Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author of Kings records the religious conduct of the northern kingdom during the decades preceding the Assyrian conquest. The narrative addresses the historical moment when Israel’s leadership and populace adopted foreign and royal religious patterns.
The words — The verse foregrounds וַ/יֵּֽלְכוּ֙ (va/i.ye.le.Khu) = “and they had walked” and בְּ/חֻקּ֣וֹת (be./chu.Kot) = “in the customs of.” These terms denote the active adoption of established foreign and royal religious routines.
The thread — The prohibition against adopting surrounding religious patterns appears in Leviticus 18:3 and Deuteronomy 18:9, which forbid imitating the practices of the nations. The same charge regarding royal precedent surfaces in 2 Kings 16:3.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to distinguish covenant obedience from cultural or political conformity. It demands that religious practice be measured against divine instruction rather than societal or royal norms.
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
And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 18:3 You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.
- Deuteronomy 18:9 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
- 2 Kings 16:3 Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- Leviticus 18:27 For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.
- Deuteronomy 12:30 be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
- 1 Kings 12:28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
- 1 Kings 16:31 And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal.
- 1 Kings 21:26 He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols, just like the Amorites whom the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.)
- 2 Kings 16:10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.
- 2 Kings 17:19 and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.