist’s plea: ..
And he reared up altars for Baal.
And made a grove.
And worshipped all the host of heaven.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the high places. Restoring what his father had destroyed (2Ki 18:4, 2Ki 18:22).
a grove = an ‘Asherah. See note on Exo 34:18. App-42.
as = according as.
did Ahah See 2Ki 11:18, and compare 1Ki 16:31, 1Ki 16:32.
the host of heaven. Never before done in Judah. Compare Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the high places: 2Ki 18:4, 2Ki 18:22, 2Ch 32:12, 2Ch 34:3
he reared: 2Ki 10:18-20, 1Ki 16:31-33, 1Ki 18:21, 1Ki 18:26
a grove: Rather, as we have before remarked, Asherah or Astarte. So Castel defines Asherah to be Simulacrum ligneum Astarte dicatum; “A wooden image dedicated to Astarte.”
Ahab: 2Ki 8:18, 2Ki 8:27, Mic 6:16
and worshipped: 2Ki 17:16, 2Ki 23:4, Deu 4:19, Deu 17:3, 2Ch 33:3-5, Job 31:26
Reciprocal: Gen 2:1 – host Deu 16:21 – General 1Ki 11:7 – build an high 1Ki 14:9 – to provoke 1Ki 14:23 – groves 1Ki 16:33 – made a grove 2Ki 23:5 – all the host 2Ki 23:24 – the workers Jer 8:2 – and all Jer 23:27 – as Eze 16:15 – and playedst Eze 16:24 – thou hast Hos 2:13 – the days Act 7:42 – the host
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 21:3-5. He built up again the high places Trampling upon the dust of his worthy father, and affronting his memory. And worshipped all the host of heaven The sun, moon, and stars, which the Gentiles had transformed into gods. He built altars To the gods of the neighbouring nations, and to the host of heaven; in the house of the Lord Not only in Jerusalem, where the Lord had recorded his name, but even in the courts of the temple itself, both in that where the priests and Levites performed their services, and in that wherein the people worshipped. Thus, when the faithful worshippers of God came to the place he had appointed, to do their duty to him, to their great grief and terror, they found the altars of other gods ready to receive their offerings.