They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fireThis phrase highlights a grievous sin committed by the Israelites, reflecting the influence of surrounding pagan cultures, particularly the worship of Molech, a deity associated with child sacrifice. The Hebrew word for "sacrificed" (זָבַח, zabach) implies a ritualistic offering, indicating a deliberate and conscious act of worship contrary to God's commandments. This practice was strictly forbidden in the Mosaic Law ( Leviticus 18:21), and its occurrence here underscores the depth of Israel's apostasy. Archaeological evidence from sites like Carthage reveals the historical reality of such practices in the ancient Near East, providing a sobering context for this verse. and practiced divination and soothsaying
The use of "divination" (קֶסֶם, qesem) and "soothsaying" (נַחַשׁ, nachash) indicates a reliance on forbidden spiritual practices to gain insight or control over the future. These practices were common among Israel's neighbors and were explicitly condemned in Deuteronomy 18:10-12. The Israelites' engagement in these activities reflects a departure from trusting in the LORD and His prophets, choosing instead to seek guidance from sources that God had declared abominable. This highlights a broader theme of spiritual infidelity and the allure of syncretism. They sold themselves to do evil
The phrase "sold themselves" (מָכַר, makar) conveys a sense of voluntary enslavement to sin. It suggests a conscious decision to abandon God's covenant in favor of pursuing wickedness. This imagery of selling oneself is powerful, illustrating the depth of Israel's moral and spiritual decline. It echoes the language of slavery, emphasizing the loss of freedom and dignity that comes with sin. This self-imposed bondage contrasts sharply with the freedom and life God offers through obedience to His commandments. in the sight of the LORD
This phrase underscores the omnipresence and omniscience of God. The Hebrew word for "sight" (עֵינַיִם, enayim) literally means "eyes," reminding us that nothing is hidden from God. The Israelites' actions were not only a breach of covenant but were done openly before the LORD, who sees all. This serves as a solemn reminder of God's awareness of human actions and the seriousness of sin committed in His presence. provoking Him to anger
The phrase "provoking Him to anger" (כָּעַס, kaas) indicates a deliberate action that incites God's righteous wrath. This is not a capricious anger but a just response to covenant unfaithfulness and moral corruption. The Israelites' actions were a direct affront to God's holiness and justice, and their repeated provocations ultimately led to their judgment and exile. This serves as a warning of the consequences of persistent disobedience and the importance of repentance and faithfulness to God. Persons / Places / Events 1. IsraelitesThe people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who are being addressed in this passage. They have turned away from God and adopted pagan practices. 2. Sons and DaughtersRefers to the children of the Israelites who were tragically sacrificed in pagan rituals, a practice condemned by God. 3. Divination and OmensThese are practices associated with seeking knowledge or guidance from sources other than God, often linked to pagan religions. 4. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant God of Israel, who is provoked to anger by the Israelites' idolatry and disobedience. 5. Assyrian ExileThe broader context of this passage is the impending exile of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians as a consequence of their persistent idolatry and sin. Teaching Points The Consequences of IdolatryIdolatry leads to moral and spiritual decay. The Israelites' adoption of pagan practices resulted in severe consequences, including exile. The Sanctity of LifeThe sacrifice of children is a grave sin against God, who values human life. This calls us to uphold the sanctity of life in all its forms. The Danger of SyncretismMixing true worship with pagan practices leads to spiritual compromise. Believers must guard against incorporating worldly practices into their faith. God's Righteous AngerGod is provoked to anger by persistent sin and disobedience. His anger is a response to the violation of His holiness and covenant. Repentance and RestorationWhile this passage highlights judgment, it also serves as a call to repentance. Turning back to God can restore the broken relationship. Bible Study Questions 1. What specific practices did the Israelites engage in that provoked God's anger, and how can we avoid similar pitfalls in our own lives? 2. How does the practice of child sacrifice in ancient Israel relate to modern issues of life and morality? 3. In what ways might Christians today be tempted to mix their faith with secular or pagan practices, and how can we guard against this? 4. How does understanding God's righteous anger in this passage help us appreciate His holiness and justice? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced the consequences of disobedience. How did repentance and turning back to God bring restoration in your life? Connections to Other Scriptures Leviticus 18:21This verse explicitly forbids the sacrifice of children to Molech, highlighting the gravity of Israel's sin in 2 Kings 17:17. Deuteronomy 18:10-12These verses condemn practices such as divination and interpreting omens, which the Israelites engaged in, as described in 2 Kings 17:17. Jeremiah 7:31This passage also speaks against the practice of child sacrifice, showing that this sin was a recurring issue in Israel's history. Romans 1:21-23Paul describes the descent into idolatry and moral corruption, which parallels the spiritual decline of Israel in 2 Kings 17:17. People Adrammelech, Ahaz, Anammelech, Avites, Avvites, David, Elah, Hoshea, Israelites, Jacob, Jeroboam, Nebat, Pharaoh, Sepharvites, ShalmaneserPlaces Assyria, Avva, Babylon, Bethel, Cuth, Cuthah, Egypt, Gozan, Habor River, Halah, Hamath, Samaria, SepharvaimTopics Anger, Caused, Daughters, Divination, Enchantments, Evil, Fire, Pass, Practiced, Provoke, Provoking, Sight, Sold, Sons, Sorcery, ThemselvesDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 17:17 4155 divination
6218 provoking God
7316 blood, OT sacrifices
7332 child sacrifice 2 Kings 17:3-18 7560 Samaritans, the 2 Kings 17:3-23 7233 Israel, northern kingdom 2 Kings 17:6-23 6659 freedom, acts in OT 2 Kings 17:7-20 8705 apostasy, in OT 2 Kings 17:7-23 6026 sin, judgment on 2 Kings 17:13-20 6195 impenitence, results 2 Kings 17:14-20 8741 failure 2 Kings 17:15-17 8831 syncretism 2 Kings 17:15-18 8799 polytheism 2 Kings 17:16-17 8807 profanity 2 Kings 17:17-23 8748 false religion Library Divided Worship
'These nations feared the Lord, and served their own gods.'--2 KINGS xvii. 33. The kingdom of Israel had come to its fated end. Its king and people had been carried away captives in accordance with the cruel policy of the great Eastern despotisms, which had so much to do with weakening them by their very conquests. The land had lain desolate and uncultivated for many years, savage beasts had increased in the untilled solitudes, even as weeds and nettles grew in the gardens and vineyards of Samaria. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureA Kingdom's Epitaph
'In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8. And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture September the Eleventh a Fatal Divorce
"They feared the Lord, and served their own gods." --2 KINGS xvii. 24-34. And that is an old-world record, but it is quite a modern experience. The kinsmen of these ancient people are found in our own time. Men still fear one God and serve another. But something is vitally wrong when men can divorce their fear from their obedience. And the beginning of the wrong is in the fear itself. "Fear," as used in this passage, is a counterfeit coin, which does not ring true to the truth. It means only the …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 9 "No man can serve two masters; For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions Mongrel Religion
I. I shall first call your attention to THE NATURE OF THIS Mongrel Religion. It had its good and bad points, for it wore a double face. These people were not infidels. Far from it: "they feared the Lord." They did not deny the existence, or the power, or the rights of the great God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah. They had not the pride of Pharaoh who said, "Who is Jehovah that I should obey his voice?" They were not like those whom David calls "fools," who said in their hearts, "There is no God." …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881 Building in Troublous Times
'Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; 2. Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. 3. But Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Profession and Practice.
18th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. xxii. 42. "What think ye of Christ?" INTRODUCTION.--Many men are Christians neither in understanding nor in heart. Some are Christians in heart, and not in understanding. Some in understanding, and not in heart, and some are Christians in both. If I were to go into a Temple of the Hindoos, or into a Synagogue of the Jews, and were to ask, "What think ye of Christ?" the people there would shake their heads and deny that He is God, and reject His teaching. The …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent The Original Text and Its History.
1. The original language of the Old Testament is Hebrew, with the exception of certain portions of Ezra and Daniel and a single verse of Jeremiah, (Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan. 2:4, from the middle of the verse to end of chap. 7; Jer. 10:11,) which are written in the cognate Chaldee language. The Hebrew belongs to a stock of related languages commonly called Shemitic, because spoken mainly by the descendants of Shem. Its main divisions are: (1,) the Arabic, having its original seat in the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Of the Power of Making Laws. The Cruelty of the Pope and his Adherents, in this Respect, in Tyrannically Oppressing and Destroying Souls.
1. The power of the Church in enacting laws. This made a source of human traditions. Impiety of these traditions. 2. Many of the Papistical traditions not only difficult, but impossible to be observed. 3. That the question may be more conveniently explained, nature of conscience must be defined. 4. Definition of conscience explained. Examples in illustration of the definition. 5. Paul's doctrine of submission to magistrates for conscience sake, gives no countenance to the Popish doctrine of the obligation …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion A More Particular view of the Several Branches of the Christian Temper, by which the Reader May be Farther Assisted in Judging what He Is, And
1, 2. The importance of the case engages to a more particular survey what manner of spirit we are of.--3. Accordingly the Christian temper is described, by some general views of it, as a new and divine temper.--4. As resembling that of Christ.--5. And as engaging us to be spiritually minded, and to walk by faith.--6. A plan of the remainder.--7. In which the Christian temper is more particularly considered with regard to the blessed God: as including fear, affection, and obedience.--8, 9. Faith and …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul Solomon's Temple Spiritualized
or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths. 'Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Isreal;--shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out hereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.'--Ezekiel 43:10, 11 London: Printed for, and sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgate, …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 17:17 NIV2 Kings 17:17 NLT2 Kings 17:17 ESV2 Kings 17:17 NASB2 Kings 17:17 KJV
2 Kings 17:17 Commentaries
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