Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records King Manasseh’s actions during his reign over Judah, documenting his construction of religious structures inside the temple precincts.
The words — מִזְבְּחֹת (mizbechot) means altars, and בֵּית (beit) means house, identifying the specific physical locations where Manasseh erected pagan shrines.
The thread — The text grounds this location in 2 Samuel 7:13 and 1 Kings 8:29, where God designates Jerusalem and the temple as the place for His Name, while Jeremiah 32:34 later references this same violation.
Why it lands — The verse states that Manasseh placed altars in a space God explicitly reserved for His Name, requiring the reader to see the action as a direct, physical breach of divine instruction rather than a neutral historical detail.
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 built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 7:13 He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 32:34 They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
- Deuteronomy 12:5 Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- 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 16:10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.
- Exodus 20:24 You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.
- Psalms 78:68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
- Psalms 132:13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home: