Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Josiah executes a national religious reform by targeting idolatrous worship sites located east of Jerusalem and south of the Mount of Corruption.
The words — הַבָּמֹת (ha-bāmōt) translates to the high places, while מִימִין (miymīn) denotes the south, marking the precise geographic scope of the desecration.
The thread — This reversal of Solomon’s pagan shrines (1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:7) echoes the earlier condemnation of Chemosh worship associated with Moab (Numbers 21:29).
Why it lands — The text demands the active dismantling of entrenched idolatry and the rejection of religious syncretism that compromises exclusive covenant loyalty.
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 the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
- Judges 2:13 for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
- Judges 10:6 And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
- Judges 11:24 Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.
- 1 Samuel 7:4 So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 12:10 Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’
- 1 Kings 11:33 For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.
- Nehemiah 13:26 Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.