2 Kings 17:8
in 2 Kings 17and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.
KJV
And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
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This verse in 2 Kings 17
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel,.... Meaning the Canaanites, in whose idolatrous ways they walked, and whom they imitated; though their ejection out of the land should have been a warning to them, and they were the more inexcusable, as they were particularly cautioned against walking in them, Lev 18:3. and of the kings of Israel, which they had made; their laws and statutes, to worship the golden calves, and not go up to Jerusalem to worship.
This site's exposition
had sinned against the LORD their God
on 2 Kings 17:7-8
Verses 7 to 23 form the longest editorial in the historical books, and the sin is named at its root before any list of practices. They had worshiped other gods. The Exodus itself grounds the charge, since the God who delivered them is the God they set aside.
This site's exposition
the customs of the nations
Barnes divided the idolatry into two kinds: the customs of the nations, and the practices the kings of Israel themselves introduced, such as the calves. Gill pointed to Leviticus 18:3, where the LORD forbade the customs of Canaan. Both kinds are charged.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), to make room for them; and the casting out of them for their idolatries was as fair a warning as could be given to Israel not to do like them. What they had done against God, notwithstanding these engagements which he had laid upon them. They sinned against the Lord their God (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Idolatry was worse in the Israelites than in other nations, since it argued not merely folly and a gross carnal spirit, but also black ingratitude Exo 20:2-3. The writer subdivides the idolatries of the Israelites into two classes, pagan and native - those which they adopted from the nations whom they drove out, and those which their own kings imposed on them.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ | vaiyelekhu | and they had walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּחֻקּ֣וֹת | bechukot | in [the] customs of | H2708 → | 104 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הוֹרִ֣ישׁ | horish | he had dispossessed | H3423 → | 231 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וּמַלְכֵ֥י | umalkhei | and [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשֽׂוּ׃ | ʾasu | they had done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙and they had walked
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
בְּחֻקּ֣וֹתin [the] customs of
bechukotH2708 →104 times
הַגּוֹיִ֔םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֲשֶׁר֙which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הוֹרִ֣ישׁhe had dispossessed
horishH3423 →231 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִפְּנֵ֖יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וּמַלְכֵ֥יand [the] kings of
umalkheiH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָשֽׂוּ׃they had done
ʾasuH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 18:9When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:29–31
When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,
- Leviticus 18:26–27
But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you.
- Leviticus 18:30
You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
- Deuteronomy 12:29–31
Through
Leviticus 18:3You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.…
it leads to
- Leviticus 20:23
You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
- Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Ezekiel 20:7–8
And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
- Ezekiel 23:8
She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.
- Leviticus 20:23
Through
2 Kings 16:3Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:31
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as…
- Deuteronomy 12:31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
On this verse
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.