2 Kings 17:10 - Exposition

And they set them up images ; rather, pillars (comp. Gem 28:18, 22; 31:13, 45, 51, 52; 35:14, 20; Exodus 24:4 ; Deuteronomy 12:3 ; 2 Samuel 18:18 , where the same word is so rendered). The matse voth were stone pillars, anciently connected with the worship of Baal, but in Judah perhaps used in a debased and debasing worship of Jehovah with self-invented rites, instead of those which had the express sanction of God, being commanded in the Law. And groves (compare the comment on 1 Kings 14:14 and 1 Kings 14:23 , and see also that on 2 Kings 13:6 ) in every high hill —rather, on every high hill— and under every green tree. Mote that the "groves" (ash,- rim ) were "set up under green trees," and must therefore have been artificial structures of some kind, such as could stand beneath their boughs.