Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 15:8
When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Asa responds to Azariah son of Oded’s prophecy after the prophet and the Spirit of God urged the people to seek the Lord (2 Chronicles 15:1-7). Asa acts immediately upon hearing the message, addressing the religious state of Judah, Benjamin, and captured Ephraimite cities before assembling the broader community (2 Chronicles 15:9).
The words — הִתְחַזַּק (hit.cha.Zak) translates literally to “he strengthened himself” or took courage, marking the pivot from hearing Azariah’s words to decisive action. The text records Asa removing detestable idols from Judah, Benjamin, and captured Ephraimite cities before restoring the LORD’s altar in front of the temple portico.
The thread — Asa’s removal of idols from captured Ephraimite cities follows his father Abijah’s prior military gains in that territory (2 Chronicles 13:19). The restored altar’s placement aligns with the structure Solomon built for burnt offerings (2 Chronicles 8:12), indicating continuity in temple worship despite the long division between the northern and southern kingdoms.
Why it lands — The passage requires immediate obedience when divine prophecy is received, tying spiritual renewal to the tangible removal of idolatry and the restoration of proper worship. It places the burden of decisive action on the leader to correct the nation’s religious direction before the people gather.
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 when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 8:12 At that time Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD he had built in front of the portico.
- 2 Chronicles 13:19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their villages.
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
- Leviticus 18:30 You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
- Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- 1 Kings 11:5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 1 Kings 11:7 At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 2 Kings 16:14 He also took the bronze altar that stood before the LORD from the front of the temple (between the new altar and the house of the LORD) and he put it on the north side of the new altar.
- 2 Kings 18:22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
- 2 Kings 23:13 The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.