2 Kings 17:32

So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(32) They feared.—They were fearing. (See Note on 2Kings 17:25; 2Kings 17:28, supra.)

Of the lowest of them.—Rather, of all orders, or promiscuously. (Comp. 1Kings 12:31.) This is another indication that it was Jeroboam’s mode of worship which was now restored.

Which sacrificed.—Heb., and they used to do. The verb do is used in the sense of sacra facere, just like the Greek - ποιεῗν ἔρδειν ρέζειν.

Priests of the high places.—Rather, bāmāh-priests (omit the). Bamah-priests are opposed to the priests of Jehovah’s Temple.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 17:32. So they feared the Lord — Worshipped him externally in that way which the Israelites had used: having and serving gods of their own besides. And made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests, &c. — See note on 1 Kings 12:31. Which sacrificed in the high places — Unto the true God; for as to the worship of their own gods, they needed no instruction, and would not permit a person of another religion to minister therein.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:24-41 The terror of the Almighty will sometimes produce a forced or feigned submission in unconverted men; like those brought from different countries to inhabit Israel. But such will form unworthy thoughts of God, will expect to please him by outward forms, and will vainly try to reconcile his service with the love of the world and the indulgence of their lusts. May that fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, possess our hearts, and influence our conduct, that we may be ready for every change. Wordly settlements are uncertain; we know not whither we may be driven before we die, and we must soon leave the world; but the righteous hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Of the lowest of them - Rather, "from all ranks." See marginal reference note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

31. Nibhaz—under that of a dog—that Egyptian form of animal-worship having prevailed in ancient Syria, as is evident from the image of a large dog at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb, or Dog river.

Tartak—According to the rabbis, it was in the form of an ass, but others understand it as a planet of ill-omen, probably Saturn.

Adrammelech—supposed by some to be the same as Molech, and in Assyrian mythology to stand for the sun. It was worshipped in the form of a mule—others maintain in that of a peacock.

Anammelech—worshipped in the form of a hare; others say in that of a goat.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of the lowest of them priests of the high places: See Poole "1 Kings 12:31".

Which sacrificed for them, to wit, unto the true God; for as to the worship of their own gods, they needed no instruction, and would not permit a person of another religion to minister therein.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So they feared the Lord,.... Worshipped the God of Israel in the manner they were taught:

and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places; these were made after the manner of Jeroboam's priests, 1 Kings 12:31, and were to sacrifice to the God of Israel in the high places, and temples built there; for otherwise they had, no doubt, priests of their own to sacrifice to their gods, and which they brought with them.

Geneva Study Bible

So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32. So they feared the Lord] i.e. In the way in which their ideas of the worship of the local divinity demanded. This they did, says Bp Hall, ‘not for devotion, but for impunity. Vain politicians to think to satisfy God by patching up religions … What a prodigious mixture was here, true with false, Jewish with paganish, divine with devilish … No beggar’s cloak is more pieced than the religion of these new inhabitants of Israel. I know not how their bodies sped for the lions. I am sure their souls fared the worse for this medley. Above all things God hates a mongrel devotion. If we be not all Israel, it were better to be all Asshur. It cannot so much displease God to be unknown or neglected as to be consorted with idols’.

and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests] R.V. and made unto them from among themselves priests. See note on 1 Kings 12:31. The word represented by ‘lowest’ means an ‘end’ or ‘extremity’, but the idea of the phrase is that the choice of these priests was made anywhere, from the whole mass of the nation, from all that was comprised in it between one extremity and the other. This was distinctly contrary to what the Jews had been taught, that the priests were to come exclusively from one tribe, and the high priests from a special family.

houses of the high places] Hence it seems that not an altar only, bat a temple of some kind was erected on the high places.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 32. - So they feared the Lord - rather, and they (also) honored Jehovah; i.e. with their idolatrous worship they combined also the worship of Jehovah (comp. ver. 28) - and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places - i.e., followed the example of Jeroboam in taking for priests persons of all ranks, even the lowest (see the comment on 1 Kings 12:31) - which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places (comp. ver. 29). 2 Kings 17:32

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In addition to these idols, Jehovah also was worshipped in temples of the high places, according to the instructions of the Israelitish priest sent by the king of Assyria. יראים ויּהיוּ: "and they were (also) worshipping Jehovah, and made themselves priests of the mass of the people" (מקצותם as in 1 Kings 12:31). להם עשׂים ויּהיוּ: "and they (the priests) were preparing them (sacrifices) in the houses of the high places."