God’s Word Translation
2 Kings 17:25
25When they first came to live there, they didn’t worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions to kill some of them.
2 Kings 17:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
- New International Version (NIV)When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
Context of 2 Kings 17:25
23Finally, the Lord turned away from Israel as he had said he would through all his servants, the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their land to Assyria as captives, and they are still there today. 24The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its cities. When they first came to live there, they didn’t worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions to kill some of them. 26Then someone said to the king of Assyria, “The people you took as captives and settled in the cities of Samaria don’t know the customs of the god of that country, so he sent lions. Now the lions are killing them because they don’t know the customs of the god of this country.” 27The king of Assyria gave this command: “Bring one of the priests you captured from there. Let him go back to teach them the customs of the god of that country.”
Read all of 2 Kings 172 Kings 17:25 word by word
וַיְהִ֗י בִּתְחִלַּת֙ שִׁבְתָּ֣ם שָׁ֔ם לֹ֥א יָרְא֖וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֑ה וַיְשַׁלַּ֨ח יְהוָ֤ה בָּהֶם֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲרָי֔וֹת וַיִּֽהְי֥וּ הֹרְגִ֖ים בָּהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 2 Kings 17:25
- 2 Kings 17:28So one of the priests who had been taken prisoner from Samaria went to live in Bethel. He taught them how to worship the Lord.
- Joshua 22:25The Lord has made the Jordan River a dividing line between us and you, the descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no connection with the Lord!’ So your descendants would stop our descendants from worshiping the Lord.
- Jeremiah 10:7Everyone fears you, O King of the Nations. This is what you deserve. No one is like you among all the wise people in the nations or in all their kingdoms.
- Daniel 6:26I decree that in every part of my kingdom people should tremble with terror in front of Daniel’s God, the living God who continues forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed. His power lasts to the end ⌞of time⌟.
- Jonah 1:9Jonah answered them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven. He is the God who made the sea and the land.”
- 2 Kings 2:24Looking back, he saw them and cursed them in the Lord’s name. Two bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of these youths apart.
- 1 Kings 13:24The man of God left. A lion found him ⌞as he traveled⌟ on the road and killed him. His dead body was thrown on the road. The donkey and the lion were standing by the body.
- 1 Kings 20:36The disciple said, “Since you didn’t obey the Lord, a lion will kill you when you leave me.” When the friend left, a lion found him and killed him.
- Jeremiah 5:6That is why a lion from the forest will attack them. A wolf from the wilderness will destroy them. A leopard will lie in ambush outside their cities. All who leave the cities will be torn to pieces, because they rebel so often and they become more and more unfaithful.
- Jeremiah 15:3“I will devise four ways to punish them,” declares the Lord. “I will send swords to kill, dogs to drag away, and birds and animals to devour and destroy.
- Ezekiel 14:15“Suppose I send wild animals through that country and they make it childless and turn it into such a wasteland that no one travels through it because of the animals.
Commentaries on 2 Kings 17:25
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25The Lord sent lions among them - The land being deprived of its inhabitants, wild beasts would necessarily increase, even without any supernatural intervention; and this the superstitious new comers supposed to be a plague sent upon them, because they did not know how to worship him who was the God of the land; for they thought, like other heathens that every district had its own tutelary deity. Yet it is likely that God did send lions as a scourge on…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25The depopulation of the country, insufficiently remedied by the influx of foreigners, had the natural consequence of multiplying the wild beasts and making them bolder. Probably a certain number had always lurked in the jungle along the course of the Jordan Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44; and these now ventured into the hill country, and perhaps even into the cities. The colonists regarded their sufferings from the lions as a judgment upon them from “the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-41Verses 24-41 The terror of the Almighty will sometimes produce a forced or feigned submission in unconverted men; like those brought from different countries to inhabit Israel. But such will form unworthy thoughts of God, will expect to please him by outward forms, and will vainly try to reconcile his service with the love of the world and the indulgence of their lusts. May that fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, possess our hearts, and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 24-41The writer adds information about later events in Israel, like foreigners moving into the land and the mixed population's blended religious practices.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 24-2824-28. the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, etc.--This was not Shalmaneser, but Esar-haddon (Eze 4:2). The places vacated by the captive Israelites he ordered to be occupied by several colonies of his own subjects from Babylon and other provinces. from Cuthah--the Chaldee form of Cush or Susiana, now Khusistan. Ava--supposed to be Ahivaz, situated on the river Karuns, which empties into the head of the Persian Gulf. Hamath--on the Orontes…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 17:25
In the dictionaries
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
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