2 Kings 17:16

2 Kings 17:16 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

Context of 2 Kings 17:16

14Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in Yhwh their God. 15And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom Yhwh had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of Yhwh their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Yhwh, to provoke him to anger. 18Therefore Yhwh was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

2 Kings 17:16 word by word

וַיַּעַזְב֗וּ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֔ם וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֛ם מַסֵּכָ֖ה שְׁנֵ֣י עֲגָלִ֑ים וַיַּעֲשׂ֣וּ אֲשֵׁירָ֗ה וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲווּ֙ לְכָל־צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיַּעַבְד֖וּ אֶת־הַבָּֽעַל׃Read the interlinear

• And they leftעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• all the commandmentsמִצְוָהmitsvâh · commandmentH4687
• of Yhwhיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• them molten imagesמַסֵּכָהmassêkâh · molten metalH4541
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• calvesעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
• a groveאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
• and worshippedשָׁחָהshâchâh · to bowH7812
• all the hostצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · armyH6635
• of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• and servedעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
• Baalבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168

Cross-references for 2 Kings 17:16

• Exodus 32:4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
• 1 Kings 12:28Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
• Psalms 106:18And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
• Isaiah 44:9They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
• 2 Kings 17:20And Yhwh rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
• 1 Kings 14:15For Yhwh shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking Yhwh to anger.
• 1 Kings 15:13And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
• 1 Kings 16:33And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke Yhwh God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
• Deuteronomy 4:19And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which Yhwh thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
• Jeremiah 8:2And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
• 2 Kings 10:18And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.
• 2 Kings 11:18And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of Yhwh.
• 1 Kings 16:31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
• 1 Kings 22:53For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger Yhwh God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 17:16

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16In 2 Kings 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 Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:3, so that it no doubt…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. 16-17all the commandments of the LORD: The narrator lists specific examples of Israel's disobedience. These include: the two metal calves set up at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:28–30), the Canaanite fertility symbol called an Asherah pole (2 Kings 13:6; 17:10; 1 Kings 14:23; 16:33; Micah 5:14), the ongoing worship of Baal (1 Kings 16:31–33; Hosea 2:13; 13:1), and the detestable Molech rituals (2 Kings 16:3; Psalm 106:37).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 17:16

• Assyria
• Baal
• Babylon
• Groves
• Idolatry
• Judgments
• Rulers
• Stars

In the dictionaries

• Baal
• God
• Host of heaven
• Stars
• Adoration
• Assyria
• Astrology
• Calf, Golden
• Captivity
• Fear

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