2 Kings 17:15

15 ¹They rejected His statutes and ²His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And ³they followed * vanity and ⁴became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the ⁵LORD had commanded them not to do like them.

2 Kings 17:15 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:15

And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made
with their fathers
At Sinai and Horeb, see ( Exodus 24:8 ) ( Deuteronomy 29:1 ) ,

and his testimonies which he testified against them;
calling heaven and earth to witness what he would do to them if they broke his laws, ( Deuteronomy 4:26 ) ( 30:19 ) ( 32:1 ) , and which were so many testifications of his mind and will what they should do, or otherwise what should be done to them; Ben Gersom also interprets this of the feasts of the passover and tabernacles, which were witnesses of Israel's coming out of Egypt, and of the sanctification and redemption of the firstborn, a testimony of the slaying the firstborn in Egypt:

and they followed vanity;
idols, which are vain things for help, can neither hear, see, speak

and became vain;
as sottish and stupid as the idols they worshipped; which is the usual fruit and effect of idolatry, see ( Romans 1:21-28 )

and went after the heathen that were round about them:
imitated them in their idolatrous practices, as the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites concerning

whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them;
of this charge see ( Deuteronomy 6:13 Deuteronomy 6:14 ) .

2 Kings 17:15 In-Context

13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets."

14 However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God.

15 They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the LORD had commanded them not to do like them.

16 They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.

17 Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD , provoking Him.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 8:9
• 2. Exodus 24:6-8; Deuteronomy 29:25
• 3. Deuteronomy 32:21
• 4. Jeremiah 2:5; Romans 1:21-23
• 5. Deuteronomy 12:30, 31