2 Kings 17:14

14 But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors who did not believe in Yahweh their God.

2 Kings 17:14 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:14

Notwithstanding, they would not hear
Their instructions, advice, and admonitions, and obey them:

but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did
not believe in the Lord their God:
as Terah and Nahor, who were idolaters; or rather, their fathers in the wilderness, that made and served the calf, and those that rebelled against Moses and Aaron; it is a metaphor taken from oxen, that will not submit their necks to the yoke, but draw back from it, or cast it off, see ( Acts 7:51 ) .

2 Kings 17:14 In-Context

12 They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!"

13 Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of his every prophet, [with] every seer saying, "Turn from all of your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, according to all the law which I commanded your ancestors, which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets."

14 But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors who did not believe in Yahweh their God.

15 They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he {made} with their ancestors, and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and [went] after all the nations which [were] all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they [did].

16 They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "fathers