2 Kings 17:16

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, ¹  and worshiped ²  Baal.

2 Kings 17:29-31

17:29 But each of these nations made ³  its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria ⁴  had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived. 17:30 The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, ⁵  the people from Cuth made Nergal, ⁶  the people from Hamath made Ashima, ⁷  17:31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, ⁸  and the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire as an offering to Adrammelech and Anammelech, ⁹  the gods of Sepharvaim.

[17:16]  ¹ tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

[17:16]  ² tn Or “served.”

[17:29]  ³ sn The verb “make” refers to the production of idols. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 210-11.

[17:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.

[17:30]  ⁵ sn No deity is known by the name Succoth Benoth in extant Mesopotamian literature. For speculation as to the identity of this deity, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211.

[17:30]  ⁶ sn Nergal was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld.

[17:30]  ⁷ sn This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211-12.

[17:31]  ⁸ sn Nibhaz and Tartak were two Elamite deities. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.

[17:31]  ⁹ sn Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim are unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.