2 Kings 18:3-6

18:3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. ¹  18:4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. ²  He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time ³  the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. ⁴  18:5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. ⁵  18:6 He was loyal to ⁶  the Lord and did not abandon him. ⁷  He obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to ⁸  Moses.

---

¹ tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which David his father had done.”

² tn The term is singular in the MT but plural in the LXX and other ancient versions. It is also possible to regard the singular as a collective singular, especially in the context of other plural items.

sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

³ tn Heb “until those days.”

⁴ tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת (nÿkhash hannÿkhoshet), “bronze serpent.”

⁵ tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”

⁶ tn Heb “he hugged.”

⁷ tn Heb “and did not turn aside from after him.”

⁸ tn Heb “had commanded.”