2 Kings 17:17

17 They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire and practiced divination and interpreted omens.^[a] They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord's sight and provoked Him.

2 Kings 17:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:17

And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through
the fire
To Baal or Moloch, which were the same, and represented the sun, which, as the above writer observes, presides in the element of fire; this was done either by way of lustration, or so as to be burnt, see ( 2 Kings 16:3 )

and used divination and enchantments:
to get knowledge of what was to be done at present, or of things to come, neglecting the word of God and his prophets, and acting against the express law of God, ( Deuteronomy 18:10-12 )

and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke
him to anger;
as Ahab their king did, see ( 1 Kings 21:20 1 Kings 21:25 ) , they were as much the servants of sin as if they had sold themselves to be slaves to it.

2 Kings 17:17 In-Context

15 They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors and the warnings He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.

16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God. They made for themselves molded images-even two calves-and an Asherah pole. They worshiped the whole heavenly host and served Baal.

17 They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire and practiced divination and interpreted omens. They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord's sight and provoked Him.

18 Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained.

19 Even Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.

Footnotes

• [a]. 2 Kg 16:3; Lv 19:26; Dt 18:10-12