2 Kings 17

This chapter tells how the northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria and its people were carried away. The writer then explains why: generations of idolatry, ignored prophets, and hardened hearts. It ends with foreign settlers in Samaria who worshiped the LORD and their own gods together.

2 Kings 17:1-2

Hoshea, the last king of Israel, reigned nine years from Samaria. He did evil, yet not as badly as the kings before him. Even a lesser evil could not turn the kingdom back. Partial improvement is not the same as returning to God.

BSA: sight (“eye, presence”): Hoshea’s life was lived under God’s own gaze, so nothing he did was hidden.

2 Kings 17:3-4

Assyria attacked, and Hoshea became a paying vassal. Then he plotted with Egypt and stopped the tribute. Trusting Egypt’s help instead of the LORD’s was a political gamble that failed. Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him.

BSA: conspired (“plotted, formed a secret alliance”): Hoshea worked in secret, hoping a hidden alliance would save him.

See also: Isaiah 31:1.

2 Kings 17:5-6

Assyria overran the land and besieged Samaria three years before taking it. The Israelites were deported to far-off regions in the Assyrian empire and the cities of the Medes. The northern kingdom, set apart from Judah since Jeroboam’s day, came to its end.

BSA: carried away (“deported, removed”): The people were pulled out of the land God had given them.

2 Kings 17:7-8

Now the writer gives the real reason for the fall. The people had sinned against the God who rescued them from Egypt. They copied the nations God had driven out, and followed the practices of their own kings. Forgetting rescue leads to following other masters.

BSA: sinned (“missed the mark, gone wrong”): Sin here is falling short of the target God had set for them.

See also: Exodus 20:2-3.

2 Kings 17:9-11

They did wrong in secret, then openly. High places, sacred pillars and Asherah poles filled the land, from small watchtowers to walled cities. They burned incense just as the nations did. Idolatry spread everywhere, and it provoked God’s anger.

BSA: secretly (“in a hidden way”): Their wrongdoing began as hidden compromise before it became public practice.

See also: Deuteronomy 12:2-3.

2 Kings 17:12

They served idols even though the LORD had plainly said not to. The word used for idols points to something filthy and disgusting. Their sin was not ignorance; it was disobedience to a clear word.

Hebrew: גִּלֻּלִים (gillulim, H1544) — “idols, dung-things.” The Hebrew word sounds like a word for dung, a deliberate insult showing how repulsive idols are to God.

See also: Exodus 20:4-5.

2 Kings 17:13

God did not strike without warning. He sent prophets and seers to both Israel and Judah, calling them to turn back and keep the Law. His mercy kept speaking long before His judgment fell.

BSA: Turn (“return, come back”): God’s call was an invitation to come home, not only to stop sinning.

See also: Jeremiah 25:4-5.

2 Kings 17:14

They would not listen. Like stubborn oxen refusing the yoke, they stiffened their necks. Their fathers had done the same, because they did not trust the LORD. Refusal to listen came from a lack of faith.

BSA: stiffened (“hardened, became stubborn”): The picture is of an animal that locks its neck against being led.

See also: Deuteronomy 31:27.

2 Kings 17:15

They rejected God’s covenant and chased worthless idols. Then they became worthless themselves. We become like what we worship. An empty idol leaves its followers empty.

BSA: worthless (“empty, vain”): Idols are breath and vapor, and those who follow them are emptied of purpose.

Hebrew: הַהֶבֶל (hahevel, H1892) — “the vapor, the breath, emptiness.” This is the same word the Preacher uses for life’s vanity. Idols are mere vapor, and worshipers turn to vapor too.

See also: Jeremiah 2:5; Psalm 115:8.

2 Kings 17:16-17

They left every commandment, made golden calves, worshiped the stars and served Baal. They even sacrificed their own children and sought magic for guidance. Giving up God’s guidance led them to the cruelest practices.

BSA: devoted (“sold, gave”): They sold themselves like slaves to evil, giving up their freedom.

See also: 1 Kings 12:28; Deuteronomy 18:10.

2 Kings 17:18-20

The LORD’s anger led Him to remove Israel from His presence. Only Judah remained, but Judah copied Israel’s ways too. God humbled and plundered the whole people until He had cast them out. Judgment came step by step, not suddenly.

BSA: presence (“face, being before Him”): To be removed from His face is to lose the nearness of God Himself.

See also: Deuteronomy 28:36.

2 Kings 17:21-23

The root went back to Jeroboam, who led Israel away from the LORD and into a great sin. The people kept repeating his sins and never turned. The exile happened just as the prophets had said. God’s word proved true.

BSA: persisted (“continued, walked”): They kept walking the same wrong path year after year.

See also: 1 Kings 12:28-30; Amos 5:27.

2 Kings 17:24

Assyria brought in people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim to live in Samaria. This was a common Assyrian policy to mix peoples and prevent revolt. The land God gave to Israel was now held by strangers.

BSA: replace (“take the place of, succeed”): Foreigners took the very places Israel once held.

2 Kings 17:25-28

The newcomers did not honor the LORD, and lions attacked them. They thought each land had its own god with its own rules. The king sent back a priest, who taught them to worship the LORD at Bethel. They learned the form, but not the heart.

BSA: requirements (“customs, laws”): The settlers saw God’s demands as local customs, not the commands of the one true God.

2 Kings 17:29-31

Each group still made its own gods and set them in the old high-place shrines. The list of names shows how many idols filled the land. Some even burned their children to their gods. Old corruption stood side by side with new.

BSA: burned (“sacrificed, completely burned”): Child sacrifice was part of their worship, the same horror Israel had practiced.

See also: Leviticus 18:21.

2 Kings 17:32-34

They worshiped the LORD but also appointed all kinds of priests for their high places. They served their own gods as before. Mixing the LORD with other gods is not worship of the LORD at all, for He alone is God.

BSA: worshiped (“feared, reverenced”): They showed the LORD a kind of respectful fear, but gave Him no exclusive loyalty.

See also: Matthew 6:24.

2 Kings 17:35-39

God recalls the covenant: no other gods, but worship the One who rescued Israel with great power. Keep His word, do not forget His covenant, and He will deliver from every enemy. Loyalty to Him was the way of safety all along.

BSA: outstretched (“stretched out, extended”): God’s arm reached out to act powerfully for His people in Egypt.

See also: Exodus 6:6; Deuteronomy 6:12-15.

2 Kings 17:40-41

They would not listen, and kept to their old customs. The settlers’ children and grandchildren kept the same mixed worship. The chapter ends with a warning: half-hearted devotion passes down through families.

BSA: persisted (“continued steadfastly”): They held on stubbornly to the old ways.

See also: Joshua 24:14-15.