Bible Strands
2 Kings 17:7
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator explains the cause of the Assyrian conquest of Samaria and the exile of Israel. This historical assessment directly follows the military events recorded in 2 Kings 17:6.
The words — חָטְא֤וּ (cha.te.'U) translates as "they had sinned," and הַ/מַּעֲלֶ֤ה (ha./ma.'a.Leh) means "who had brought up." These terms anchor the verse’s causal claim to Israel’s specific actions against Yahweh.
The thread — The pattern of covenant violation and subsequent judgment appears in Judges 2:14 and Joshua 23:16, while the Exodus deliverance motif echoes Exodus 20:2. The text explicitly links the current disaster to the foundational rescue event.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that historical catastrophe stems from deliberate covenant breach, not arbitrary divine whim. It requires the reader to trace present consequences directly to past disobedience.
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
For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
Cross-references
- 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 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Judges 2:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Psalms 106:35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
- 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.”
- Exodus 14:15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
- Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
- Deuteronomy 31:29 For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. And in the days to come, disaster will befall you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger by the work of your hands.”
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.