2 Kings 17:16
in 2 Kings 17They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they forsook all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
KJV
And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
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This verse in 2 Kings 17
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In 2Ki 17:10 there is a reference to the old high-place worship, which was professedly a worship of Yahweh, but with unauthorized rites and emblems; here the reference is to Ahab’s setting up a grove to Baal in the city of Samaria (marginal reference). And worshipped all the host of heaven - Astral worship has not hitherto been mentioned as practiced by the Israelites. Moses had warned against it Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3, so that it no doubt existed in his day, either among the Canaanite nations or among the Arabians Job 31:26-
This site's exposition
worshipped all the host of heaven
on 2 Kings 17:16-17
Two calves recur here from Jeroboam's original pair at Bethel and Dan, now joined by a grove, the host of heaven, and Baal together, the whole catalogue of Canaanite and astral religion gathered in one verse. Worship of the host of heaven, the sun, moon and stars given honor due their Maker, is the same practice Josiah will later purge from the temple at 2 Ki 23:5. Passing sons and daughters through the fire names child sacrifice, forbidden at Lev 18:21 and 20:2, and the verdict already coming in verse 18 answers all of it together.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This was the sin that did most easily beset them; this was, of all sins, most provoking to God: it was the spiritual adultery that broke the marriage-covenant, and was the inlet of all other wickedness. Hence it is again and again mentioned here as the sin that ruined them.
), vain in their devotions, which were brutish and ridiculous, and so became vain in their whole conversation. (8.) Besides the molten images, even the two calves, they worshipped all the host of heaven --the sun, moon, and stars: for it is not meant of the heavenly host of angels; they could not rise so far above sensible things as to think of them.
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And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God,....
What means God used with them, to bring them off from their idolatries, and to how little purpose. He testified against them, showed them their sins and warned them of the fatal consequences of them by all the prophets and all the seers (for so the prophets had been formerly called), and pressed them to turn from their evil ways,
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And they devoted themselves. They sold themselves for that [purpose].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעַזְב֗וּ | vaiyaazvu | and they forsook | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מִצְוֹת֙ | mitzvot | [the] commandments of | H4687 → | 181 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾeloheihem | God their | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ | vaiyaasu | and they made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | for themselves | ||
| מַסֵּכָ֖ה | masekhah | a molten image | H4541 → | |
| שְׁנֵ֣י | sheneim | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֲגָלִ֑ים | ʾagalim | calves | H5695 → | |
| וַיַּעֲשׂ֣וּ | vaiyaasu | and they made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֲשֵׁירָ֗ה | ʾasheirah | an Asherah pole | H842 → | 40 times |
| וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲווּ֙ | vaiyishtachavu | and they bowed down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| צְבָ֣א | tzeva' | [the] host of | H6635 → | 485 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וַיַּעַבְד֖וּ | vaiyaavdu | and they served | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבָּֽעַל׃ | habaal | <the> Baal | H1168 → | 82 times |
וַיַּעַזְב֗וּand they forsook
vaiyaazvuH5800 →215 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מִצְוֹת֙[the] commandments of
mitzvotH4687 →181 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֔םGod their
ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times
וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּand they made
vaiyaasuH6213 →2628 times
לָהֶ֛םfor themselves
lahem
מַסֵּכָ֖הa molten image
masekhahH4541 →
שְׁנֵ֣יtwo
sheneimH8147 →768 times
עֲגָלִ֑יםcalves
ʾagalimH5695 →
וַיַּעֲשׂ֣וּand they made
vaiyaasuH6213 →2628 times
אֲשֵׁירָ֗הan Asherah pole
ʾasheirahH842 →40 times
וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲווּ֙and they bowed down
vaiyishtachavuH7812 →172 times
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
צְבָ֣א[the] host of
tzeva'H6635 →485 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וַיַּעַבְד֖וּand they served
vaiyaavduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַבָּֽעַל׃<the> Baal
habaalH1168 →82 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 4:19When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to…
it leads to
- Romans 1:25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
- Deuteronomy 17:3
and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
- 2 Kings 21:3
For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped…
- Genesis 1:16–18
God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
- Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
- Romans 1:25
Through
1 Kings 14:23They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Isaiah 57:5
who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Through
1 Kings 12:28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
it leads to
- Exodus 32:4
He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of…
- Exodus 32:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About 2 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.