2 Kings 17:27-29

17:27 So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you ¹  deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” ²  17:28 So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. ³  He taught them how to worship ⁴  the Lord.

17:29 But each of these nations made ⁵  its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria ⁶  had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived.

2 Kings 17:41

17:41 These nations are worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons do just as their fathers have done, to this very day.

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¹ tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.

² tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.

³ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁴ tn Heb “fear.”

⁵ sn The verb “make” refers to the production of idols. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 210-11.

⁶ tn Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.