2 Kings 17:8

2 Kings 17:8 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.
• New King James Version (NKJV)and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

Context of 2 Kings 17:8

6When Hoshea had been king of Israel for nine years, the king of Assyria won the war against Samaria. He took the Israelites away to Assyria as his prisoners. He caused them to live in Halah, in Gozan beside the River Habor and in towns in Media. 7All this happened because the Israelites did bad things against the Lord, their God. The Lord had brought them safely out of Egypt. He had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But now they worshipped other gods. They did the same bad things that the nations that lived in Canaan did. The Lord had chased those nations out of Canaan so that the Israelites could live there. The Israelites copied the bad things that the kings of Israel were doing. 9They secretly did things that the Lord their God said were not right. In all their towns, they built altars to worship false gods. They built them everywhere, in small villages and in strong cities. 10They put up stone pillars and Asherah poles to worship their gods. They put them on top of all the high hills and under all the big trees.

2 Kings 17:8 word by word

וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ בְּחֻקּ֣וֹת הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר֙ הוֹרִ֣ישׁ יְהוָ֔ה מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּמַלְכֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשֽׂוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And walkedיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• in the statutesחֻקָּהchûqqâh · statuteH2708
• of the heathenגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• whom the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• cast outיָרַשׁyârash yârêsh · to possess: takeH3423
• from beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• and of the kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• which they had madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213

Cross-references for 2 Kings 17:8

• 2 Kings 16:3He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He even caused his son to walk through fire. In this way he copied the terrible sins of the other nations in Canaan. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there.
• 2 Kings 21:2Manasseh did things that the Lord said were evil. He did the same terrible sins that the other nations in Canaan had done. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there.
• Leviticus 18:3They were living in Egypt, but they must not do as the people in Egypt do. Now I am bringing them to live in Canaan. They must not live in the way that the people in Canaan live. They must not do the things that those people do.
• Deuteronomy 12:30But after the Lord has destroyed them, be careful! Do not do the same wrong things as they do. Do not try to worship their gods. Do not say, ‘How do the people of these nations worship their gods? I would like to do the same thing!’
• Deuteronomy 18:9When you go into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, be careful! Do not learn to do the evil things that the nations who live there are doing.
• 1 Kings 12:28So King Jeroboam talked to his advisors. He used gold to make images of two young cows. He said to the people, ‘It is too difficult for you to go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, as you have done before. So I have made these gold cows for you instead. Look at them, Israelite people! These are your gods that rescued you and brought you out from Egypt.’
• 1 Kings 16:31He did the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. He even did something that was even worse. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Ahab served Baal as his god and he worshipped him.
• 1 Kings 21:26Ahab was so wicked that he worshipped useless idols, as the Amorites did. The Lord had chased those people out of the land so that the Israelites could live there.
• Psalms 106:35Instead, they mixed with those nations and they learned their way of life.
• Jeremiah 10:2The Lord says, ‘Do not copy the way that people of other nations live. They are afraid of strange things that they see in the sky. But you must not be afraid of those things.
• Hosea 5:11Terrible trouble will come to Ephraim's people. They will receive great punishment. They deserve that because they chose to worship idols.
• Micah 6:16You have obeyed the rules of King Omri. You have done what King Ahab and all his people did. You have copied their wicked ideas. So I must destroy you and all your things completely. Then people from other countries will not be kind or polite to you. Instead, they will make you ashamed.’

Commentaries on 2 Kings 17:8

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Idolatry was worse in the Israelites than in other nations, since it argued not merely folly and a gross carnal spirit, but also black ingratitude Exodus 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. Under the former head would come the great mass of the idolatrous usages described in 2 Kings…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-23Verses 7-23 Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes was but briefly related, it is in these verses largely commented upon, and the reasons of it given. It was destruction from the Almighty: the Assyrian was but the rod of his anger, Is 10:5. Those that bring sin into a country or family, bring a plague into it, and will have to answer for all the mischief that follows. And vast as the outward wickedness of the world is, the secret sins…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-13Israel committed many sins, including pagan rituals and practices. Whether done openly or in secret, God knew about them all. Israel's kings often started these practices by building pagan shrines, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles. They copied pagan sacrifices and idol worship (2 Kings 10:29; 15:18, 28; 1 Kings 12:28–33; 15:34; 16:30–33). People from all parts of Israelite society, both royalty and commoners, continued these sins. They ignored warnings…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 17:8

• Assyria
• Babylon
• Judgments
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• Assyria
• Captivity
• Fear
• Hoshea
• Kings, Books of
• Samaria, Country of

Commentaries on 2 Kings 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings