Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 15:16
King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler records this event during King Asa’s reign, immediately following Judah’s corporate oath and God’s granting of rest on every side. The narrative addresses the historical moment when royal authority intervened to purge sanctioned idolatry from the Davidic line.
The words — The phrase אֵם\׀ אָסָ֣א הַ/מֶּ֗לֶךְ (em Asa ha-melekh) literally renders "mother of King Asa," marking Maacah’s formal institutional title. The verb הֱסִירָ/הּ (hesira) denotes the active removal or deposition of her official status and authority.
The thread — This account mirrors the parallel record in 1 Kings 15:13 and fulfills the Mosaic directive in Exodus 34:13 to destroy Asherah poles. The surrounding context in 2 Chronicles 15:17 clarifies that while the royal household was cleansed, the high places throughout Israel remained untouched.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant fidelity demands the structural removal of idolatry, even when it originates in the highest offices. It establishes that institutional cleansing must precede or accompany personal devotion to sustain covenant standing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 15:13 He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
- Exodus 34:13 Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- 1 Kings 15:2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
- 1 Kings 15:10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
- 2 Kings 23:6 He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
- 2 Kings 23:15 He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.
- Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
- Exodus 32:27 He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
- Leviticus 26:30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.