2 Kings 17:40

But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records God’s warning to the resettled foreign nations and the remaining Israelites regarding their refusal to abandon idolatry after receiving direct instruction. This statement follows Yahweh’s conditional promise in verse 39 and precedes the historical confirmation of their continued syncretism in verse 41.

The words — The Hebrew verb שָמְעוּ (shāma‘û) translates literally as “they listened,” paired with עֹשִׂים (‘ōśîm) “they were doing” to mark sustained action. The negation וְלֹא (wəlō) “they did not” directly precedes the listening verb, establishing a deliberate refusal to process the preceding command.

The thread — This structural pattern of hearing a warning yet persisting in ancestral rites appears in 2 Kings 17:8 and 17:12, where Israel’s adoption of Gentile customs explicitly violates Yahweh’s prohibition. The same trajectory of ignoring divine instruction while serving man-made objects is forecast in Deuteronomy 4:28.

Why it lands — The text requires a reader to acknowledge that spiritual failure is documented not in isolated mistakes but in the conscious decision to maintain rejected practices. It demands an unflinching assessment of how repeated refusal to heed warning solidifies into irreversible habit.

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

וְלֹ֖אve./Lo'and/ not שָׁמֵ֑עוּsha.Me.'uthey listened כִּ֛יkithat אִֽם־'im-except כְּמִשְׁפָּטָ֥םke./mish.pa.Ta/maccording to/ custom/ their הָֽרִאשׁ֖וֹןha./ri.Shon<the>/ former הֵ֥םhemthey עֹשִֽׂים׃'o.Sim[were] doing

King James Version

Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 4:28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
2 Kings 17:8 and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
2 Kings 17:12 They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.”
2 Kings 17:34 To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.