2 Kings 17:25

25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people.

2 Kings 17:25 in Other Translations

25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

25 But since these foreign settlers did not worship the LORD when they first arrived, the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

25 When the Assyrians first moved in, God was just another god to them; they neither honored nor worshiped him. Then God sent lions among them and people were mauled and killed.

25 And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not Jehovah: therefore Jehovah sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

25 When they first came to live there, they didn't worship the LORD. So the LORD sent lions to kill some of them.

25 When they first lived there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

25 When they first lived there, they didn't worship the Lord. So he sent lions among them. And the lions killed some of the people.

2 Kings 17:25 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:25

And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that
they feared not the Lord
Did not serve him in any manner, but their idols only, which they brought with them; whereas it was usual with Heathens to serve the gods of the country, as they reputed them, where they came, along with their own; but even this those men did not do:

therefore the Lord sent lions among them;
even into their cities, into which lions sometimes came ^F12, especially when old, out of the thickets of Jordan and other places where they haunted, see ( Jeremiah 49:19 )

which slew some of them;
this the Lord did to assert his sovereignty, authority, and mighty power, and to let them know that he could as easily clear the land of them, as they, by his permission, had cleared the land of the Israelites, Josephus ^F13 calls this a plague that was sent among them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 44. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 16.
F13 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 1.)

2 Kings 17:25 In-Context

23 until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.

24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.

25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people.

26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”

27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.”

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 37:20; Isaiah 5:29; Isaiah 15:9; Jeremiah 50:17