Kings II 17:9

9 For, behold, he is now hidden in one of the hills or in some place: and it shall come to pass when he falls upon them at the beginning, that will certainly hear, and say, There has been a slaughter among the people that follow after Abessalom.

Kings II 17:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:9

And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were
not right against the Lord their God
As being partly conscious to themselves that they were not right, and ashamed to commit them openly; and partly as foolishly imagining, that, being done privately, they were not seen and observed of God, having imbibed some atheistical notions of him, that he was not omniscient, or saw not, and had forsaken the earth; or they "covered" ^F7 these actions of theirs under reigned and plausible pretences, that what they did they were obliged to by their kings, and with political views, and that they worshipped the true God in the calves; but these were coverings too thin not to be seen through:

and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of
the watchmen to the fenced city;
not content with those built in former times, they built new ones; and these not in their metropolis only, but in all the cities of the kingdom; and not in large cities only, but in every town and village between one fortified city and another; even wherever there was a watch tower erected, either for shepherds to watch their flocks, or for keepers of gardens, orchards, and vineyards, to watch the fruits of them, that they were not taken away.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (wapxy) "occultaverunt", Montanus, Vatablus, Grotius; "palliaverunt", Piscator.

Kings II 17:9 In-Context

7 And Chusi said to Abessalom, This counsel which Achitophel has counselled this one time not good.

8 And Chusi said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are very mighty, and bitter in their spirit, as a bereaved bear in the field, : and thy father a man of war, and will not give the people rest.

9 For, behold, he is now hidden in one of the hills or in some place: and it shall come to pass when he falls upon them at the beginning, that will certainly hear, and say, There has been a slaughter among the people that follow after Abessalom.

10 Then even he strong, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, —it shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that thy father mighty, and they that are with him mighty men.

11 For thus I have surely given counsel, that all Israel be generally gathered to thee from Dan even to Bersabee, as the sand that is upon the sea-shore for multitude: and that thy presence go in the midst of them.