2 Kings 17:8

8 and ¹walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before * the sons of Israel, and in the customs ²of the kings of Israel which they had introduced.

2 Kings 17:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:8

And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast
out from before the children of Israel
Meaning the Canaanites, in whose idolatrous ways they walked, and whom they imitated; though their ejection out of the land should have been a warning to them, and they were the more inexcusable, as they were particularly cautioned against walking in them, ( Leviticus 18:3 )

and of the kings of Israel, which they had made;
their laws and statutes, to worship the golden calves, and not go up to Jerusalem to worship.

2 Kings 17:8 In-Context

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods

8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced.

9 The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

10 They set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 18:3; Deuteronomy 18:9
• 2. 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 17:19

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "statutes"
• [b]. Lit "made"