Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.

2 KINGS 15:35KJV
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2 Kings 15:35 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 15:35 mean?

2 Kings 15:35 explains that although the king made improvements to the temple by building the higher gate, he did not remove the high places where people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense. The verse shows that religious practices outside the central temple continued despite some positive actions by the king.

This verse is part of a summary about King Jotham of Judah. The writer notes both what Jotham did well—such as enhancing the temple—and what he failed to do, specifically not stopping the people from worshipping at the high places. These high places were local worship sites, often associated with practices that the law of Moses discouraged.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 15:35

  • "High places" (בָּמָה, bamah, H1116) refers to local worship sites, often on hills, where sacrifices and incense were offered. The continued use of these places shows incomplete religious reform.
  • "Removed" (סוּר, sur, H5493) means to take away or get rid of. The verse points out that these sites were not eliminated, highlighting a key failure.
  • "Built" (בָּנָה, banah, H1129) and "higher" (עֶלְיוֹן, elyon, H5945) together describe Jotham’s construction of an elevated or upper gate for the temple, suggesting an improvement or addition to the temple complex.

Why 2 Kings 15:35 matters

  • The verse clarifies that even good kings like Jotham did not fully centralize worship in Jerusalem, which was a major concern for the writers of Kings.
  • It shows the tension between outward religious improvements and deeper reforms that were left unfinished.
  • This detail connects to a recurring theme in Kings: the struggle to remove local worship practices and focus worship solely at the temple, which was seen as the proper place to honor the LORD (יְהוָה, YHWH, H3068).

Where else these words appear

“higher” Hebrew H5945 · used in 53 verses

  • Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
  • 2 Chronicles 27:3 He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.
  • Psalms 83:18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

“places” Hebrew H1116 · used in 92 verses

  • Leviticus 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
  • 2 Kings 16:4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
  • 2 Chronicles 33:3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

“incense” Hebrew H6999 · used in 112 verses

  • Exodus 29:13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.
  • Leviticus 9:20 And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar:
  • 2 Chronicles 28:4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

“sacrificed” Hebrew H2076 · used in 127 verses

  • Genesis 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
  • 1 Samuel 1:21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
  • 2 Chronicles 15:11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.