2 Kings 17:2

2 As far as God was concerned, he lived a bad life, but not nearly as bad as the kings who had preceded him.

2 Kings 17:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:2

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but
not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
] He did not worship Baal, as some of them had done; and he could not worship the calves, as all of them had, for they were carried away by the Assyrians in the former captivities, as the Jews F19 say; and who also observe F20, that he removed the garrisons set on the borders of the land to watch the Israelites, that they might not go up to Jerusalem; and this being done on the fifteenth of Ab, that day was afterwards observed as a festival on that account; and they further remark F21, that the captivity of the ten tribes was in the reign of this king, who was better than the rest, to show that it was not barely the sins of the kings on whom the Israelites would cast the blame, that they were carried captives, but their own, according to ( Hosea 5:3 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 22.
F20 T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 88. Kimchi in loc.
F21 Seder Olam Raba, ut supra. (c. 22.)

2 Kings 17:2 In-Context

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for nine years.
2 As far as God was concerned, he lived a bad life, but not nearly as bad as the kings who had preceded him.
3 Then Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked. Hoshea was already a puppet of the Assyrian king and regularly sent him tribute,
4 but Shalmaneser discovered that Hoshea had been operating traitorously behind his back - having worked out a deal with King So of Egypt. And, adding insult to injury, Hoshea was way behind on his annual payments of tribute to Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and threw him in prison,
5 then proceeded to invade the entire country. He attacked Samaria and threw up a siege against it. The siege lasted three years.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.