He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”
- KJV And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
- BSB Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”
- NASB And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
- NLT He built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord, the place where the Lord had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Manasseh builds pagan altars within the very temple where God had placed His name. He defiles the place of true worship.
Overview
In a brazen act, the king erects idolatrous altars in the LORD's house, the dwelling God had chosen for His name. To corrupt the temple itself is to assault the heart of Israel's faith. This desecration anticipates the need for a greater cleansing, ultimately accomplished by Christ, who purifies a people to be God's true temple.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Sam 7:13He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
- 1 Kgs 8:29that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.
- Jer 32:34But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
- 2 Kgs 16:10–16King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a drawing of the altar and plans to build it.
- Deut 12:5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and there you shall come.
- 1 Kgs 9:3Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
- Ps 78:68–69But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
- Exod 20:24You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you.
- Ps 132:13–14For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 21:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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