2 Kings 18:4

Translations

Modern

He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

Traditional

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

Literal

He turned aside the high places, and he shattered the pillars, and he cut down the Asherah pole, and he crushed the bronze serpent that Moses had made. For until those days the sons of Israel were burning incense to it and calling it Nehushtan.

Latin

Ipse dissipavit excelsa, et contrivit statuas, et succidit lucos, confregitque serpentem æneum quem fecerat Moyses: siquidem usque ad illud tempus filii Israël adolebant ei incensum: vocavitque nomen ejus Nohestan.

Original

Hebrew

English

He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

Notes

2 Kings 18:3–4

Unlike Ahaz (2 Kings 16:2), Hezekiah was more like David. Hezekiah destroyed false worship objects, including pagan shrines, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles (see 2 Kings 16:3–10; 17:9–11, 19).
The bronze serpent used by Moses (Numbers 21) had become an object of improper worship.

2 Kings 18:1–12

The statement about Hezekiah becoming king (2 Kings 18:1–2) includes a detailed review of his spiritual dedication (2 Kings 18:3–7a). It is followed by information about the political situation during his reign (2 Kings 18:7b–12).

Theme notes and profiles

Ahaz Assyria Hezekiah God’s Judgment of His People Nehemiah’s Confidence in God The Bronze Snake

Events

Reign of Hezekiahc. 726 BC

Related verses

2 Chronicles 31:1
When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.
Numbers 21:8–9
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
2 Kings 18:22
But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
Leviticus 26:30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
1 Kings 3:2–3
The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built.
Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
2 Kings 12:3
Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
Judges 6:25
On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
1 Kings 22:43
And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Deuteronomy 12:2–3
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.
Judges 6:28
When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar.

Parallels

2 Chronicles 29:1–2

People

Asherah: Canaanite goddess; associated with wooden poles, idolatry Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes Moses: Prophet who led Israel out of Egypt Nehushtan: The bronze serpent made by Moses in the wilderness

Glossary

Bronze Snake, Bronze Serpent Elah Hezekiah Idols, Idolatry Incense Inscriptions Kings, Books of First and Second Kohath, Kohathites Nehushtan Numbers, Book of Snake Warfare

Topics

Brazen Serpent: Worshiped by Israelites Copper Brass: Moses Made the Serpent of Groves: Destroyed by Hezekiah Hezekiah: King of Judah: Purges the Nation of Idolatry High Places: Destroyed: Hezekiah High Places: Hezekiah Destroys Iconoclasm: Destroyed by Hezekiah Idolatry: Objects of Brazen Serpent Nehushtan: The Brass (Bronze) Serpent Prophecies Concerning Israel: Hezekiah's Good Reign Religion: Outstanding Religious Persons: Hezekiah Revivals: Hezekiah

2 Kings 18:4

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