Bible Strands
2 Kings 16:4
And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Ahaz of Judah performs these acts while walking in the ways of the kings of Israel and adopting the abominations of the nations the Lord had driven out.
The words — וַ/יְזַבֵּ֧חַ (va/y.za.Be.ach) = and he sacrificed [H2076] and בַּ/בָּמ֖וֹת (ba./ba.Mot) = at the high places [H1116].
The thread — Deuteronomy 12:2 commands the destruction of such pagan worship sites, 1 Kings 14:23 records Israelites building high places and Asherah poles on hills and under green trees, and 2 Kings 14:4 notes the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on high places.
Why it lands — The text documents Ahaz's adoption of foreign idolatry at unauthorized worship sites, requiring the reader to recognize the explicit rejection of Yahweh's centralized worship and the historical pattern of covenant failure.
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 he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 12:2 Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- 1 Kings 14:23 They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
- 2 Kings 14:4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
- Isaiah 57:5 who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
- Isaiah 65:4 sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.
- Isaiah 66:17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
- Ezekiel 20:28 When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings.