2 Kings 17:9
New International Version
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns.

New Living Translation
The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the LORD their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city.

English Standard Version
And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

Berean Standard Bible
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities.

King James Bible
And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

New King James Version
Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city.

New American Standard Bible
And the sons of Israel did things secretly against the LORD their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

NASB 1995
The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

NASB 1977
And the sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right, against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against Yahweh their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city.

Amplified Bible
The Israelites ascribed things to the LORD their God which were not true. They built for themselves high places [of worship] in all their towns, from [the lonely] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.

Christian Standard Bible
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Israelites secretly did what was not right against the LORD their God. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city.

American Standard Version
And the children of Israel did secretly things that were not right against Jehovah their God: and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the children of Israel spoke words that are not good against LORD JEHOVAH their God, they and their Kings, and built up for themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of Watchmen and unto the city fortress

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and in those of the children of Israel as many as secretly practised customs, not as they should have done, against the Lord their God:

Contemporary English Version
Even worse, the Israelites tried to hide their sins from the LORD their God. They built their own local shrines everywhere in Israel--from small towns to large, walled cities.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the children of Israel offended the Lord their God with things that were not right: and built them high places in all their cities from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

English Revised Version
And the children of Israel did secretly things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that weren't right: They built for themselves illegal places of worship in all of their cities, from the [smallest] watchtower to the [largest] fortified city.

Good News Translation
The Israelites did things that the LORD their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city.

International Standard Version
The Israelis practiced secret things that were not right, offending the LORD their God. In addition, they built high places for use by all their towns, watchtowers, and fortified cities.

JPS Tanakh 1917
and the children of Israel did impute things that were not right unto the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;

Literal Standard Version
and the sons of Israel covertly do things that [are] not right against their God YHWH, and build high places for themselves in all their cities, from a tower of the watchers to the fortified city,

Majority Standard Bible
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities.

New American Bible
They adopted unlawful practices toward the LORD, their God. They built high places in all their cities, from guard post to garrisoned town.

NET Bible
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.

New Revised Standard Version
The people of Israel secretly did things that were not right against the LORD their God. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city;

New Heart English Bible
The children of Israel did secretly things that were not right against the LORD their God: and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;

Webster's Bible Translation
And the children of Israel did secretly things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

World English Bible
The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yahweh their God; and they built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;

Young's Literal Translation
and the sons of Israel do covertly things that are not right against Jehovah their God, and build for them high places in all their cities, from a tower of the watchers unto the fenced city,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Israel Exiled Because of Idolatry
8and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel. 9The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. 10They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 29:25
And the people will answer, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

2 Kings 18:8
He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.


Treasury of Scripture

And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

secretly

Deuteronomy 13:6
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Deuteronomy 27:15
Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

Job 31:27
And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

from the tower

2 Kings 18:8
He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

Hosea 12:11
Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

Jump to Previous
Build Built Children Cities City Covertly Fenced Fortified High Impute Israel Moreover Places Right Secretly Themselves Tower Towns Walled Watchers Watchmen Watchmen's Watchtower
Jump to Next
Build Built Children Cities City Covertly Fenced Fortified High Impute Israel Moreover Places Right Secretly Themselves Tower Towns Walled Watchers Watchmen Watchmen's Watchtower
2 Kings 17
1. Hoshea the Last King of Israel
3. Being subdued by Shalmaneser, he conspires against him with So, king of Egypt
5. Samaria for sinning is led into captivity
24. The strange nations transplanted into Samaria make a mixture of religions.














(9) Did secretly.--The literal sense is covered. In this connection it is natural to remember that Heb. verbs of covering and hiding are often used in the sense of dealing perfidiously or deceitfully. (Comp. m?'al, l Chron. 10:13, with me'il, "mantle;" and b?gad, "to deal treacherously," Hosea 5:7, with beged, "garment.") The form in the text (the pihel of 'h?ph?) is only found here.

They built them high places.--First, the institution of unlawful places of worship.

From the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.--The towers are such as are mentioned in 2Chronicles 26:10. Here, and in 2Kings 18:8, these solitary buildings, tenanted by a few herdsmen, are contrasted with the embattled cities which protected multitudes. Wherever men were, whether in small or large numbers, these high places were established.

Verse 9. - And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God. Most of the evil practices of the Israelites were open and flagrant, but some sought the veil of secrecy, as the use of divination and enchantments (ver. 17). It is doubtful, however, whether the Hebrew words have the signification assigned to them in the Authorized Version. They may mean no more than that the Israelites made their evil deeds a barrier between themselves and God. And they built them high places in an their cities (comp. 1 Kings 14:23). "In all their cities" is probably rhetorical; but the gist of the charge is that, instead of keeping to the one temple and one altar commanded by God for the conservation of their belief in his unity, the Israelites "erected places of worship all over the country, after the fashion of the heathen" (Bahr), and so at once depraved their own faith, and ceased to be a perpetual protest to the surrounding nations. From the tower of the watchman to the fenced city; i.e. from the smallest and most solitary place of human abode to the largest and most populous (comp. 2 Kings 18:8). The expression was no doubt proverbial, and (as used here) is a strong hyperbole.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The Israelites
בְנֵֽי־ (ḇə·nê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

secretly did
וַיְחַפְּא֣וּ (way·ḥap·pə·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 2644: To cover, to act covertly

things against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

their God
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם (’ĕ·lō·hê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

that [were]
אֲשֶׁ֣ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

right.
כֵ֔ן (ḵên)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

From watchtower
מִמִּגְדַּ֥ל (mim·miḡ·dal)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4026: A tower, a rostrum, a, bed of flowers

to
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

fortified
מִבְצָֽר׃ (miḇ·ṣār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4013: A fortification, castle, fortified city, a defender

city,
עִ֥יר (‘îr)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 5892: Excitement

they built
וַיִּבְנ֨וּ (way·yiḇ·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1129: To build

high places
בָּמוֹת֙ (bā·mō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 1116: An elevation

in all
בְּכָל־ (bə·ḵāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

their cities.
עָ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם (‘ā·rê·hem)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement


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OT History: 2 Kings 17:9 The children of Israel did secretly things (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 17:8
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