2 Kings 21:4 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

He built altars in the LORD's temple, even though the LORD had said, 'I will put my name in Jerusalem.'

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

This verse describes someone building pagan altars inside God's holy temple, directly violating God's commandment about Jerusalem being the place where He would be worshiped.

📚 Historical Context

This refers to King Manasseh of Judah, who ruled from 697-642 BC and was considered one of the most wicked kings in Israel's history. He built altars to foreign gods inside Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, the very place God had designated as holy and set apart for His worship alone. This was a shocking violation of Jewish law and represented the peak of religious corruption in Judah before the Babylonian exile.

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2 Kings 16:10

King Ahaz traveled to Damascus to meet with Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, and saw an altar there. King Ahaz sent detailed instructions to Urijah the priest, describing exactly how the altar looked and how it was made, including all the craftsmanship details.

2 Chronicles 28:24

Ahaz collected all the sacred items from God's temple and broke them into pieces. He locked up the doors of the LORD's house and built altars for false gods on every street corner in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 32:12

Hasn't this same Hezekiah removed the worship sites and altars, and commanded the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, 'You must worship at only one altar and burn incense there'?

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