2 Kings 17:16

16 They abandoned all the commands of the LORD their God: They made two calves out of cast metal. They made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah. They prayed to the entire army of heaven. They worshiped Baal.

2 Kings 17:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:16

And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God
Which their idolatry led them to; and indeed he that offends in one point is guilty of them all, ( James 2:10 )

and made them molten images, [even] two calves;
which they set up at Dan and Bethel, in the times of their first king Jeroboam, ( 1 Kings 13:28 1 Kings 13:29 )

and made a grove;
as Ahab, another of their kings, did, ( 1 Kings 16:33 )

and worshipped all the host of heaven:
not the angels, sometimes so called, but, besides the sun and moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus:

and served Baal;
which was service to the sun, as Abarbinel interprets it; this was the god of the Zidonians Ahab worshipped, having married a princess of that people, ( 1 Kings 16:31 1 Kings 16:32 ) .

2 Kings 17:16 In-Context

14 But they refused to listen. They became as impossible to deal with as their ancestors who refused to trust the LORD their God.

15 They rejected his decrees, the promise he made to their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They went after worthless idols and became as worthless as the idols. They behaved like the nations around them, although the LORD had commanded them not to do that.

16 They abandoned all the commands of the LORD their God: They made two calves out of cast metal. They made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah. They prayed to the entire army of heaven. They worshiped Baal.

17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters by burning them alive. They practiced black magic and cast evil spells. They sold themselves by doing what the LORD considered evil, and they made him furious.

18 The LORD became so angry with Israel that he removed them from his sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left.