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Text -- 2 Kings 17:5-41 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
17:5 The king of Assyria marched through the whole land . He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years .
17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria . He settled them in Halah , along the Habor (the river of Gozan ), and in the cities of the Medes .
A Summary of Israel’s Sinful History
17:7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God , who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt . They worshiped other gods ;
17:8 they observed the practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel , and followed the example of the kings of Israel .
17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right . They built high places in all their cities , from the watchtower to the fortress .
17:10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree .
17:11 They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away from before them. Their evil practices made the Lord angry .
17:12 They worshiped the disgusting idols in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command .
17:13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers , “Turn back from your evil ways ; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law . I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.”
17:14 But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors , who had not trusted the Lord their God .
17:15 They rejected his rules , the covenant he had made with their ancestors , and the laws he had commanded them to obey. They paid allegiance to worthless idols , and so became worthless to the Lord. They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command .
17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God ; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole , bowed down to all the stars in the sky , and worshiped Baal .
17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire , and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry .
17:18 So the Lord was furious with Israel and rejected them; only the tribe of Judah was left .
17:19 Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God ; they followed Israel’s example .
17:20 So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants ; he humiliated them and handed them over to robbers , until he had thrown them from his presence .
17:21 He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty , and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king . Jeroboam drove Israel away from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin .
17:22 The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate them.
17:23 Finally the Lord rejected Israel just as he had warned he would do through all his servants the prophets . Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day .
The King of Assyria Populates Israel with Foreigners
17:24 The king of Assyria brought foreigners from Babylon , Cuthah , Avva , Hamath , and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites . They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities .
17:25 When they first moved in, they did not worship the Lord . So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.
17:26 The king of Assyria was told , “The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land , so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land .”
17:27 So the king of Assyria ordered , “Take back one of the priests whom you deported from there . He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land .”
17:28 So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel . He taught them how to worship the Lord .
17:29 But each of these nations made its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria had made . Each nation did this in the cities where they lived .
17:30 The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth , the people from Cuth made Nergal , the people from Hamath made Ashima ,
17:31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak , and the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire as an offering to Adrammelech and Anammelech , the gods of Sepharvaim .
17:32 At the same time they worshiped the Lord . They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places .
17:33 They were worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which which they had been deported .
17:34 To this very day they observe their earlier practices . They do not worship the Lord ; they do not obey the rules , regulations , law , and commandments that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob , whom he renamed Israel .
17:35 The Lord made an agreement with them and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods . Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them.
17:36 Instead you must worship the Lord , who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability ; bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him.
17:37 You must carefully obey at all times the rules , regulations , law , and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods .
17:38 You must never forget the agreement I made with you, and you must not worship other gods .
17:39 Instead you must worship the Lord your God ; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies .”
17:40 But they pay no attention ; instead they observe their earlier practices .
17:41 These nations are worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols ; their sons and grandsons do just as their fathers have done , to this very day .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Captivity |
SYRIAC VERSIONS |
PALESTINE EXPLORATION, 2B |
Apharsachites |
Apharsathchites |
Israel |
Apharsites |
FEAR |
KINGS, BOOKS OF |
Judgments |
Assyria |
Babylon |
SAMARIA, COUNTRY OF |
Samaria |
HAGGAI |
Rulers |
JESUS CHRIST, 2 |
Hoshea |
Israel, Kingdom of |
Cuth |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> 2Ki 17:5; 2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 17:7; 2Ki 17:7; 2Ki 17:8; 2Ki 17:8; 2Ki 17:9; 2Ki 17:9; 2Ki 17:11; 2Ki 17:12; 2Ki 17:12; 2Ki 17:12; 2Ki 17:13; 2Ki 17:14; 2Ki 17:15; 2Ki 17:15; 2Ki 17:15; 2Ki 17:15; 2Ki 17:16; 2Ki 17:16; 2Ki 17:17; 2Ki 17:17; 2Ki 17:18; 2Ki 17:18; 2Ki 17:19; 2Ki 17:20; 2Ki 17:21; 2Ki 17:21; 2Ki 17:21; 2Ki 17:22; 2Ki 17:23; 2Ki 17:23; 2Ki 17:23; 2Ki 17:24; 2Ki 17:24; 2Ki 17:25; 2Ki 17:25; 2Ki 17:26; 2Ki 17:26; 2Ki 17:27; 2Ki 17:27; 2Ki 17:28; 2Ki 17:28; 2Ki 17:29; 2Ki 17:29; 2Ki 17:30; 2Ki 17:30; 2Ki 17:30; 2Ki 17:31; 2Ki 17:31; 2Ki 17:32; 2Ki 17:32; 2Ki 17:33; 2Ki 17:34; 2Ki 17:34; 2Ki 17:35; 2Ki 17:35; 2Ki 17:36; 2Ki 17:40
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:13 Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants t...
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:15 Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:17 Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:27 Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem i...
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:29 Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:30 This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211-12.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:31 Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim are unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.
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NET Notes: 2Ki 17:32 Heb “and they appointed for themselves from their whole people priests for the high places and they were serving for them in the house[s] of the...
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