Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 15:17
The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler records this assessment of King Asa’s reign immediately after Asa deposes Queen Mother Maacah and destroys her Asherah pole. The narrator contrasts Asa’s personal spiritual fidelity with the unresolved religious landscape of the northern kingdom.
The words — The Hebrew phrase רַק לְבַב־אָסָא (rak le.vav-'a.Sa) translates literally as "only the heart of Asa." This phrasing isolates Asa’s internal devotion as the sole remaining point of religious integrity.
The thread — The tension between external idolatrous sites and internal devotion echoes Deuteronomy 12:13’s warning against arbitrary worship locations and 1 Kings 22:43’s parallel description of Jehoshaphat’s reign. Solomon’s divided heart in 1 Kings 11:4 serves as a contrasting baseline for wholehearted fidelity.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that personal allegiance to God does not automatically erase institutional or national religious compromise. Readers must assess whether internal devotion compensates for unaddressed external syncretism.
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
But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 12:13 Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;
- 1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
- 1 Kings 22:43 And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
- 2 Kings 12:3 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
- 2 Kings 14:4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
- 2 Chronicles 14:3 He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.
- 1 Kings 3:2 The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built.
- 2 Chronicles 16:7 At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.