Bible Strands
2 Kings 17:35
For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records God’s past command to the Israelites, issued at the moment of covenant establishment to forbid idolatry. This declaration appears within the historical summary of Israel’s continued failure to abandon foreign religious practices.
The words — The Hebrew verb כָּרַת (karat) translates literally as “to cut,” describing how God “cut” a covenant with them. The verb יָרֵא (yare) means “to fear,” functioning here as a direct command to revere only Yahweh.
The thread — This prohibition against fearing other gods echoes the warning in Judges 6:10 and the exclusive worship mandate in Exodus 20:4. It also reinforces the boundary against foreign treaties outlined in Exodus 34:12.
Why it lands — The text demands exclusive allegiance by forbidding worship, bowing, service, and sacrifice to any deity besides Yahweh. A reader must recognize that covenant loyalty requires rejecting all rival religious practices.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
Cross-references
- Judges 6:10 And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”
- Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Exodus 34:12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Deuteronomy 4:23 Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
- Joshua 23:7 So you are not to associate with these nations that remain among you. You must not call on the names of their gods or swear by them, and you must not serve them or bow down to them.
- Joshua 23:16 If you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”
- Exodus 24:6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splattered on the altar.
- Deuteronomy 13:1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
- 2 Kings 17:15 They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
- Jeremiah 10:5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”