He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, but not like his father, and like his mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
Parallel Translations
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He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, but not like his father, and like his mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
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And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
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And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to 2 Kings 3:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 10:18 Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.
- 1 Kings 21:25 But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
- 2 Kings 10:26-28 They brought out the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them. They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
- Exodus 23:24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.
- 1 Samuel 15:19 Why then didn’t you obey Yahweh’s voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight?”
- 1 Kings 16:19 for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.
- 1 Kings 16:31-33 As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. He raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
- 1 Kings 21:5-15 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?” He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ He answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ” Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. Set two men, wicked fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and stone him to death.” The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had instructed them in the letters which she had written and sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. The two men, the wicked fellows, came in and sat before him. The wicked fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned, and is dead.” When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned, and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
- 1 Kings 21:20 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight.
- 2 Kings 6:31-32 Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.” But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”
- 2 Kings 9:22 When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”
- 2 Kings 9:34 When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”
- 2 Kings 21:6 He made his son to pass through the fire, practiced sorcery, used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
- 2 Kings 21:20 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, as Manasseh his father did.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ki 3:2 And he wrought evil in the sight…
2Ki 3:2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
Ver. 2. But not like his father, and like his mother.] Not all out so bad; and yet not very much better than they. Optimi putantur si vel leviter mali sint, saith a Popish writer concerning the Popes of Rome, vel minus boni quam caeteri mortales esse solent. They are held very good popes if they be not grossly evil; or if somewhat less good than other men use to be. Think the same of the kings of Israel.
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For he put away the image of Baal.] This was somewhat toward a reformation, and he was drawn to it by good Jehoshaphat’s persuasion likely, who hoping to work further with him, was content to be his confederate, as it followeth.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He put away the image of Baal; not from…
He put away the image of Baal; not from any principle of conscience (for that would have reached the calves also); but either because he was startled at the dreadful judgments of God inflicted upon his father and brother for Baal worship; or because he needed God’s help to subdue the Moabites, which he knew Baal could not do; or to gratify Jehoshaphat, whose help he meant to crave, which he knew he should never obtain without this; and for this reason, it seems, Jezebel was willing to connive at it, as a trick of state.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the…
Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin,.... He closely adhered to the worship of the calves set up by him:
he departed not therefrom: that being a piece of state policy, to keep up the division of the two kingdoms.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. He put away the image of Baal]…
Verse 2. He put away the image of Baal] He abolished his worship; but he continued that of the calves at Dan and Beth-el.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Ki 3:2-3. He put away the image of Baal…
2Ki 3:2-3. He put away the image of Baal — It was much that his mother, who had brought this worship with her from the Zidonians, should suffer him to remove this image; but she was probably a little daunted at the many disasters which had befallen their family, and was contented with worshipping Baal in private. Nevertheless, he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam — Though he put away the image and worship of Baal, resolving to worship Jehovah only, yet he continued to worship him under the representation of a calf, which was idolatry, though in a less degree. This kind of worship all the kings of Israel kept up, as a wall of partition between their subjects and those of Judah. They intended hereby to keep their people from going up to worship at Jerusalem, lest, if they did so, they might, by degrees, be brought to submit again to the kings of Judah. Thus Jehoram: he had a little religion, such as it was, but not enough to overrule his policy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On the “evil” done by Ahab, see especially 1Ki…
On the “evil” done by Ahab, see especially 1Ki 16:30-34. Jehoram, warned by the fate of his brother (2Ki 1:4 note), began his reign by a formal abolition of the Phoenician state religion introduced by Ahab - even if he connived at its continuance among the people 2Ki 10:26-27; and by a re-establishment of the old worship of the kingdom as arranged by Jeroboam.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Baal. This happened after his victory over Moab, ver.…
Baal. This happened after his victory over Moab, ver. 13. (Calmet) --- Salien thinks rather that Josaphat refused to assist him, except he would destroy what had been lately introduced by his parents, as the league with Achab had been blamed. See 2 Paralipomenon xix. 2. The golden calves were of an older standing, and could not be so easily taken from the people. (Menochius) --- Joram was not so wicked as might have been expected. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. He put away the image of Baal —…
2. He put away the image of Baal — Discountenanced, and at least partially abolished, the Baal worship that had gained such strength in Israel during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. At what particular period of his reign he did this does not appear, but perhaps it was after the war with Moab, and in consequence of the rebuke of Elisha given at 2Ki_3:13.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. And he wrought evil] R.V. And he did…
2. And he wrought evil] R.V. And he did that which was evil. The change made frequently that the same Hebrew phrase may be regularly rendered by the same English.
but not like his father, and like his mother] Jehoram was not so far gone in evil as his brother Ahaziah had been. He kept indeed to the calf-worship of Jeroboam, but put down the Baal-worship which had been introduced by Jezebel from Phœnicia. The writer makes a difference, as might be expected, between the sin of Jeroboam, grievous though that was, and the grosser idolatry which had been practised in the two last reigns.
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he put away the image [R.V. pillar] of Baal] The Hebrew word [maççebah] is first used of the stone (Gen_28:18) which Jacob set up for a pillar at Bethel, and it seems likely, as it is used here and elsewhere in the accounts of Baal-worship, that these objects of worship were not figures, but of the nature of obelisks. They were probably for the most part of stone, though those mentioned as brought out of the house of Baal (2Ki_10:26) and burned must have been of wood. Perhaps those under cover were made of wood, and overlaid with precious metals (cf. Hos_2:8), while those out of doors were of stone.
that his father had made] This was no doubt some special pillar which the king had erected near his palace for his own and Jezebel’s worship. This open token of devotion to the idols of the nations Jehoram put away. But there remained pillars of Baal and a house of Baal still for Jehu to destroy. Jehoram found it difficult to go far in a reformation among persons given up as his subjects were to idolatry, and all the more difficult because his own father had been the founder and fosterer of the evil.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Wrought evil.—Did the evil in the eyes, &c.,…
(2) Wrought evil.—Did the evil in the eyes, &c., i.e., maintained the illicit worship of the bullock at Beth-el (2Ki_3:3).
Like his mother.—Jezebel lived throughout his reign (2Ki_9:30), which explains why he did not eradicate the Baal-worship (2Ki_10:18-28).
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For he put away.—And he removed, scil., from its place in the temple of Baal. (Comp. 1Ki_16:31-32.) It must have been afterwards restored, probably by the influence of Jezebel. (Comp. 2Ki_10:26-27, and Notes.)
The image.—Pillar. (Comp. 2Ch_34:4.) The LXX., Vulg., and Arabic read “pillars” (a different pointing); and the LXX. adds at the end, “and brake them in pieces.” This seems original. Ahab would be likely to set up more than one pillar to Baal.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And he wrought evil in the sight of the…
And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord as did every other king of Israel both before him (1Ki_14:16 1Ki_15:25, 34 16:13, 19, 25, 30 22:52) and after him (2Ki_8:27 2Ki_10:31 2Ki_13:2, 11 14:24 15:9, 18, 24, 28 17:2) but not like his father, and like his mother i.e. Ahab and Jezebel, the introducers of the Baal-worship into Israel for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. It had not been said previously that Ahab had actually set up an image of Baal, but only that he had "built him a house in Samaria, and reared him up an altar," and that he "served him and worshipped him". (1Ki_16:31, 1Ki_16:32) But an image of the god for whom a "house" was built was so much a matter of course in the idolatrous systems of the East, that it might have seemed superfluous to mention it. The actual existence of the image appears later, when its destruction is recorded. (2Ki_10:27) It seems that Jehoram, at the commencement of his reign, took warning by the fates of his father and brother, so far as to abolish the state worship of Baal, which his father had introduced, and to remove the image of Baal from the temple where it had been set up. The image, however, was not destroyed it was only "put away."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:2 Ahab apparently erected the sacred pillar (or stela)…
3:2 Ahab apparently erected the sacred pillar (or stela) of Baal when instituting Baal worship (see 1 Kgs 16:32-33). Similar stones were also erected to pagan deities in Judah (1 Kgs 14:23); such pillars were later purged by Jehu (2 Kgs 10:26-27) and Josiah (23:13-15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.