Verses 7-8
7, 8. At that day The day when calamity comes on Damascus and Ephraim, and the Assyrians carry away the people. It is matter of history, that after the Assyrian conquest and the deportation of the great body of Israel, many that were left accepted Hezekiah’s call to return to the worship of Jehovah at Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 30:11.
Shall not look to the altars Israel and Judah were both enticed to Syrian and Phoenician worship. Ahaz had ordered a copy of the altar at Damascus for the temple at Jerusalem. 2 Kings 16:10-12.
Either the groves, or the images Both these had usurped the place of Jehovah. The one, Asherim, are called “groves” by the old writers; they were used for idol and licentious worship. Modern writers regard them as images of the Phoenician Venus, serving essentially the same purpose. The other, Chamanim, are supposed to be sun-gods representing Baal, the male deity. The “images” were figures of the sun standing upon the altars of Baal. More precise information cannot be given, owing to the danger of confounding the many local varieties of Shemitic mythology. See WILKINS’S Phoenicia and Israel.
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