Bible Strands
2 Kings 15:35
Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative describes the reign of King Jotham of Judah, immediately following his father Uzziah’s rule and preceding the standard royal epitaph formula.
The words — רַק (rak) = only/nevertheless; בָּמוֹת (ba.mot) = high places; the phrase לֹא סָרוּ עוֹד (lo' sa'ru od) literally renders "were not removed still."
The thread — This identical notice regarding the persistence of high places appears in 2 Kings 12:3 and 2 Kings 15:4 to document the incomplete religious state of the kingdom.
Why it lands — The text contrasts Jotham’s personal obedience and his reconstruction of the temple’s Upper Gate with the people’s continued unauthorized worship, demanding recognition that royal piety does not automatically erase national idolatry.
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
Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 12:3 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
- 2 Chronicles 23:20 And he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate. They seated King Joash on the royal throne,
- 2 Kings 15:4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
- 2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
- 2 Chronicles 27:3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD, and he worked extensively on the wall at the hill of Ophel.
- 2 Chronicles 32:12 Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’?