Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

2 KINGS 15:4KJV
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2 Kings 15:4 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 15:4 mean?

2 Kings 15:4 says that although some reforms happened, the high places where people worshipped and offered sacrifices were not taken away, so the people continued to make offerings and burn incense there. The verse highlights that worship outside the central place God had chosen was still going on among the people.

The book of 2 Kings is describing the reign of a king in Israel or Judah, and this verse is part of a summary of his rule. Even though the king may have done some good things, he did not remove the "high places," which were local worship sites often used for sacrifices. The verse points out that the people kept using these sites, which was not in line with the instructions given in the law of Moses.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 15:4

  • "High places" (בָּמוֹת, bamot): These were local shrines or altars, often on hills, where people made sacrifices. The word points to a widespread practice that was hard to stop, even when kings tried to reform worship.
  • "Removed" (סוּר, sur): This word means to take away or get rid of something. The verse uses it to show that the king did not get rid of these unauthorized worship sites.
  • "People" (עָם, am): This word refers to the general population, not just leaders or priests, showing that the practice was common among ordinary Israelites.
  • "Sacrificed" (זָבַח, zavach) and "incense" (קָטַר, qatar): These words describe the main activities at the high places—offering animal sacrifices and burning incense, both acts of worship that were supposed to happen only at the temple in Jerusalem.

Why 2 Kings 15:4 matters

  • 2 Kings 15:4 shows that even when a king tried to do what was right, he often did not fully stop practices that went against the law given to Israel, especially local worship at high places.
  • The verse helps explain why later prophets and writers saw these periods as incomplete reforms, since the people continued old religious habits.
  • This verse connects to a larger theme in Kings: the struggle to centralize worship in Jerusalem and the difficulty leaders faced in changing the people's long-standing traditions.

Where else these words appear

“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.