2 Kings 17:17

17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced all kinds of evil magic. They gave themselves over to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. All of those things made him very angry.

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 refused to obey his rules. They broke the covenant he had made with them. They didn't pay any attention to the warnings he had given them. They worshiped worthless statues of gods. Then they themselves became worthless. They followed the example of the nations that were around them. They did it even though the LORD had ordered them not to. He had said, "Do not do as they do." They did the very things the LORD had told them not to do.

16 They turned away from all of the commands of the LORD their God. They made two statues of gods for themselves. The statues were shaped like calves. They made a pole that was used to worship the goddess Asherah. They bowed down to all of the stars. And they worshiped the god Baal.

17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced all kinds of evil magic. They gave themselves over to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. All of those things made him very angry.

18 So the LORD was filled with anger against Israel. He removed them from his land. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

19 And even Judah didn't obey the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had started.