And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the
prophet
Some think that besides the above words of Azariah the son of Oded, a prophecy of Oded his father was related by him, though not recorded; but rather Oded here is the same with the son of Oded; and so the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read Azariah the son of Oded; and so does the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint version:
he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land
of Judah and Benjamin;
which were abominable to God, and all good men; besides the images and statues he had broken before, he removed other idols that remained, being animated and emboldened by the speech of the prophet:
and out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim:
the same which his father Abijah had taken from Jeroboam, ( 2 Chronicles 13:19 ) and which perhaps, upon the approach of the Ethiopians, revolted from Asa, or were restored by them to Jeroboam, and Which Asa retook upon his conquest of them:
and renewed the altar of the Lord before the porch of the Lord;
the altar of burnt offering, which had never been repaired since it was made by Solomon; perhaps he anew overlaid it with brass that being worn out, or become very thin in some places.