Second Kings describes how, prior to the Assyrian onslaught, the people of Israel “built themselves high places,” that is, hilltop altars for the worship of gods other than Yahweh. They also “set up pillars and sacred poles” of the fertility cult, “did evil things, angering YHWH” and “abandoned all the commands” of the deity, so that the god deployed Assyria to bring punitive ruination to their kingdom.
