Atlas Biblica

    2 Kings · 41 verses

    2 Kings 17

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    Samaria acquires a population who worship the LORD, serve their own gods, and—just a few lines later—are said not to worship the LORD at all. The chapter eventually returns them to both arrangements, as if religious consistency were the one luxury the new settlers could not afford.

    Hoshea’s brief and awkward rebellionvv. 1–6

    Hoshea becomes king in Samaria under Ahaz and lasts nine years. He does evil, though the narrator declines to explain the improvement implied by “not like the kings of Israel who preceded him”—a compliment with its coat still on. Shalmaneser attacks, makes Hoshea his vassal, and receives tribute until Hoshea sends envoys to So of Egypt and stops paying. Hoshea is imprisoned; Samaria is besieged for three years; then the Israelites are carried away to Assyria and scattered through Halah, Gozan by the Habor River, and the cities of the Medes.

    The long account behind the short siegevv. 7–23

    The chapter treats the fall of Israel as the result of a long refusal. The people build high places everywhere, set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles, burn incense, serve idols, bow to the host of heaven, serve Baal, and even sacrifice their sons and daughters in fire. Prophets and seers warn them; they stiffen their necks. Judah remains for a moment, though it too follows Israel’s customs, while the LORD finally removes Israel from His presence, as previously declared through the prophets.

    Lions, lessons, and a crowded shrinevv. 24–41

    The king of Assyria replaces the Israelites with settlers from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. Lions kill some of them because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so the king orders a priest to return from Samaria and teach them. The lesson does not displace the old gods: each nation makes its own, appoints its own priests, and continues its former customs. Thus the chapter says both that they worship the LORD and that none worship the LORD, before ending with the same double service in the next generations.

    The text

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. 2 Kgs 17:1In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.

    2. 2 Kgs 17:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

    3. 2 Kgs 17:3Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.

    4. 2 Kgs 17:4But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

    5. 2 Kgs 17:5Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

    6. 2 Kgs 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

    7. 2 Kgs 17:7All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods

    8. 2 Kgs 17:8and 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.

    9. 2 Kgs 17:9The 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.

    10. 2 Kgs 17:10They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

    11. 2 Kgs 17:11They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger.

    12. 2 Kgs 17:12They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.”

    13. 2 Kgs 17:13Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”

    14. 2 Kgs 17:14But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.

    15. 2 Kgs 17:15They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

    16. 2 Kgs 17:16They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.

    17. 2 Kgs 17:17They 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.

    18. 2 Kgs 17:18So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,

    19. 2 Kgs 17:19and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.

    20. 2 Kgs 17:20So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.

    21. 2 Kgs 17:21When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin.

    22. 2 Kgs 17:22The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.

    23. 2 Kgs 17:23Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.

    24. 2 Kgs 17:24Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

    25. 2 Kgs 17:25Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

    26. 2 Kgs 17:26So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.”

    27. 2 Kgs 17:27Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”

    28. 2 Kgs 17:28Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD.

    29. 2 Kgs 17:29Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places.

    30. 2 Kgs 17:30The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,

    31. 2 Kgs 17:31the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

    32. 2 Kgs 17:32So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.

    33. 2 Kgs 17:33They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.

    34. 2 Kgs 17:34To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

    35. 2 Kgs 17:35For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.

    36. 2 Kgs 17:36Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him.

    37. 2 Kgs 17:37And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods.

    38. 2 Kgs 17:38Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods,

    39. 2 Kgs 17:39but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.”

    40. 2 Kgs 17:40But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs.

    41. 2 Kgs 17:41So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 446 passages were voted onto 41 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 15Deuteronomy 12:30–31be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
    • 172 Kings 21:6He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
    • 35Judges 6:10And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”
    • 101 Kings 14:23They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
    • 172 Kings 16:3Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
    • 41Matthew 6:24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
    • 6Hosea 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
    • 10Micah 5:14I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.
    • 15Deuteronomy 32:21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
    • 17Ezekiel 23:37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.
    • 17Deuteronomy 18:10–12Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
    • 232 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
    • 321 Kings 12:31Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
    • 332 Kings 17:41So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.
    • 33Luke 16:13No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
    • 411 Kings 18:21Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.

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