Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Kings 21:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Manasseh reverses reform and exploits his son.”
Read It With
- 2 Kings 21:1–9
Read 2 Kings 21:7 with 21:1–9. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Manasseh rebuilds high places, worships astral powers, installs altars and an image in the temple, passes his son through fire, uses divination, and leads Judah further into evil.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Manasseh reverses reform and exploits his son,” 2 Kings 21:7 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Manasseh reverses Hezekiah's reform after the Babylonian warning, restoring prohibited worship and exploiting his son.
Read 2 Kings 21:1–9 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 21:1–9 forms one scene or regnal notice: Manasseh rebuilds high places, worships astral powers, installs altars and an image in the temple, passes his son through fire, uses divination, and leads Judah further into evil.
Verse 1. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah.
Verse 2. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
Verse 3. 3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
Verse 4. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
Verse 5. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
Verse 6. 6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Verse 7. 7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
Verse 8. 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
Verse 9. 9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
What Remains True
Faithful interpretation protects the dignity, agency, safety, grief, and material needs of people whom leadership-centered readings can overlook. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Manasseh rebuilds high places, worships astral powers, installs altars and an image in the temple, passes his son through fire, uses divination, and leads Judah further into evil. In 2 Kings 21:7, the concrete line “And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which…” keeps that truth accountable to narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which….” Identify the person whose body, household, labor, grief, or testimony could disappear from the retelling; protect that person's agency and safety before drawing a leadership lesson. This response follows from the unit's own sequence: Manasseh rebuilds high places, worships astral powers, installs altars and an image in the temple, passes his son through fire, uses divination, and leads Judah further into evil.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Kings 21:1–9 — Manasseh reverses reform and exploits his sonSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Kings 21:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 21:1–9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded translation comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence is not treated as evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 660–662, translation and translator notes for 21:1–9
Open source ↗