2 Chronicles 32:12

Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) The same Hezekiah.—Hezekiah himself.

Ye shall worship . . . upon it.—Literally, before one altar shall ye worship, and thereon shall ye burn incense. Comp. 2Kings 18:22 : “Is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye worship in Jerusalem?” The chronicler is even more emphatic than Kings in asserting the sole validity of the Brazen Altar in the Temple Court.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

32:1-23 Those who trust God with their safety, must use proper means, else they tempt him. God will provide, but so must we also. Hezekiah gathered his people together, and spake comfortably to them. A believing confidence in God, will raise us above the prevailing fear of man. Let the good subjects and soldiers of Jesus Christ, rest upon his word, and boldly say, Since God is for us, who can be against us? By the favour of God, enemies are lost, and friends gained.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the siege - Perhaps "in straitness" (compare Jeremiah 19:9). Jerusalem is thought by some to have been not so much besieged at this time, as distressed and straitened for supplies, because the Assyrians were masters of the open country.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9-20. (See on [466]2Ki 18:17-35; also 2Ki 19:8-34).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places,.... For the sense of this and the three following verses, see the notes on Isaiah 36:17; see Gill on Isaiah 36:18, Isaiah 36:19, Isaiah 36:20

Geneva Study Bible

Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his {g} altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

(g) Thus the wicked put no difference between true religion and false, God and idols: for Hezekiah only destroyed idolatry and replaced it with true religion. Thus the papists slander the servants of God: for when they destroy idolatry, they say that they abolish religion.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. his high places] Cp. 2 Kings 18:4, R.V. The “high places” (bâmôth) were properly sanctuaries of Jehovah, and not necessarily idolatrous in themselves. Yet in practice the bamoth were found to give shelter to heathen worship, and idolatrous symbols, e.g. the ashçrah, the relics of Canaanite worship, were often placed beside them. It was found in fact that the purity of sacrificial worship could be best preserved by separating it from all places having heathen associations and restricting it to Jerusalem. Hezekiah acted vigorously in accordance with this experience and removed the bâmôth throughout the country.

burn incense upon it] R.V. upon it shall ye burn incense.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - This misrepresenting of Hezekiah's pious actions is thought by some to have been innocent ignorance on the part of Sennacherib. Yet it is scarcely credible. 2 Chronicles 32:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Only the main ideas contained in the speech of these generals are reported; in 2 Chronicles 32:10-12 we have the attempt to shake the trust of the people in Hezekiah and in God (2 Kings 18:19-22). וישׁבים is a continuation of the question, In what do ye trust, and why sit ye in the distress, in Jerusalem? מסּית as in 2 Kings 18:32 : Hezekiah seduces you, to give you over to death by hunger and thirst. This thought is much more coarsely expressed in 2 Kings 18:27. - On 2 Chronicles 32:12, cf. 2 Kings 18:22 : אחד מזבּח is the one altar of burnt-offering in the temple.