2 Tawarikh 33:6

33:6 He passed his sons through the fire ¹  in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. ²  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him. ³ 

2 Tawarikh 34:31

34:31 The king stood by his pillar ⁴  and renewed ⁵  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ⁶  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ⁷  by carrying out the terms ⁸  of this covenant recorded on this scroll.

[33:6]  ¹ tn Or “he sacrificed his sons in the fire.” This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB, NASV “made his sons pass through the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.

[33:6]  ² tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with a conjurer.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

[33:6]  ³ tn Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”

[34:31]  ⁴ tc This assumes an emendation to עַמּוּדוֹ (’ammudo), see 23:13. The MT reads “at his place.”

[34:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made” or “agreed to.”

[34:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “walk after.”

[34:31]  ⁷ tn Or “soul.”

[34:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “words.”