2 Kings 17:25

25 So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn't fear the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

2 Kings 17:25 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:25

And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that
they feared not the Lord
Did not serve him in any manner, but their idols only, which they brought with them; whereas it was usual with Heathens to serve the gods of the country, as they reputed them, where they came, along with their own; but even this those men did not do:

therefore the Lord sent lions among them;
even into their cities, into which lions sometimes came ^F12, especially when old, out of the thickets of Jordan and other places where they haunted, see ( Jeremiah 49:19 )

which slew some of them;
this the Lord did to assert his sovereignty, authority, and mighty power, and to let them know that he could as easily clear the land of them, as they, by his permission, had cleared the land of the Israelites, Josephus ^F13 calls this a plague that was sent among them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 44. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 16.
F13 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 1.)

2 Kings 17:25 In-Context

23 until the LORD removed Yisra'el out of his sight, as he spoke by all his servants the prophets. So Yisra'el was carried away out of their own land to Ashshur to this day.

24 The king of Ashshur brought men from Bavel, and from Kutah, and from Avva, and from Hamat and Sefarvayim, and placed them in the cities of Shomron instead of the children of Yisra'el; and they possessed Shomron, and lived in the cities of it.

25 So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn't fear the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

26 Therefore they spoke to the king of Ashshur, saying, The nations which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Shomron, don't know the law of the god of the land: therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they kill them, because they don't know the law of the god of the land.

27 Then the king of Ashshur commanded, saying, Carry there one of the Kohanim whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.