Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

2 CHRONICLES 23:17KJV
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2 Chronicles 23:17 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 23:17 mean?

2 Chronicles 23:17 describes the people of Judah acting together against the worship of Baal, a god worshipped by some of Israel’s neighbors. They destroy the place and objects used for that worship and kill Mattan, its priest. The verse presents these acts as a public break with Baal worship.

The narrator reports the events after the agreement in verse 16 that the people would belong to the Lord. The destruction reaches both the building and the objects inside it. Mattan’s death “before the altars” places the killing at the very site where he served.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 23:17

  • “house” — בַּיִת (bayit): This word can mean a house or a building used for worship. Here it refers to Baal’s temple, rather than an ordinary family home.
  • “images” — צְלָמִים (tse-lamim): These are carved or formed representations. The word points to visible objects associated with Baal worship, not just pictures in the modern sense.
  • “before” — פָּנִים (panim): This word can express being in someone’s or something’s presence. Here it places Mattan’s death in front of Baal’s altars.

Why 2 Chronicles 23:17 matters

  • The action is presented as a group event, not as the work of one leader alone. The verse begins, “Then all the people went,” placing the people at the center of the account.
  • The account includes violence against a person as well as destruction of objects. Mattan is identified by his role as “the priest of Baal,” connecting his death to the removal of Baal worship.
  • The setting links the removal of Baal worship with the restoration of worship at the Lord’s house. In the next verse, Jehoiada assigns duties for that house.

Where else these words appear

“Mattan” Hebrew H4977 · used in 3 verses

  • 2 Kings 11:18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.
  • Jeremiah 38:1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

“images” Hebrew H6754 · used in 15 verses

  • Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
  • Numbers 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
  • Psalms 73:20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

“down” Hebrew H5422 · used in 41 verses

  • Exodus 34:13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
  • 2 Kings 10:27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.
  • Psalms 52:5 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

“Baal” Hebrew H1168 · used in 68 verses

  • Judges 2:11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
  • 1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
  • 2 Chronicles 17:3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;