2 Kings 17:17

17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire ^[a] and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

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 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.

16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.

17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

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

19 and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire