2 Chronicles 33:17

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only to Yahweh their God.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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אֲבָל֙

ʼăbâl

H61

“surely”

Adverb

Appears 11× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 17:19

Full BDB Definition

Origin: apparently from H56 through the idea of negation

TWOT: 8

truly, verily, surely - but, however, howbeit - contrariwise, nay rather (negative)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
8: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is אֲבָל֙ surely H61 — appearing just 11 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

אֲבָל֙ surely H61 occurs in 11 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
4 nouns
2 adverbs
1 particle

Verb forms

זֹבְחִ֖ים Qal · Participle Active

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 15 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 12 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 2 Chronicles 33:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

2 Chronicles 32:12 Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, You shall worship before one altar, and on it shall you burn incense?
1 Kings 22:43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He didn't turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh: however the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
2 Kings 15:4 However the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
2 Chronicles 15:17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Chronicles 33:17 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

אֲבָל֙ ע֣וֹד הָעָ֔ם זֹבְחִ֖ים בַּבָּמ֑וֹת רַ֖ק לַיהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם

Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only to Yahweh their God.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Chronicles 33:17 Septuagint · lemma form

πλήν ὁ λαός ἔτι ἐπί ὁ ὑψηλός πλήν κύριος ὁ θεός αὐτός

Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, only to the Lord their God.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on 2 Chronicles 33:17 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Ch 33:17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, [yet] unto the LORD their God only.

Ver. 17. Nevertheless the people did sacrifice.] Do Manasseh what he could to the contrary. Plus valet malum inolitum, quam bonum insolitum. It is hard to break people off their sinful and superstitious customs.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

2Ch 33:17. Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still, &c. — “Rabbi Kimchi observes very well here, that though Manasseh’s repentance might be sincere, yet it was attended with a melancholy circumstance, which ought to sound in the ear of every one invested with power, His example and authority easily seduced his people to idolatry; but his royal mandate was unable to reclaim them.” — Dodd. He could not carry the reformation so far as he had carried the corruption. It is an easy thing to debauch men’s manners; but not so easy to reform them again.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Thus by ignorance they were deceived, thinking it nothing to keep the altars, so that they worshipped God: but it is idolatry to worship God any otherwise than he hath appointed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only--Here it appears that the worship on high places, though it originated in a great measure from the practice of heathenism, and too often led to it, did not necessarily imply idolatry.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17. The people did sacrifice] "Nevertheless the people did sacrifice on the high places, but only to the name of the WORD of the Lord their God." - Targum.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

17. yet … only] R.V. but only.… Cp. 2Ch_32:12, note.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh,.... Good and bad, what were done by him both before and after his conversion:

and his prayer unto his God; which it seems was taken and recorded, but now lost; for as for that which is among the apocryphal writings, there is no reason to believe it to be his, though it is thought to be so by many (o):

and the words of the seers; or the prophets, as the Targum; and the prophets in his days, according to the Jewish chronology (p), were Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk:

that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel; words of admonition and reproof before his humiliation, and words of comfort, advice, and instruction, after it; the Targum is,"that spake to him in the name of the Word of the Lord God of Israel:"

behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel; not in the canonical book so called, where none of the above things, namely, his prayer, and the speeches of the prophets, are to be found, at least not all; but in the annals of the kings of Israel, now lost.

(o) Vid. Fabritii Bibliothec. Graec. l. 3. c. 31. p. 738, 739. (p) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare 2Ki 21:2, note; 2Ki 18:4, note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

God. Heb. adds, "only," and not to idols. H. --- This worship was not superstitious, but it was illegal; and it is a misfortune, that Manasses had not as much influence to guide the people in virtue, as he had formerly, to induce them to follow his example in idolatry. C. --- He could not prevail upon them to destroy the high places. M.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Pulpit Commentary

Compare Hezekiah"s good work (2Ch_31:1) with his son"s bad work; (2Ch_33:3) the latter could undo his father"s good, but now could not undo his own evil! The illegitimate worshippings and offerings of high places, though they had been "winked at" from time to time by some of even the better of the kings, were of course essentially counter to the one national worship in the one temple, and to the offerings and sacrifices of the one national altar.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Still - Manasseh could not carry the reformation so far as he had carried the corruption. It is an easy thing to debauch men's manners; but not so easy to reform them again.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 8 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʼăbâl (“surely”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “surely” (ʼăbâl) shape what this verse is saying?
Genesis 17:19 shares the word «surely» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «זֹבְחִ֖ים» is Qal Participle Active. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 12 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.