2 Kings 17:32

2Ki 17:32 So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

Ver. 32. So they feared the Lord.] They did, and they did not; {2Ki 17:34} they feared him for his lions, as the old Romans served their Veioves, that they might not hurt them, and their gods Rubigus, Orbona, Febris, &c., for the same reason. {a} So the poor Indians do at this day worship the devil, that he may not whip them.

{a} Rosin., Ant., ii. 21.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 17:32. So they feared the Lord — Worshipped him externally in that way which the Israelites had used: having and serving gods of their own besides. And made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests, &c. — See note on 1Ki 12:31. Which sacrificed in the high places — Unto the true God; for as to the worship of their own gods, they needed no instruction, and would not permit a person of another religion to minister therein.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17:32-34 worshiped the Lord, but . . . continued to follow their own gods: Hebrew faith, already blended with the religion of Jeroboam I, was now mixed with many different foreign religious customs. Genuine worship of the Lord virtually disappeared. Only a handful of faithful Israelites remained to respond to Hezekiah’s later invitation to come to Judah for the Passover celebration (2 Chr 30:10-19).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 32. Of the lowest of them priests] One priest was not enough for this motley population; and, as the priesthood was probably neither respectable nor lucrative, it was only the lowest of the people who would enter into the employment.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(32) They feared.—They were fearing. (See Note on 2Ki_17:25; 2Ki_17:28, supra.)

Of the lowest of them.—Rather, of all orders, or promiscuously. (Comp. 1Ki_12:31.) This is another indication that it was Jeroboam’s mode of worship which was now restored.

Which sacrificed.—Heb., and they used to do. The verb do is used in the sense of sacra facere, just like the Greek - ποιεῗν ἔρδειν ρέζειν.

Priests of the high places.—Rather, bâmâh-priests (omit the). Bamah-priests are opposed to the priests of Jehovah’s Temple.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. So they feared the Lord] i.e. In the way in which their ideas of the worship of the local divinity demanded. This they did, says Bp Hall, ‘not for devotion, but for impunity. Vain politicians to think to satisfy God by patching up religions … What a prodigious mixture was here, true with false, Jewish with paganish, divine with devilish … No beggar’s cloak is more pieced than the religion of these new inhabitants of Israel. I know not how their bodies sped for the lions. I am sure their souls fared the worse for this medley. Above all things God hates a mongrel devotion. If we be not all Israel, it were better to be all Asshur. It cannot so much displease God to be unknown or neglected as to be consorted with idols’.

and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests] R.V. and made unto them from among themselves priests. See note on 1Ki_12:31. The word represented by ‘lowest’ means an ‘end’ or ‘extremity’, but the idea of the phrase is that the choice of these priests was made anywhere, from the whole mass of the nation, from all that was comprised in it between one extremity and the other. This was distinctly contrary to what the Jews had been taught, that the priests were to come exclusively from one tribe, and the high priests from a special family.

houses of the high places] Hence it seems that not an altar only, bat a temple of some kind was erected on the high places.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They feared the Lord, and served their own gods,.... Worshipped both:

after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence; the Israelites, whom they had carried captive from Samaria; they worshipped the Lord in their idols, as they did, who pretended to worship God in the calves; so they worshipped the supreme God in and by their idols, and made use of them as mediators with him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Of the lowest of them - Rather, “from all ranks.” See marginal reference note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Worshipped, or appeared to worship: for true religion admits of no false god. (Worthington) --- Lowest. This expression sometimes means the most noble. (Haydock) --- But the priests were chosen from the midst of the people, without examination. They employed the priest, whom the king had sent for the worship of the true God, whilst others were appointed to serve the idols. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Of the lowest of them priests of the high places: See Poole "1Ki 12:31".

Which sacrificed for them, to wit, unto the true God; for as to the worship of their own gods, they needed no instruction, and would not permit a person of another religion to minister therein.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

32. The lowest of them priests — As Jeroboam had done. See note on 1Ki_12:31. This fact further argues (compare note on 2Ki_17:28) that the priest who taught these nations the fear of Jehovah was one of Jeroboam’s order.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So they feared the Lord rather, and they (also) honored Jehovah; i.e. with their idolatrous worship they combined also the worship of Jehovah (comp. ver. 28)and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places i.e. , followed the example of Jeroboam in taking for priests persons of all ranks, even the lowest (see the comment on 1Ki_12:31) which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places (comp. ver. 29).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sacrificed - Unto the true God: for as to the worship of their own gods, they needed no instruction, and would not permit a person of another religion to minister therein.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They

This refers to the pagan people that the king of Assyria moved into the cities of Samaria.

translationWords

honor

Yahweh

appoint

high place

sacrifice

temple

nation

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.