2 Kings 10:27 kjv
And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.
2 Kings 10:27 nkjv
Then they broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump to this day.
2 Kings 10:27 niv
They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
2 Kings 10:27 esv
And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day.
2 Kings 10:27 nlt
They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day.
2 Kings 10 27 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Dt 7:5 | Thus you shall deal with them: you shall break down their altars and smash their pillars and cut down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. | Divine command to destroy pagan worship. |
| Dt 12:3 | You shall tear down their altars... cut down their Asherim, and burn their carved images with fire. | Mandate for thorough destruction of idolatry. |
| Ex 34:13 | You shall tear down their altars, and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim. | Early commandment for destroying cultic objects. |
| Lev 26:1 | You shall not make idols for yourselves... or set up a pillar... to bow down to it. | Prohibition of idol pillars and associated worship. |
| Judg 2:2 | And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. | Command disregarded, leading to consequences. |
| 1 Kgs 15:13 | ...removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah... and burned it. | King Asa's reform includes destroying an idol. |
| 2 Kgs 11:18 | Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly... | Similar destruction of Baal's temple by the people. |
| 2 Kgs 18:4 | He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah... and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent. | King Hezekiah's thorough religious reforms. |
| 2 Kgs 23:4-14 | ...brought out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal... broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim... | Josiah's extensive purge against idolatry. |
| 2 Chr 14:3 | He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim. | Asa's reforms in Judah. |
| 2 Chr 31:1 | ...they broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and tore down the high places and the altars. | Hezekiah's reform extended throughout Judah and Israel. |
| Ps 69:9 | For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. | Zeal for God's glory and holiness. |
| Isa 2:18 | And the idols shall utterly pass away. | Prophecy of ultimate destruction of idols. |
| Jer 16:18 | I will repay them double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols... | God's judgment on those who pollute the land with idols. |
| Ezk 6:6 | In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars may be ruined and desolated... and your idols be broken and cease. | Prophecy of complete ruin of idolatrous places. |
| Num 25:11-13 | "Phinehas... turned my wrath away from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them..." | Example of divine approval for zealous action against unholiness. |
| Zec 13:2 | "And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more..." | Future complete eradication of idolatry. |
| Rom 1:23 | and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. | New Testament reflection on the folly of idolatry. |
| 2 Cor 6:16-17 | What agreement has the temple of God with idols?... Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them. | Call to separation from paganism and idolatry. |
| Heb 9:14 | how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works... | Spiritual purification from dead works, contrasted with ritual defilement. |
2 Kings 10 verses
2 Kings 10 27 Meaning
The verse describes Jehu's final and most decisive act in his divinely ordained purge against Baal worship in Israel: the complete destruction of the primary temple dedicated to Baal in Samaria. This was not merely physical demolition, but an extreme act of symbolic desecration, turning a once-revered pagan shrine into a common public latrine. This action proclaimed the ultimate defeat and contempt for Baal, signifying YHWH's absolute triumph and supremacy.
2 Kings 10 27 Context
2 Kings chapter 10 recounts Jehu's ruthless purge of the Omride dynasty and Baal worship in Israel, initiated by God's anointing through Elisha (2 Kgs 9:6-10). Having already executed King Joram, Ahaziah, Jezebel, Ahab's seventy sons, and forty-two of Ahaziah's relatives, Jehu consolidates his power. His next target is the extensive network of Baal worship established by Ahab and Jezebel. Jehu cunningly gathers all Baal worshippers for a grand "solemn assembly for Baal" (2 Kgs 10:19), only to slaughter them within the temple. Verse 27 describes the culminating act of this purge, the obliteration of Baal's temple itself. This thorough destruction served as a polemic, asserting YHWH's sole sovereignty over Israel and utterly condemning Baal. Historically, this event took place in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the late 9th century BC, signifying a brief but decisive triumph over foreign religious influences.
2 Kings 10 27 Word analysis
- And they broke down (וַיִּתְּצוּ - vayit’tzu): This Hebrew verb signifies a violent, complete demolition or tearing down. It implies a deliberate and forceful act, not a gentle dismantling, reflecting the aggressive zeal with which Jehu's men executed the command to utterly destroy Baal's cultic objects and places.
- the pillar of Baal (אֶת-מַצְּבַת הַבַּעַל - et-matzevath haBa’al): The "pillar" (matzevah) was a cultic standing stone or obelisk, often serving as a visible symbol of a pagan deity's presence or a sacred monument within a cultic site. In Baal worship, such pillars likely symbolized Baal's power, fertility, or even a phallic representation. Its destruction, mandated by Mosaic Law against pagan objects (e.g., Ex 23:24), signified the shattering of Baal's perceived power and identity.
- and broke down the house of Baal (וְאֶת-בֵּית הַבַּעַל נָתָצוּ - ve’et-beit haBa’al natatzu): "The house of Baal" refers to the temple or cult center dedicated to Baal. The breaking down of this physical structure represents the eradication of the central place where idolatry was practiced, effectively dismantling the organized system of Baal worship in Samaria. This act was a public declaration of Baal's defeat and degradation.
- and made it a latrine (וַיְשִׂמֻהוּ לְמַחֲרָאוֹת - vay'simuhu l'machara'ot): The word machara'ot literally means "privies" or "excrement-places," signifying a toilet or a public dump for human waste. This was the ultimate act of desecration and defilement. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, a temple was considered sacred and pure. To turn it into a latrine was to declare it ritually and utterly impure, unfit for any religious use, and deserving only of the utmost contempt and abjection. It symbolized Baal's status as a powerless, false deity deserving only of filth and scorn. This deliberate act rendered the site so defiled that it could never again be used for worship.
- to this day (עַד הַיּוֹם - ‘ad hayyom): This idiomatic phrase, common in the Hebrew Bible, signifies that the stated condition or result of the action persisted up to the time the narrative was written. It affirms the lasting and permanent consequence of Jehu's act, underscoring the success and finality of the purge against Baalism in Israel and the enduring visible memorial of its downfall.
2 Kings 10 27 Bonus section
- Jehu's specific action of turning the temple into a latrine echoes ancient Near Eastern practices of religious desacralization, where enemies' temples or sacred sites were deliberately polluted to render them ritually unclean and unusable, preventing their restoration.
- While Jehu was a tool of God's judgment and was commended for his zeal against Baal worship (2 Kgs 10:30), the Bible also records that he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam I, particularly the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan (2 Kgs 10:29, 31). This signifies that zeal against one form of idolatry does not equate to full obedience and a complete heart devoted to YHWH. True faithfulness requires adherence to all of God's commands, not selective obedience.
- The complete and radical nature of this act set a precedent for future purges against idolatry, such as those undertaken by King Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18:4) and King Josiah (2 Kgs 23:4-14) in Judah, although none matched the extreme desecration seen here.
2 Kings 10 27 Commentary
2 Kings 10:27 highlights Jehu’s decisive and symbolic eradication of Baal worship in the Northern Kingdom. The thorough demolition of Baal’s temple and its transformation into a latrine was more than physical destruction; it was a potent act of ritual defilement and public humiliation. This extreme desecration served as a visceral repudiation of Baal, marking its place as vile and contemptible, unfit for veneration. It demonstrated YHWH’s supreme power over false gods and fulfilled the divine judgment pronounced upon the house of Ahab for their promotion of idolatry. This forceful purge represented a return to, or an assertion of, exclusive loyalty to YHWH, affirming that there can be no fellowship between true worship and pagan abomination. The "to this day" clause underscores the enduring impact and effectiveness of this spiritual cleansing.