2 Kings 17:16

16 They rejected all the commands of the LORD their God and made two calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven.

2 Kings 17:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:16

And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God
Which their idolatry led them to; and indeed he that offends in one point is guilty of them all, ( James 2:10 )

and made them molten images, [even] two calves;
which they set up at Dan and Bethel, in the times of their first king Jeroboam, ( 1 Kings 13:28 1 Kings 13:29 )

and made a grove;
as Ahab, another of their kings, did, ( 1 Kings 16:33 )

and worshipped all the host of heaven:
not the angels, sometimes so called, but, besides the sun and moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus:

and served Baal;
which was service to the sun, as Abarbinel interprets it; this was the god of the Zidonians Ahab worshipped, having married a princess of that people, ( 1 Kings 16:31 1 Kings 16:32 ) .

2 Kings 17:16 In-Context

14 But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the LORD their God.

15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the LORD ’s command not to imitate them.

16 They rejected all the commands of the LORD their God and made two calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven.

17 They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire. They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the LORD ’s anger.

18 Because the LORD was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained in the land.