2 Kings 23:13

2Ki 23:13 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.

Ver. 13. And the high places that were before Jerusalem.] There they had boldly set up their abominable idols in mount Olivet, even in the sight of the Lord; so that he never looked out of the sanctuary but he saw that vile hill, which, therefore, he here calleth not Har Hammisha, {a} the mount of annointing, but Har Hammaschith, {b} the mount of corruption. Est tacita paranomasia; item allusio, item detorsio.

Of the mount of corruption.] So called, because the people had there corrupted themselves, as Deu 32:5; and yet afterwards it became our Saviour’s oratory, or usual place of prayer, This showeth, that places which have been abused to idolatry, may yet afterwards be used for God’s service. As for that which we read, Deu 12:2-3, "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places," &c., divines answer, that that was a temporary ordinance, and a part of Moses’s polity, now abrogated.

Which Solomon had builded.] But, after his repentance, had demolished, likely; though, by the idolatrous princes that came after him, they were rebuilded, and called still by his name.

{a} Of Mashach.

{b} Of Shacah.

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.

2Ki 23:13. The high places on the right hand of the mount of Corruption — That is, the mount of Olives, (1Ki 11:7,) called the mount of Corruption, for the gross idolatry there practised. Which Solomon had builded for Ashtoreth, &c. — Not the same individual altars; which, doubtless, either Solomon, upon his repentance, or some other of Josiah’s predecessors, had taken away, but other altars built by Manasseh or Amen, which, because erected by Solomon’s example, and for the same use, and in the same place, are called by his name: this brand is left by the Holy Ghost upon his name and memory, as a just punishment of that abominable practice, and a means to deter others from the like. The abomination of the Zidonians — The idol, so called, because it was abominable, and made them abominable to God. Did the king defile — By dead men’s bones and other unclean things.

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

23:13 Solomon had erected the pagan shrines because of his many foreign wives (1 Kgs 11:5, 7, 33).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That was the mount of olives, so called because it was full of idols.

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

the high places . . . which Solomon . . . had builded--(See on Kg1 11:5).

the right hand of the mount of corruption--The Mount of Olives is a hilly range on the east of Jerusalem. This range has three summits, of which the central one is the Mount of Corruption, so called from the idol temples built there, and of course the hill on the right hand denotes the southernmost peak. Josiah is said not to have destroyed, but only defiled, "the high places on the hill of corruption." It is most probable that Hezekiah had long before demolished the idolatrous temples erected there by Solomon but, as the superstitious people continued to regard the spot as consecrated ground, Josiah defiled it.

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

Verse 13. Mount of corruption] This, says Jarchi, following the Chaldee, was the mount of Olives, for this is the mount המשחה hammishchah, of unction; but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the mount המשחית hammashchith, of corruption.

Ashtoreth the abomination, c.] See on 1Kg 11:7.

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

(13) The high places that were before the city . . .—See 1Ki_11:5-8. “Before” means “to the east of,” because, to determine the cardinal points, one faced the sunrise. The right hand was then the south, the left hand the north, and the back the west.

The mount of corruption.—The southern summit of the Mount of Olives was so-called, because of the idolatry there practised. It still bears the name of the “Hill of Offence,” derived from the Vulg. “mons offensionis.” (The word rendered “corruption,” mashhîth, may originally have meant “anointing,” from mâshah “to anoint,” and have simply referred to the olive oil there produced. The name would thus be equivalent to the German Oelberg. In later times the term was so modified as to express detestation of idol-worship.)

Did the king defile.—As it is not said that they were pulled down, these high places may have been merely sacred sites on the mountain, consisting of a levelled surface of rock, with holes scooped in them for receiving libations, &c. Such sites have been found in Palestine; and it is hardly conceivable that chapels erected by Solomon for the worship of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, would have been spared by such a king as Hezekiah, who even did away with the high places dedicated to Jehovah (2Ki_18:3).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. the mount of corruption] This name was given to a portion of the Mount of Olives, because of the idolatrous temples which were erected there. It is called in the Vulgate rendering of this verse ‘Mons offensionis’, and so the hill is spoken of in Christian writings as ‘the Mount of Offence’. The word rendered ‘corruption’ is also often translated ‘destruction’ (see marg.), and this name is equally applicable, from the ruinous and destructive results which developed out of this introduction of idolatry by Solomon.

Ashtoreth] On Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Milcom, and the temples which Solomon built for them under the influence of his heathen wives, see the notes on 1Ki_11:4-8.

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.

And he brake in pieces the images,.... Of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, in the above high places; which as these high places had been rebuilt by Manasseh or Amon, so new images of these deities were placed there:

and cut down the groves; in which they were set:

and filled their places with the bones of men; of idolatrous priests and worshippers, buried in parts adjacent; these he dug up and scattered in the high places and groves to defile them, bones of the dead being by law unclean, Num 19:15.

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

Offence; Olivet. (Haydock) --- In the original, the terms are very much alike; and the Jews take a pleasure in deforming names, for which they had a horror. Solomon had erected temples here to various idols, (3 Kings xi. 7.) which had probably been demolished by Ezechias, but had been rebuilt under Amon, &c., and subsisted during the minority of Josias; (Calmet) or they had been neglected by the pious kings of Juda, as no longer dangerous. But Josias, in the fervour of his zeal, thought proper to remove every thing that had been the occasion of offence: Hebrew, "of corruption." --- Idol, and scandal, and abomination, are the same in Hebrew.

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 mount of corruption, i.e. the Mount of Olives, 1Ki 11:7, here called the mount of corruption, for the gross idolatry there practised, which is oft expressed by the name of corruption. See Exo 32:7; Deu 32:5. In the Hebrew is an elegant allusion between miscah, anointing, and masheith, corruption, as there is between Beth-el and Beth-aven, Hos 4:15.

Which Solomon had builded; not the same individual altars; which doubtless either Solomon upon his repentance, or some other of Josiah’s godly predecessors, had taken away long before this time; but other altars built by Manasseh or Amon, which because erected by Solomon’s example, and for the same use, and in the same place, are called by his name; this brand being left by the Holy Ghost upon his name and memory, as a just punishment of that abominable practice, and a mean to deter others from the like.

For Ashtoreth; of which and the rest See Poole "1Ki 11:5"; See Poole "1Ki 11:6"; See Poole "1Ki 11:7".

The abomination, i.e. the idol, so called, because it was abominable, and made them abominable to God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Mount of corruption — The southern part of the Mount of Olives, now known as the Mount of Offence. Solomon probably erected idolatrous altars on various peaks of Olivet, (see note on 1Ki_11:7,) but they seem gradually to have been removed towards the southern slopes, or right hand of the mountain, to one looking eastward from Jerusalem.

Which Solomon… builded — See on 1Ki_11:1-8. It appears, then, that at least some of the high places erected by Solomon had remained until the time of Josiah.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the high places that were before Jerusalem. The high places which Solomon established in the neighborhood of Jerusalem for the use of his wives, and in the worship at which he became himself entangled in his old age, appear to have been situated on the ridge of the mountain which lies over against Jerusalem to the east, a part of which is Olivet. The southern summit, the traditional roans offensionis, was probably the high place of Moloch (Milcom), while the most northern summit (now called Karem-es-Seyad) has some claim to be regarded as the high place of Chemosh. (So Broeardus in A.D. 1280.) The site of the high place of Ashtoreth is doubtful. Which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption. The name "mount of corruption" seems to have been given after Solomon"s time to the entire ridge of hills which lies over against Jerusalem to the east, on account of the rites which he had allowed to be established on it. The "right hand" of the mountain would, according to Jewish notions, be the more southern part. Which Solomon the King of Israel rather, King of Israel, since there is no articlehad builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians. (see 1Ki_11:7) Though Ashtoreth, or Astarte, or Ishtar, or the Dea Syra, was worshipped generally throughout Phoenicia, and perhaps even more widely, yet she was in a peculiar way "the abomination of the Zidonians," being the deity to whom the city of Sidon was especially dedicated (see the inscription on the tomb of Eshmunazar, published in the "Records of the Past," vol. 9. pp. 113, 114). And for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites. Chemosh appears as the special god of the Moabites on the famous Moabite Stone in eleven places. The stone itself was dedicated to Chemosh (line 3). The Moabites are spoken of as "the people of Chemosh" (lines 5, 6). Success in war comes from him, and defeat is the result of his anger. One of his designations is "Ashtar-Chemosh" (line 17), or "Chemosh, who is also Ashtar," Ashtar being the male principle corresponding to the female Astarte or Ashtoreth. And for Milcom. Moloch was called by the Jews "Milcom," or "Malcam king" i.e. the king of the Ammonite people, since he was the sole god whom they acknowledged (see 1Ki_11:5; Jer_49:3 compared with (Jer_48:7; Zep_1:5) The abomination of the children of Ammon. (1Ki_11:5, 1Ki_11:7; and compare the comment on 1 Kings in the "Pulpit Commentary," p. 222) Did the king defile. The manner of the defilement is stated in the next verse.

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

Corruption - The mount of olives, called the mount of corruption, for the gross idolatry there practiced. Which - Not the same individual altars; which doubtless either Solomon upon his repentance, or some other of Josiah's predecessors had taken away, but other altars built by Manasseh or Amon, which because erected by Solomon's example, and for the same use, and in the same place, are called by his name: this brand is left by the Holy Ghost upon his name and memory, as a just punishment of that abominable practice, and a mean to deter others from the like. Abomination - The idol, so called, because it was abominable, and made them abominable to God.

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

Ashtoreth

2Ki 23:6; 2Ki 23:7. (See Scofield "Jdg 2:13").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of Har Hamashchis. [I.e.,] the Mount of Olives, which is known as the Mount of Oil. But because its name is mentioned in reference to idolatry, [Scripture] changed its name to a derogatory expression.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.