Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 33:4
Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records King Manasseh’s actions during his reign, noting his construction of altars inside the Jerusalem temple. The account positions this act directly against God’s prior declaration that His Name would remain in Jerusalem forever.
The words — The Hebrew verb וּבָנָ֥ה (u.vānâ) translates literally as “and he built,” denoting Manasseh’s active construction. The noun מִזְבֻּחֹת (mizbēḇōṯ) means “altars,” specifying the idolatrous structures erected within the temple precincts.
The thread — The narrative repeatedly invokes God’s promise that His Name would remain in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 7:16; Deuteronomy 12:11; 1 Kings 8:29). These references establish a consistent biblical standard for temple holiness that Manasseh’s actions explicitly violate.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that physical proximity to sacred space does not neutralize covenant disobedience. It demands a clear assessment of how leaders compromise institutional holiness when they prioritize foreign worship over divine instruction.
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
Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
- Deuteronomy 12:11 then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
- 1 Kings 8:29 May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
- 2 Chronicles 6:6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
- 1 Kings 9:3 And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
- 2 Kings 21:4 Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”
- 2 Chronicles 32:19 They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands.
- 2 Chronicles 33:15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, along with all the altars he had built on the temple mount and in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city.
- 2 Chronicles 34:3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.
- Jeremiah 7:30 For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.