2 Kings 17:16-18

17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, ¹  and worshiped ²  Baal. 17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, ³  and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry. ⁴ 

17:18 So the Lord was furious ⁵  with Israel and rejected them; ⁶  only the tribe of Judah was left.

2 Kings 17:21-23

17:21 He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. ⁷  Jeroboam drove Israel away ⁸  from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin. ⁹  17:22 The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate ¹⁰  them. 17:23 Finally ¹¹  the Lord rejected Israel ¹²  just as he had warned he would do ¹³  through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.

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¹ tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

² tn Or “served.”

³ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

⁴ tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”

⁵ tn Heb “very angry.”

⁶ tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”

⁷ tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”

⁸ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is נָדָא (nada’), an alternate form of נָדָה (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb נָדָח (nadakh), “drive away.”

⁹ tn Heb “a great sin.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “turn away from.”

¹¹ tn Heb “until.”

¹² tn Heb “the Lord turned Israel away from his face.”

¹³ tn Heb “just as he said.”