2 Kings 16:3

16:3 He followed in the footsteps of ¹  the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, ²  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ³  whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.

2 Kings 17:17

17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, ⁴  and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry. ⁵ 

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¹ tn Heb “he walked in the way of.”

² sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.

³ tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”

⁴ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

⁵ tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”