Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Mount of corruption - This, says Jarchi, following the Chaldee, was the mount of Olives, for this is the mount המשחה hammishchah, of unction; but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the mount המשחית hammashchith, of corruption.

Ashtoreth the abomination, etc. - See on 1 Kings 11:7; (note).

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And the high places that were before Jerusalem,.... Not only that were within the city, and at the gates of it, but what were without it:

which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption: the mount of Olives, so called from the idolatry and corrupt worship performed in it, by way of reproach, with a small alteration of the letters of the word משחית for משחה; at the right hand, or south of this mountain, as the Targum; though others say^F17Vid Adrichom. Theatrum T. S. p. 171. , on the north side of the mount of Olives, four furlongs or half a mile from Jerusalem, were high places:

which Solomon king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon; of which See Gill on 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:7.

did the king defile; by casting unclean things into them. Rauwolff^F18Travels, par. 3. c. 4. p. 233. says,"before Mount Zion toward the south, at the other side of the rivulet Kidron, lies the mount of transgression, called Mashith, 2 Kings 23:13, this is higher and steeper than any hereabout; there you still see some old walls of habitations, wherein the concubines of Solomon did live;'and Mr. Maundrell^F19Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 102. observes, that below the hill stands now a village called Siloe, where it is said he kept them.

Geneva Study Bible

And the high places that [were] before Jerusalem, which [were] on the right hand of the ^m mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

(m) That was the mount of olives, so called because it was full of idols.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

Corruption — The mount of olives, called the mount of corruption, for the gross idolatry there practiced.

Which — Not the same individual altars; which doubtless either Solomon upon his repentance, or some other of Josiah's predecessors had taken away, but other altars built by Manasseh or Amon, which because erected by Solomon's example, and for the same use, and in the same place, are called by his name: this brand is left by the Holy Ghost upon his name and memory, as a just punishment of that abominable practice, and a mean to deter others from the like.

Abomination — The idol, so called, because it was abominable, and made them abominable to God.

Scofield's Reference Notes

Ashtoreth

2 Kings 23:6; 2 Kings 23:7. (See Scofield "Judges 2:13").

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Kings 23:13 And the high places that [were] before Jerusalem, which [were] on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

Ver. 13. And the high places that were before Jerusalem.] There they had boldly set up their abominable idols in mount Olivet, even in the sight of the Lord; so that he never looked out of the sanctuary but he saw that vile hill, which, therefore, he here calleth not Har Hammisha, (a) the mount of annointing, but Har Hammaschith, (b) the mount of corruption. Est tacita paranomasia; item allusio, item detorsio.

Of the mount of corruption.] So called, because the people had there corrupted themselves, as Deuteronomy 32:5; and yet afterwards it became our Saviour’s oratory, or usual place of prayer, This showeth, that places which have been abused to idolatry, may yet afterwards be used for God’s service. As for that which we read, Deuteronomy 12:2-3, "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places," &c., divines answer, that that was a temporary ordinance, and a part of Moses’s polity, now abrogated.

Which Solomon had builded.] But, after his repentance, had demolished, likely; though, by the idolatrous princes that came after him, they were rebuilded, and called still by his name.

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

2 Kings 23:13. Mount of corruption— Mount of olives; Houbigant; who supposes the word משׁחית mashchith, which we render corruption, to be derived from משׁח mashach, to anoint.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

The mount of corruption, i.e. the Mount of Olives, 1 Kings 11:7, here called the mount of corruption, for the gross idolatry there practised, which is oft expressed by the name of corruption. See Exodus 32:7 Deuteronomy 32:5. In the Hebrew is an elegant allusion between miscah, anointing, and masheith, corruption, as there is between Beth-el and Beth-aven, Hosea 4:15.

Which Solomon had builded; not the same individual altars; which doubtless either Solomon upon his repentance, or some other of Josiah’s godly predecessors, had taken away long before this time; but other altars built by Manasseh or Amon, which because erected by Solomon’s example, and for the same use, and in the same place, are called by his name; this brand being left by the Holy Ghost upon his name and memory, as a just punishment of that abominable practice, and a mean to deter others from the like.

For Ashtoreth; of which and the rest See Poole "1 Kings 11:5"; See Poole "1 Kings 11:6"; See Poole "1 Kings 11:7".

The abomination, i.e. the idol, so called, because it was abominable, and made them abominable to God.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

13.Mount of corruption — The southern part of the Mount of Olives, now known as the Mount of Offence. Solomon probably erected idolatrous altars on various peaks of Olivet, (see note on 1 Kings 11:7,) but they seem gradually to have been removed towards the southern slopes, or right hand of the mountain, to one looking eastward from Jerusalem.

Which Solomon’ builded — See on 1 Kings 11:1-8. It appears, then, that at least some of the high places erected by Solomon had remained until the time of Josiah.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

2 Kings 23:13. The high places on the right hand of the mount of Corruption — That is, the mount of Olives, (1 Kings 11:7,) called the mount of Corruption, for the gross idolatry there practised. Which Solomon had builded for Ashtoreth, &c. — Not the same individual altars; which, doubtless, either Solomon, upon his repentance, or some other of Josiah’s predecessors, had taken away, but other altars built by Manasseh or Amen, which, because erected by Solomon’s example, and for the same use, and in the same place, are called by his name: this brand is left by the Holy Ghost upon his name and memory, as a just punishment of that abominable practice, and a means to deter others from the like. The abomination of the Zidonians — The idol, so called, because it was abominable, and made them abominable to God. Did the king defile — By dead men’s bones and other unclean things.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Offence; Olivet. (Haydock) --- In the original, the terms are very much alike; and the Jews take a pleasure in deforming names, for which they had a horror. Solomon had erected temples here to various idols, (3 Kings xi. 7.) which had probably been demolished by Ezechias, but had been rebuilt under Amon, &c., and subsisted during the minority of Josias; (Calmet) or they had been neglected by the pious kings of Juda, as no longer dangerous. But Josias, in the fervour of his zeal, thought proper to remove every thing that had been the occasion of offence: Hebrew, "of corruption." --- Idol, and scandal, and abomination, are the same in Hebrew.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

before Jerusalem: i.e. the east side. See Zechariah 16:4.

which, &c. Figure of speech Polyonyrnia.

mount of corruption: i.e. the Mount of Olives. Thus called on account of the idolatries connected with it.

Chemosh. Compare 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:7.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

The high places ... the right hand of the mount of Corruption [har hazeeytiym] which Solomon ... had builded - (see the notes at 1 Kings 11:7.) The mount of Olives is a hilly range on the east of Jerusalem. This range has three summits, of which the central one is, by a slight change [ har (Hebrew #2022) ha-Mashchiyt (Hebrew #4889)], the mount of Corruption, so called from the idol temples built there; and of course the hill on the right hand denotes the southernmost peak. (Barclay, p. 65; Osborne, 'Palestine,' p. 107, note; Rosenmuller's 'Geography,' 1:, p. 70). Josiah is said not to have destroyed, but only defiled, 'the high places on the hill of Corruption.' It is most probable that Hezekiah had long before demolished the idolatrous temples erected there by Solomon; but as the superstitious people continued to regard the spot as consecrated ground, Josiah defiled it.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) The high places that were before the city . . .—See 1 Kings 11:5-8. “Before” means “to the east of,” because, to determine the cardinal points, one faced the sunrise. The right hand was then the south, the left hand the north, and the back the west.

The mount of corruption.—The southern summit of the Mount of Olives was so-called, because of the idolatry there practised. It still bears the name of the “Hill of Offence,” derived from the Vulg. “mons offensionis.” (The word rendered “corruption,” mashhîth, may originally have meant “anointing,” from mâshah “to anoint,” and have simply referred to the olive oil there produced. The name would thus be equivalent to the German Oelberg. In later times the term was so modified as to express detestation of idol-worship.)

Did the king defile.—As it is not said that they were pulled down, these high places may have been merely sacred sites on the mountain, consisting of a levelled surface of rock, with holes scooped in them for receiving libations, &c. Such sites have been found in Palestine; and it is hardly conceivable that chapels erected by Solomon for the worship of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, would have been spared by such a king as Hezekiah, who even did away with the high places dedicated to Jehovah (2 Kings 18:3).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

the mount of corruption

that is, the mount of Olives. Houbigant, deriving the Hebrew mashchith from mashach, "to anoint," reads "the Mount of Olives." Jarchi, following the Chaldee, also says this was the Mount of Olives; for this is the mount hammishchah, of unction: but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the mount of hammashchith, corruption.

Solomon

1 Kings 11:7; Nehemiah 13:26

Ashtoreth

Judges 2:13; 10:6; 1 Samuel 7:4; 12:10; 1 Kings 11:5,33

Chemosh

Numbers 21:29; Judges 11:24; Jeremiah 48:7,13,16

Milcom

Zephaniah 1:5

Malcham

Reciprocal: Exodus 8:26 - the abomination;  Deuteronomy 11:29 - General;  Deuteronomy 12:2 - possess;  Deuteronomy 27:15 - an abomination;  Deuteronomy 32:16 - abominations;  2 Chronicles 15:8 - abominable idols;  2 Chronicles 30:14 - altars;  Isaiah 44:19 - an abomination;  Jeremiah 3:2 - unto;  Jeremiah 4:1 - put away;  Jeremiah 11:13 - For according;  Jeremiah 48:46 - the people;  Jeremiah 49:3 - their king;  Ezekiel 18:12 - hath committed;  Amos 5:26 - the tabernacle of your Moloch