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.
The high places were idol shrines and images for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, also called Moloch or Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon, which Solomon built for his foreign, heathen, idolatrous wives and their gods to please them. The builder was Solomon, the greatest king to wield a scepter, honored and applauded as wisest among kings, thrice called the beloved of God, pure and elevated in character with unexampled piety and wisdom, entrusted with the temple, who offered the prayer at its dedication and wrote Proverbs, after a manhood of glorious promise. He built them after cherishing pride of political power, encouraging alliances with pagan kingdoms, and forming marriage alliances with daughters of pagan worshipers who led him away from God, breaking through the barriers God erected to preserve Israel, whom God had singled out as depositaries of sacred truth for the world, from idolatry. His wisdom was thus mingled with chaff, and his idolatry was mingled with his religious principles.
The high places stood on the hill before Jerusalem on the right hand of the mount of corruption, on the southern eminence and slopes of the Mount of Olives, also called the Mount of Offense, opposite the temple of God on Mount Moriah across the ravine of Jehoshaphat and the Kidron, or Kedron, channel, above groves of myrtle and olive trees. They were imposing, unseemly, gigantic, huge images and altars of wood and stone that peered above the trees and impiously confronted the temple, making a mount of offense and memorial stones of apostasy. The large images and buildings remained there for more than three centuries as lasting evidence and witnesses to his wrongdoing and apostasy, bearing testimony that he became a humiliating wreck, even after his repentance.
The youthful reformer Josiah in religious zeal defiled them, giving commandment that every building and idol should be destroyed and swept away. The images were demolished and removed, and the broken, defaced fragments were rolled down into the Kidron channel, leaving the shrines a mass of ruins. Though the destruction was partial and debris still peered above the trees confronting the temple, the shrines were left in ruins.
The broken fragments and masses of ruins remained visible into Christ's day, long after Solomon's reign, known in Israel as the Mount of Offense. Strangers in after generations asking what the ruins confronting the temple meant were told of Solomon's idol worship. They testified to his apostasy and showed his idolatry left a lasting mark beyond his reign, even after his repentance. The verse shows the power of influence in mingling error with truth, and gives evidence that a man who separates from obedience to God separates from wisdom and righteousness, becoming a tool of Satan and a slave to impulse with blunted sensibilities, seared conscience, and clouded perceptions.