2 Kings 17 Study Notes: The Fall of Samaria and Exile of Israel
Assyria imprisons Hoshea, besieges Samaria, and deports the northern tribes. The narrator explains that Israel was exiled for idolatry and for ignoring the prophets God sent to warn them. Foreign settlers then move into the land and mix worship of the LORD with their own gods.
General
According to the narrator, what had the LORD’s covenant with Israel required (2 Kings 17:35-39)?
Answer: To worship the LORD alone, and He would rescue them from enemies
The narrator says that, for all their religious activity, none of them truly worshiped the LORD by keeping the laws given to Jacob’s descendants (17:34). He then recalls the covenant, God’s binding agreement with Israel: they were not to worship, bow to, serve, or sacrifice to other gods. They were to worship only the LORD, who freed them from Egypt by His mighty strength, keep His laws, and remember His covenant, and He would rescue them from all their enemies (17:35-39). Yet they refused to heed, and the mixed worship went on from parents to children and grandchildren (17:40-41). The LORD has always required undivided worship (Exodus 20:2-3). Jesus quoted this demand when tempted (Matthew 4:10), and Joshua had called Israel to choose whom they would serve (Joshua 24:15).
- 2 Kings 17:35-36 (BSB)“For 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. Instead, 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.”The narrator recalls the covenant command forbidding other gods and calling for worship of the LORD alone.
- 2 Kings 17:38-39 (BSB)“Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods, but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.””The covenant charge repeated, with the promise of deliverance from enemies.
- 2 Kings 17:40-41 (BSB)“But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs. So 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.”The closing verdict: they would not listen, and the mixed worship continued for generations.
- Exodus 20:2-3 (BSB)““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”The covenant at Sinai opens with the LORD’s redemption from Egypt and the demand for no other gods.
- Matthew 4:10 (BSB)““Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’””Jesus answers the tempter with the command to worship the Lord and serve Him only.
- Joshua 24:15 (BSB)“But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!””Joshua called Israel to choose whom they would serve, refusing a divided loyalty.
Theological
What covenant requirement does the narrator recall in 2 Kings 17:35-39?
Answer: To worship the LORD alone, and He would rescue them from enemies
The narrator’s verdict is that, whatever outward reverence there was, none truly feared the LORD according to the statutes and commandments given to the sons of Jacob (17:34). He then rehearses the covenant: no other gods were to be feared, worshiped, served, or sacrificed to; the LORD who redeemed Israel from Egypt by His mighty strength was to be worshiped alone; His statutes were to be kept and His covenant remembered; and He would deliver them from all their enemies (17:35-39). They paid no heed, and the syncretism persisted for generations (17:40-41). Worship that adds the LORD to other gods is not covenant worship, as the Sinai command to worship no god but Him (Exodus 20:2-3), Jesus’ answer to the tempter (Matthew 4:10), and Joshua’s summons to choose (Joshua 24:15) all make clear.
- 2 Kings 17:35-36 (BSB)“For 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. Instead, 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.”The narrator recalls the covenant command forbidding other gods and calling for worship of the LORD alone.
- 2 Kings 17:38-39 (BSB)“Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods, but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.””The covenant charge repeated, with the promise of deliverance from enemies.
- 2 Kings 17:40-41 (BSB)“But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs. So 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.”The closing verdict: they would not listen, and the mixed worship continued for generations.
- Exodus 20:2-3 (BSB)““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”The covenant at Sinai opens with the LORD’s redemption from Egypt and the demand for no other gods.
- Matthew 4:10 (BSB)““Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’””Jesus answers the tempter with the command to worship the Lord and serve Him only.
- Joshua 24:15 (BSB)“But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!””Joshua called Israel to choose whom they would serve, refusing a divided loyalty.
General
Which of these does the narrator list among the sins that led to Israel’s exile (2 Kings 17:9-11)?
Answer: They raised shrines on hills and erected pillars and poles
The narrator explains that Israel adopted the ways of the peoples God had expelled from Canaan (17:8). In every town, from the smallest lookout post to the walled city, they put up high places, which were hilltop shrines used for worship apart from the place God had chosen (17:9). They put up sacred pillars, standing stones used in pagan worship, and Asherah poles, wooden poles honoring a Canaanite goddess, on hilltops and beneath shady trees, and burned incense there (17:10-11). God had commanded Israel to tear down these very things when they entered the land (Deuteronomy 12:2-3). Instead they copied the nations, and the psalmist names those hilltop shrines and idols as what stirred the LORD’s anger (Psalm 78:58).
- 2 Kings 17:9-11 (BSB)“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. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. They 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.”The narrator lists the shrines and objects of worship Israel set up throughout the land.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”Moses had commanded Israel to destroy exactly these places and objects used by the nations.
- Psalm 78:58 (BSB)“They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.”The psalmist names high places and idols as what provoked the LORD against Israel.
Theological
Which practice appears in the narrator’s indictment of Israel in 2 Kings 17:9-11?
Answer: They raised shrines on hills and erected pillars and poles
The indictment begins with Israel adopting the ways of the dispossessed peoples and the innovations of their own kings (17:8). They multiplied high places in every settlement, from the smallest outpost to the strongest town (17:9), erected standing stones and Asherah poles across the hilltops and beneath shady trees, and burned incense like the Canaanites (17:10-11). These are precisely the worship sites and objects Deuteronomy commanded Israel to destroy on entering the land (Deuteronomy 12:2-3). Rather than removing the religion of the nations, Israel assimilated to it, and Psalm 78 likewise identifies high places and idols as what provoked the LORD’s jealousy (Psalm 78:58).
- 2 Kings 17:9-11 (BSB)“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. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. They 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.”The narrator lists the shrines and objects of worship Israel set up throughout the land.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”Moses had commanded Israel to destroy exactly these places and objects used by the nations.
- Psalm 78:58 (BSB)“They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.”The psalmist names high places and idols as what provoked the LORD against Israel.
General
True or False: Israel’s removal from the land came about just as the LORD had announced beforehand through His prophets.
Answer: True
This is true. The narrator concludes that the LORD at last put Israel out of His sight, exactly as He had warned by His prophets, and that Israel was carried off from its land to Assyria (17:23). The exile was not a surprise or a sign that God had lost control. It fulfilled what He had announced. Ahijah had foretold that Israel would be uprooted and scattered beyond the Euphrates River (1 Kings 14:15-16). Amos announced that the LORD would drive Israel into exile past Damascus (Amos 5:27), and Hosea said they would be removed from the LORD’s land and eat defiled food in Assyria (Hosea 9:3). God’s word of judgment proved as true as His promises.
- 2 Kings 17:23 (BSB)“Finally, 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.”The LORD removes Israel from His presence, in keeping with His word through the prophets.
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (BSB)“For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””Ahijah foretold that the LORD would uproot Israel and scatter them beyond the Euphrates.
- Amos 5:27 (BSB)“Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.”Amos announced that the LORD would drive Israel out of the land, past Damascus.
- Hosea 9:3 (BSB)“They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.”Hosea foretold that Israel would not remain in the LORD’s land but would eat unclean food in Assyria.
Theological
True or False: The narrator presents Israel’s deportation to Assyria as the fulfillment of the LORD’s word through the prophets.
Answer: True
This is true. The section closes by noting that the LORD put Israel out of His sight as He had announced through His servants, and Israel was deported to Assyria (17:23). The fall of Samaria is thus framed as prophecy fulfilled, consistent with the book’s running theme that the LORD’s word does not fail. Ahijah announced the uprooting and scattering beyond the Euphrates (1 Kings 14:15-16); Amos announced exile past Damascus as the LORD’s sentence (Amos 5:27); and Hosea foretold that Ephraim would end up eating defiled food in Assyria (Hosea 9:3). Divine sovereignty over history and the full responsibility of a people who would not listen stand together in the narrator’s account.
- 2 Kings 17:23 (BSB)“Finally, 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.”The LORD removes Israel from His presence, in keeping with His word through the prophets.
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (BSB)“For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””Ahijah foretold that the LORD would uproot Israel and scatter them beyond the Euphrates.
- Amos 5:27 (BSB)“Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.”Amos announced that the LORD would drive Israel out of the land, past Damascus.
- Hosea 9:3 (BSB)“They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.”Hosea foretold that Israel would not remain in the LORD’s land but would eat unclean food in Assyria.
General
True or False: The narrator judges Hoshea to be a wicked king, though less wicked than the northern kings who came before him.
Answer: True
This is true. Hoshea, the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel, displeased the LORD by his wickedness, but the narrator adds that he was not as bad as the northern kings before him (17:2). Even so, it was during his reign that Samaria fell. The judgment did not come because Hoshea was the worst king; it came after generations of the nation’s turning from the LORD, which the rest of the chapter lays out. The prophet Ahijah had warned in Jeroboam’s day that the LORD would uproot Israel for the sins Jeroboam started (1 Kings 14:15-16), Hosea describes a people who drifted farther from God the more He called them (Hosea 11:1-2), and the psalmist says Israel was faithless just as their fathers had been (Psalm 78:56-57).
- 2 Kings 17:2 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.”The narrator’s verdict on Hoshea, the last king of Israel.
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (BSB)“For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””Long before, Ahijah announced that the LORD would uproot Israel because of the sins Jeroboam began and Israel continued.
- Hosea 11:1-2 (BSB)“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.”The LORD says that the more He called Israel, the farther they went from Him.
- Psalm 78:56-57 (BSB)“But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees. They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.”The psalm traces Israel’s rebellion as a pattern inherited from their fathers, not the act of one generation.
Theological
True or False: The narrator judges Hoshea as evil, yet less evil than the Israelite kings who preceded him.
Answer: True
This is true. Hoshea is assessed with the usual formula of evil in the LORD’s sight, but with a qualification: he was not like the northern kings before him (17:2). The fall of Samaria in his reign is therefore not presented as a response to one king’s unusual wickedness but as the culmination of the nation’s long apostasy, catalogued in 17:7-23. Ahijah had announced the uprooting of Israel for the sins Jeroboam began and the nation continued (1 Kings 14:15-16), Hosea describes Israel departing farther from the LORD the more He called them (Hosea 11:1-2), and Psalm 78 describes a faithlessness that repeated the fathers’ (Psalm 78:56-57).
- 2 Kings 17:2 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.”The narrator’s verdict on Hoshea, the last king of Israel.
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (BSB)“For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””Long before, Ahijah announced that the LORD would uproot Israel because of the sins Jeroboam began and Israel continued.
- Hosea 11:1-2 (BSB)“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.”The LORD says that the more He called Israel, the farther they went from Him.
- Psalm 78:56-57 (BSB)“But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees. They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.”The psalm traces Israel’s rebellion as a pattern inherited from their fathers, not the act of one generation.
General
Why did the Assyrian king have Hoshea seized and locked up (2 Kings 17:3-4)?
Answer: He had sought help from Egypt and withheld tribute
The Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser had made Hoshea his vassal, meaning a ruler under his authority who paid him tribute, a yearly payment of money or goods (17:3). But Hoshea secretly sent messengers to So king of Egypt and stopped sending his yearly payment, so the Assyrian king had him arrested and imprisoned (17:4). Assyria then besieged Samaria for three years, captured it, and carried the Israelites away (17:5-6). Hoshea looked for rescue from one great power against another, but neither was the refuge Israel needed. Hosea pictured Israel as a foolish bird flitting between Egypt and Assyria (Hosea 7:11), and Isaiah warned that people who lean on Egypt rather than seeking the LORD will find only disaster (Isaiah 31:1).
- 2 Kings 17:3-4 (BSB)“Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But 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.”Hoshea becomes Assyria’s vassal, then secretly reaches out to Egypt and stops paying, and is imprisoned.
- Hosea 7:11 (BSB)“So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.”Hosea pictures the northern kingdom fluttering between Egypt and Assyria instead of turning to the LORD.
- Isaiah 31:1 (BSB)“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.”Isaiah pronounces woe on those who look to Egypt for help rather than seeking the LORD.
Theological
What provoked the Assyrian king to imprison Hoshea (2 Kings 17:3-4)?
Answer: He had sought help from Egypt and withheld tribute
Hoshea, a tribute-paying vassal of Shalmaneser (17:3), conspired by sending envoys to So king of Egypt and ceased his annual tribute, so the Assyrian king imprisoned him (17:4); the three-year siege and capture of Samaria and the deportation followed (17:5-6). The last northern king sought safety by playing one empire against another. Hosea’s image of Ephraim as a senseless dove calling first to Egypt and then to Assyria captures this (Hosea 7:11), and Isaiah’s woe on those who rely on Egypt rather than looking to the LORD names the underlying failure of trust (Isaiah 31:1).
- 2 Kings 17:3-4 (BSB)“Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But 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.”Hoshea becomes Assyria’s vassal, then secretly reaches out to Egypt and stops paying, and is imprisoned.
- Hosea 7:11 (BSB)“So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.”Hosea pictures the northern kingdom fluttering between Egypt and Assyria instead of turning to the LORD.
- Isaiah 31:1 (BSB)“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.”Isaiah pronounces woe on those who look to Egypt for help rather than seeking the LORD.
General
How does the narrator trace Israel’s long history of sin back to its beginning (2 Kings 17:21-22)?
Answer: Jeroboam drew Israel from the LORD, and they clung to his sins
The narrator goes back to the division of the kingdom, when the LORD tore the ten northern tribes away from David’s family and they crowned Jeroboam as their king (17:21). Jeroboam pulled the nation from the LORD and drew them into great sin, and the people kept on in all his sins and never abandoned them (17:21-22). His great sin was setting up two golden calves at Bethel and Dan so the people would not go to Jerusalem to worship (1 Kings 12:28-30). Through the whole history of the northern kingdom, the narrator has repeated that king after king did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam. The prophet Ahijah had warned that the LORD would give Israel up because of those very sins (1 Kings 14:15-16).
- 2 Kings 17:21-22 (BSB)“When 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. The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.”The narrator traces Israel’s sin back to Jeroboam at the division of the kingdom.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (BSB)“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.”Jeroboam set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and this became a sin for Israel.
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (BSB)“For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””Ahijah warned that the LORD would give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam.
Theological
To what origin does 2 Kings 17:21-22 trace Israel’s persistent sin?
Answer: Jeroboam drew Israel from the LORD, and they clung to his sins
The narrator returns to the division of the kingdom: when the LORD tore the northern tribes from David’s dynasty, they crowned Jeroboam, who drove Israel from the LORD into great sin, in which the nation persisted without repentance (17:21-22). The great sin is the calf worship at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-30), the sin of Jeroboam that has served as the refrain in the evaluation of nearly every northern king. Ahijah had already announced that the LORD would hand Israel over because of Jeroboam’s sins and the nation’s share in them (1 Kings 14:15-16), so the fall of Samaria is the outworking of that word.
- 2 Kings 17:21-22 (BSB)“When 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. The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.”The narrator traces Israel’s sin back to Jeroboam at the division of the kingdom.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (BSB)“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.”Jeroboam set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and this became a sin for Israel.
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (BSB)“For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger. So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””Ahijah warned that the LORD would give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam.
General
After the northern tribes were taken away, what does the narrator say about Judah (2 Kings 17:18-19)?
Answer: Judah too broke God’s commands and lived as Israel had
In His great anger the LORD put Israel out of His sight, and only Judah, the southern kingdom ruled from Jerusalem, was left (17:18). But the narrator immediately adds that Judah also failed to obey the LORD’s commands; it followed the practices Israel had started (17:19). This is a warning that runs through the rest of 2 Kings. Judah watched its northern neighbor fall but did not truly turn back to the LORD (Jeremiah 3:10). Later the LORD announced that He would bring on Jerusalem the same judgment He had brought on Samaria (2 Kings 21:13) and would remove Judah just as He had removed Israel (2 Kings 23:27).
- 2 Kings 17:18-19 (BSB)“So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.”Only Judah is left, but the narrator notes that Judah followed Israel’s customs.
- Jeremiah 3:10 (BSB)“Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.”The LORD later says Judah did not return to Him with all her heart, only in pretense.
- 2 Kings 21:13 (BSB)“I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.”The LORD later announces He will bring on Jerusalem the same judgment He brought on Samaria.
- 2 Kings 23:27 (BSB)“For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’””The LORD declares He will remove Judah just as He removed Israel.
Theological
What does the narrator add about Judah in 2 Kings 17:18-19?
Answer: Judah too broke God’s commands and lived as Israel had
With Israel removed from the LORD’s presence, only Judah remained (17:18), yet the narrator at once adds that Judah also failed to obey and adopted Israel’s ways (17:19). The aside anticipates the second half of the book: the southern kingdom is not exempt from the same covenant logic. Jeremiah charges Judah with returning only in pretense after witnessing Israel’s judgment (Jeremiah 3:10), and the LORD later announces that Samaria’s judgment will be measured out over Jerusalem as well (2 Kings 21:13) and that He will remove Judah as He removed Israel (2 Kings 23:27).
- 2 Kings 17:18-19 (BSB)“So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.”Only Judah is left, but the narrator notes that Judah followed Israel’s customs.
- Jeremiah 3:10 (BSB)“Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.”The LORD later says Judah did not return to Him with all her heart, only in pretense.
- 2 Kings 21:13 (BSB)“I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.”The LORD later announces He will bring on Jerusalem the same judgment He brought on Samaria.
- 2 Kings 23:27 (BSB)“For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’””The LORD declares He will remove Judah just as He removed Israel.
General
Why, according to the text, did the LORD send lions among the new settlers in Samaria (2 Kings 17:25)?
Answer: At first they gave the LORD no honor in their new home
After removing the Israelites, the Assyrian king moved people from Babylon and other conquered places into Samaria’s towns (17:24). At first these newcomers gave the LORD no reverence, and therefore He sent lions, which took the lives of several (17:25). The Assyrian king was then told that these peoples did not know what the local deity required (17:26). That report pictured the LORD as a local god tied to one territory, but the text shows the LORD acting as the God who rules the land and everyone in it. Wild animals had been named among the covenant warnings (Leviticus 26:22), and earlier in Kings the LORD sent a lion against a man who disobeyed His word (1 Kings 20:36).
- 2 Kings 17:24-25 (BSB)“Then 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. Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.”Assyria resettles foreign peoples in Samaria’s towns, and the LORD sends lions because they do not worship Him.
- 2 Kings 17:26 (BSB)“So 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.””The king of Assyria is told about the lions, which are explained in terms of the god of the land.
- Leviticus 26:22 (BSB)“I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.”Wild animals sent against the land were among the judgments the covenant warned of.
- 1 Kings 20:36 (BSB)“Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you depart from me a lion will kill you.” And when he left, a lion found him and killed him.”Earlier in Kings, the LORD sent a lion against a man who disobeyed His word.
Theological
What reason does 2 Kings 17:25 give for the lions that killed some of the settlers?
Answer: At first they gave the LORD no honor in their new home
The Assyrian king repopulated Samaria with peoples from five conquered places (17:24), and because at first they gave the LORD no reverence, He sent lions, which took the lives of several (17:25). The report sent to the king interprets the event in pagan categories, as the unknown demands of a territorial deity (17:26), but the narrator attributes the lions directly to the LORD, who remains sovereign over the land after Israel’s removal. The judgment echoes the covenant sanction of wild animals (Leviticus 26:22) and the lion sent against disobedience earlier in Kings (1 Kings 20:36).
- 2 Kings 17:24-25 (BSB)“Then 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. Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.”Assyria resettles foreign peoples in Samaria’s towns, and the LORD sends lions because they do not worship Him.
- 2 Kings 17:26 (BSB)“So 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.””The king of Assyria is told about the lions, which are explained in terms of the god of the land.
- Leviticus 26:22 (BSB)“I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.”Wild animals sent against the land were among the judgments the covenant warned of.
- 1 Kings 20:36 (BSB)“Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you depart from me a lion will kill you.” And when he left, a lion found him and killed him.”Earlier in Kings, the LORD sent a lion against a man who disobeyed His word.
General
How did the Assyrian king respond to the report about the lions (2 Kings 17:27-28)?
Answer: He sent back an exiled priest to teach about the LORD
The Assyrian king ordered that a priest taken captive from Samaria be returned to settle there and instruct the newcomers in what the local deity required (17:27). The priest came and lived at Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD (17:28). Bethel was the town where Jeroboam had set up one of his golden calves (1 Kings 12:28-29). The king’s solution treated the LORD as a territorial deity whose requirements simply had to be learned. But God had commanded Israel to fear Him, worship Him alone, and not to chase after the deities of neighboring nations (Deuteronomy 6:13-14), and the following verses show that the settlers added the LORD to their gods rather than turning to Him alone.
- 2 Kings 17:27-28 (BSB)“Then 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.” Thus 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.”The Assyrian king returns one of the deported priests, who settles at Bethel and teaches the settlers.
- 1 Kings 12:28-29 (BSB)“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.”Bethel was where Jeroboam had set up one of his golden calves.
- Deuteronomy 6:13-14 (BSB)“Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.”The LORD required to be served alone, not added to the gods of the surrounding peoples.
Theological
What remedy did the Assyrian king order after hearing about the lions (2 Kings 17:27-28)?
Answer: He sent back an exiled priest to teach about the LORD
The king’s remedy was to repatriate one of the deported priests to teach the settlers what the local deity demanded (17:27); he settled at Bethel and instructed them in how to fear the LORD (17:28). The location is significant in the narrative, since Bethel had been the site of Jeroboam’s calf (1 Kings 12:28-29). The Assyrian policy treated the LORD as a territorial deity to be appeased, which is the opposite of the exclusive worship the covenant required: fear the LORD, worship Him alone, and do not follow the deities of the surrounding peoples (Deuteronomy 6:13-14). The result, as 17:29-33 shows, was syncretism, not conversion.
- 2 Kings 17:27-28 (BSB)“Then 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.” Thus 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.”The Assyrian king returns one of the deported priests, who settles at Bethel and teaches the settlers.
- 1 Kings 12:28-29 (BSB)“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.”Bethel was where Jeroboam had set up one of his golden calves.
- Deuteronomy 6:13-14 (BSB)“Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.”The LORD required to be served alone, not added to the gods of the surrounding peoples.
General
What does the narrator name as the root of Israel’s refusal to listen to the prophets (2 Kings 17:14)?
Answer: Like their fathers, they would not trust their God
Israel heard the prophets’ warnings but would not listen. The narrator says they made their necks stiff, a picture of stubborn refusal, just as their ancestors had, and that those ancestors had no faith in their God (17:14). The deepest problem was not a lack of information but unbelief: they did not trust the God who spoke. Jeremiah describes the same pattern of prophets sent again and again to a stubborn people (Jeremiah 7:25-26). Stephen later used this picture for those who resisted the Holy Spirit as their fathers had (Acts 7:51), and Hebrews warns that an unbelieving heart is what draws a person away from God (Hebrews 3:12).
- 2 Kings 17:14 (BSB)“But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.”Israel’s response to the prophets, traced to unbelief like their fathers’.
- Jeremiah 7:25-26 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.”Jeremiah describes the same pattern: prophets sent again and again, and a people who stiffened their necks.
- Acts 7:51 (BSB)“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.”Stephen uses the same picture of stubborn resistance to describe Israel’s leaders in his own day, like their fathers.
- Hebrews 3:12 (BSB)“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.”Hebrews identifies an unbelieving heart as what turns people away from the living God.
Theological
What does 2 Kings 17:14 identify as the root of Israel’s refusal to heed the prophets?
Answer: Like their fathers, they would not trust their God
The narrator traces Israel’s refusal to heed the prophets to its root: they hardened themselves as their ancestors had, who would not trust their God (17:14). Disobedience is diagnosed as the fruit of unbelief, a heart that does not trust God’s word, inherited and repeated across generations. The prophets confirm the diagnosis (Jeremiah 7:25-26), Stephen applies the same image to the resistance of his hearers and their fathers to the Spirit (Acts 7:51), and Hebrews names an evil heart of unbelief as the cause of apostasy (Hebrews 3:12). The failure lay not in any lack of warning, since the prophets had warned them again and again (17:13), but in hearts that would not trust the God who spoke.
- 2 Kings 17:14 (BSB)“But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.”Israel’s response to the prophets, traced to unbelief like their fathers’.
- Jeremiah 7:25-26 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.”Jeremiah describes the same pattern: prophets sent again and again, and a people who stiffened their necks.
- Acts 7:51 (BSB)“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.”Stephen uses the same picture of stubborn resistance to describe Israel’s leaders in his own day, like their fathers.
- Hebrews 3:12 (BSB)“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.”Hebrews identifies an unbelieving heart as what turns people away from the living God.
General
Before judgment fell, how had the LORD dealt with Israel and Judah (2 Kings 17:13)?
Answer: He warned them through prophets and seers to turn back
The exile did not come without warning. Time after time God sent prophets and seers (people He called to speak His word) to both Israel and Judah. Their message was to turn back from evil ways and keep God’s commands, the whole Law He had given their ancestors (17:13). This shows God’s patience: He gave His people many years and many messengers before He acted in judgment. Nehemiah’s generation later confessed that God bore with Israel through long years and warned them by His Spirit through the prophets (Nehemiah 9:29-30). After the exile, Zechariah reminded his hearers that the earlier prophets had urged their fathers to abandon their wicked deeds, yet those fathers paid no attention (Zechariah 1:4).
- 2 Kings 17:13 (BSB)“Yet 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.””The LORD’s repeated warnings to both Israel and Judah through His prophets.
- Nehemiah 9:29-30 (BSB)“You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey. You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.”Looking back, the Levites confess that God was patient for many years and warned through His prophets before giving Israel over.
- Zechariah 1:4 (BSB)“Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.”Zechariah recalls that the earlier prophets called the fathers to turn from their evil ways, and they would not listen.
Theological
What does 2 Kings 17:13 say the LORD had done for Israel and Judah before the exile?
Answer: He warned them through prophets and seers to turn back
The narrator stresses that judgment came only after long forbearance: God admonished both kingdoms through every prophet and seer, summoning them to forsake their wickedness and to obey the whole Law given to the fathers through His servants (17:13). The prophetic ministry is presented as the LORD’s patient covenant prosecution, pleading for repentance before executing the covenant sanctions. Nehemiah 9:29-30 describes the same history as years of divine patience and Spirit-given admonition through the prophets. Zechariah 1:4 likewise recalls the former prophets’ summons to forsake evil deeds, which the fathers refused to heed.
- 2 Kings 17:13 (BSB)“Yet 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.””The LORD’s repeated warnings to both Israel and Judah through His prophets.
- Nehemiah 9:29-30 (BSB)“You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey. You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.”Looking back, the Levites confess that God was patient for many years and warned through His prophets before giving Israel over.
- Zechariah 1:4 (BSB)“Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.”Zechariah recalls that the earlier prophets called the fathers to turn from their evil ways, and they would not listen.
General
According to the narrator, why did Samaria fall and Israel go into exile (2 Kings 17:7)?
Answer: Israel had turned from the God who freed them from Egypt
After describing how the Assyrians took Samaria and deported its people (17:6), the narrator stops to explain why. All of it came about because Israel had rebelled against their God, the One who had freed them from Egypt and from Pharaoh’s power (17:7). Exile, being forced to live away from the homeland as captives, was not an accident of politics or proof that Assyria’s gods were stronger. It was the LORD’s judgment on a people who had turned from Him. Their sin was all the more serious because of His kindness: He had rescued them, and at Sinai He grounded His demand for exclusive worship in that very rescue (Exodus 20:2-3). Moses had warned long before that if Israel made idols, they would be driven from the land and scattered among the nations (Deuteronomy 4:25-27), and that the people and their king would be carried off to a foreign nation (Deuteronomy 28:36).
- 2 Kings 17:6-7 (BSB)“In 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. All 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”Samaria is captured and Israel deported, and the narrator immediately gives the reason.
- Exodus 20:2-3 (BSB)““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”The LORD based His claim on Israel on His bringing them out of Egypt, and on that basis He forbade other gods.
- Deuteronomy 4:25-27 (BSB)“After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.”Moses warned that if Israel made idols, they would be removed from the land and scattered among the nations.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 (BSB)“The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.”Among the covenant curses, Moses foretold that Israel and its king would be carried off to a foreign nation.
Theological
What explanation does the narrator give for the fall of Samaria and the deportation of Israel (2 Kings 17:7)?
Answer: Israel had turned from the God who freed them from Egypt
The account of the capture and deportation (17:6) is followed at once by the narrator’s theological explanation: it came about because Israel transgressed against the God who had redeemed them from Egypt and from Pharaoh (17:7). The fall is interpreted not as a geopolitical event or a contest of national deities but as covenant judgment. The mention of the exodus sharpens the charge, since the Decalogue grounds the demand for exclusive worship in that very redemption (Exodus 20:2-3). The outcome is what the covenant itself threatened: removal from the land and dispersion among the nations if Israel turned to idols (Deuteronomy 4:25-27), with people and king carried off to a foreign nation (Deuteronomy 28:36).
- 2 Kings 17:6-7 (BSB)“In 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. All 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”Samaria is captured and Israel deported, and the narrator immediately gives the reason.
- Exodus 20:2-3 (BSB)““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”The LORD based His claim on Israel on His bringing them out of Egypt, and on that basis He forbade other gods.
- Deuteronomy 4:25-27 (BSB)“After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.”Moses warned that if Israel made idols, they would be removed from the land and scattered among the nations.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 (BSB)“The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.”Among the covenant curses, Moses foretold that Israel and its king would be carried off to a foreign nation.
General
What kind of worship took hold among the resettled peoples in Samaria (2 Kings 17:32-33)?
Answer: They revered the LORD yet kept serving their native gods
Even after the priest taught them, each nation went on making its own gods and placing them in the hilltop shrines Israel had built (17:29). The narrator names the gods each group brought, and notes that the Sepharvites even burned their children as offerings (17:30-31). So the settlers revered the LORD while also serving their native gods and choosing their own priests, keeping the practices of the lands they had come from (17:32-33). This mixed worship is exactly what God forbids. Elijah had told Israel they could not waver between the LORD and Baal (1 Kings 18:21), Jesus taught that a person cannot be devoted to two masters (Matthew 6:24), and Zephaniah condemned those who swore by the LORD and by another god at the same time (Zephaniah 1:5).
- 2 Kings 17:29 (BSB)“Nevertheless, 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.”Each settled nation makes its own gods and places them in the old high-place shrines.
- 2 Kings 17:32-33 (BSB)“So 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. They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.”The settlers worship the LORD while also serving their own gods and appointing their own priests.
- 1 Kings 18:21 (BSB)“Then 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.”Elijah had challenged Israel that they could not waver between the LORD and Baal.
- Matthew 6:24 (BSB)“No 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.”Jesus teaches that no one can serve two masters.
- Zephaniah 1:5 (BSB)“those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,”Zephaniah condemns those who take oaths in the LORD’s name while also swearing by another god.
Theological
How does the narrator characterize the religion of the resettled peoples (2 Kings 17:32-33)?
Answer: They revered the LORD yet kept serving their native gods
Each transplanted nation kept making its own gods and installing them in the high-place shrines left by Israel (17:29); the narrator lists their deities and the Sepharvites’ burning of their children (17:30-31). The settlers thus feared the LORD while also serving their own gods, appointing priests of every kind and following the customs of their homelands (17:32-33). This is syncretism, the LORD added to a pantheon rather than worshiped exclusively, the same divided allegiance Elijah confronted at Carmel (1 Kings 18:21). Jesus’ saying that a servant cannot belong to two masters (Matthew 6:24) and Zephaniah’s oracle against those who take oaths both in the LORD’s name and by Milcom (Zephaniah 1:5) show why such worship is not true worship at all.
- 2 Kings 17:29 (BSB)“Nevertheless, 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.”Each settled nation makes its own gods and places them in the old high-place shrines.
- 2 Kings 17:32-33 (BSB)“So 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. They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.”The settlers worship the LORD while also serving their own gods and appointing their own priests.
- 1 Kings 18:21 (BSB)“Then 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.”Elijah had challenged Israel that they could not waver between the LORD and Baal.
- Matthew 6:24 (BSB)“No 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.”Jesus teaches that no one can serve two masters.
- Zephaniah 1:5 (BSB)“those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,”Zephaniah condemns those who take oaths in the LORD’s name while also swearing by another god.
General
True or False: The narrator says that the Israelites came to resemble the empty idols they pursued.
Answer: True
This is true. Israel spurned the LORD’s decrees and His covenant, the binding agreement God gave their ancestors, and chased after idols that were empty and useless. As a result they became empty and useless themselves, copying the nations around them that God had forbidden them to copy (17:15). People become like what they worship. Jeremiah says the same of Israel’s fathers (Jeremiah 2:5), the psalmist says that those who make idols and rely on them grow to resemble them (Psalm 115:8), and Paul describes how people who traded God’s glory for images became fools (Romans 1:22-23).
- 2 Kings 17:15 (BSB)“They 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.”Israel’s rejection of the covenant and pursuit of idols, with the result for the worshipers.
- Jeremiah 2:5 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.”Jeremiah uses the same words for Israel’s fathers, who strayed from the LORD.
- Psalm 115:8 (BSB)“Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”The psalmist says those who make and trust in idols become like them.
- Romans 1:22-23 (BSB)“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”Paul describes people who exchanged God’s glory for images and became fools.
Theological
True or False: According to 2 Kings 17:15, Israel’s pursuit of empty idols left the worshipers themselves empty.
Answer: True
This is true. Having spurned the LORD’s decrees and the covenant given to their ancestors, Israel chased empty idols and became empty themselves, imitating the surrounding nations against the LORD’s command (17:15). The verse states a principle of worship: worshipers are conformed to the object of their worship. Jeremiah 2:5 uses the same formulation of the fathers’ apostasy, Psalm 115:8 says idol-makers and idol-trusters become like their idols, and Romans 1:22-23 describes the folly that follows trading God’s glory for images.
- 2 Kings 17:15 (BSB)“They 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.”Israel’s rejection of the covenant and pursuit of idols, with the result for the worshipers.
- Jeremiah 2:5 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.”Jeremiah uses the same words for Israel’s fathers, who strayed from the LORD.
- Psalm 115:8 (BSB)“Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”The psalmist says those who make and trust in idols become like them.
- Romans 1:22-23 (BSB)“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”Paul describes people who exchanged God’s glory for images and became fools.