2 Kings 21:5

He directed that altars for worshiping the stars be built in both of the courtyards outside the temple.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

In Context

4He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping foreign gods in the temple of Yahweh, about which Yahweh had said, “It is here in Jerusalem where I want people to worship [MTY] me, forever.”

6He even sacrificed his own son by burning him in a fire. He performed rituals to practice sorcery and magic rituals. He also went to people who consulted the spirits of dead people to find out what would happen in the future. He did many things that Yahweh considered to be extremely evil, things that caused Yahweh to become very angry.

Read all of 2 Kings 21

Cross References

1 Kings 6:36They built a courtyard in front of the temple. The walls around the courtyard were made of cedar and stone; to make the walls, between each layer of cedar beams they put down two layers of stone.

2 Kings 23:4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the Supreme Priest and all the other priests who assisted him and the men who guarded the entrance to the temple to bring out from the temple all the items that people had been using to worship Baal, the goddess Asherah, and the stars. After they carried them out, they burned all those things outside the city near the Kidron Valley. Then they took all the ashes to Bethel, because that city was already considered to be desecrated/unholy.

2 Kings 23:12Josiah also commanded his servants to tear down the altars that the previous kings of Judah had built on the roof of the palace, above the room where King Ahaz had stayed. They also tore down the altars that had been built by King Manasseh in the two courtyards outside the temple. He commanded that they be smashed to pieces and thrown down into the Kidron Valley.

2 Chronicles 33:5He directed that altars for worshiping all the stars be built in both of the courtyards outside the temple.

Ezekiel 8:16Then he took me into the courtyard outside the temple. There at the entrance of the temple, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men. Their backs were toward the temple and their faces were toward the east, and they were bowing down to worship the sun as it rose in the east.

Ezekiel 40:32Then he led me to the east side of the inner courtyard, and he measured the entrance. It had the same measurements as the other entrances

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 21:2-10

Manasseh's Impious Reign. ( b. c. 698.) 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord , after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 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… Read the whole commentary →

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Study 2 Kings 21:5