2 Kings 21:21

And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 21:21. He (Amon) walked in the way, &c. — He revived that idolatry which Manasseh, in the latter end of his reign, had put down. Those who set bad examples, if they repent themselves, cannot be sure that they whom their example has drawn into sin will repent; it is often otherwise.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

21:19-26 Amon profaned God's house with his idols; and God suffered his house to be polluted with his blood. How unrighteous soever they were that did it, God was righteous who suffered it to be done. Now was a happy change from one of the worst, to one of the best of the kings of Judah. Once more Judah was tried with a reformation. Whether the Lord bears long with presumptuous offenders, or speedily cuts them off in their sins, all must perish who persist in refusing to walk in his ways.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

At Manasseh's death, the idolatrous party, held in some check during his later years 2 Chronicles 33:15-17, recovered the entire direction of affairs, and obtained authority from Amon to make once more all the changes which Manasseh had made in the early part of his reign. Hence, we find the state of things at Josiah's accession 2 Kings 23:4-14; Zephaniah 1:4-12; Zephaniah 3:1-7, the exact counterpart of that which had existed under Manasseh.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ki 21:19-26. Amon's Wicked Reign.

19-24. Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign—This prince continued the idolatrous policy of his father; and, after an inglorious reign of two years, he was massacred by some of his own domestics. The people slew the regicide conspirators and placed his son Josiah on the throne.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he walked in all the ways that his father walked in,.... In his wicked way, his idolatry, witchcraft, and murders:

and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them; Baal, Ashtoreth, and all the host of heaven, and all the carved images his father made, which it seems he only removed, but did not break in pieces, 2 Chronicles 33:22.

Geneva Study Bible

And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

21. served the idols that his father served] i.e. Making again the same sort of graven images, which we must suppose Manasseh in his repentance had broken in pieces.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 21. - And he walked in all the way that his father walked in. There was not a single one among the early wickednesses of Manasseh which Amen did not imitate. The details of Josiah's reformation (2 Kings 23:4-24) show that under Amon

(1) the Asherah or "grove" maintained its place in the temple building;

(2) the two idolatrous altars stood in the two courts;

(3) the temple was the scene of the worship of Baal, Ashtoreth, and the host of heaven;

(4) the unchaste priestesses of the Syrian goddess, with the male partners in their guilt, were lodged in houses close by the house of the Lord;

(5) chariots and horses dedicated to the sun were maintained at one of the temple gates;

(6) the fire of Tophet burnt continually in the valley of Hinnom, and children were there "passed through the fire to Moloch;"

(7) an idolatrous worship held possession of all the high places all ever Judaea and Samaria, and idolatrous priests, deriving their appointment from the king, burnt incense in the high places to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and all the host of heaven; and

(8) magic and necromancy were practiced openly under royal sanction throughout the length and breadth of the land. And served the idols that his father served - as Baal, Ashtoreth, Moloch, the Asherah, and others - and worshipped them. 2 Kings 21:21

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Reign of Amon (cf. 2 Chronicles 33:21-25). - Amon reigned only two years, and that in the spirit of his father, that is to say, worshipping all his idols. The city of Jotbah, from which his mother sprang, was, according to Jerome (in the Onom. s. v. Jethaba), urbs antiqua Judaeae; but it is not further known.