And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
What does 2 Kings 17:15 mean?
Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes was but briefly related, it is in these verses largely commented upon, and the reasons of it given.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside 2 Kings 17:14-18 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on 2 Kings 17:15
As idols are "vanity" and "nothingness," mere weakness and impotence, so idolators are "vain" and impotent. Their energies have been wasted, their time misspent; they have missed the real object of their existence; their whole life has been a mistake; and the result is utter powerlessness. Literally, the word rendered "vanity" seems to mean "breath" or "vapor" - a familiar image for nonentity. It occurs frequently in the prophets, and especially in Jeremiah (e. g. Jeremiah 2:5 ; Jeremiah 8:19 ; Jeremiah 14:22 , etc.).
Key words
- rejected
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And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers,.
- statutes
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And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers,.
- covenant
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And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers,.
Context in 2 Kings 17
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2 Kings 17 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as decline of Judah. Second Kings follows the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, recounts the decline of both kingdoms, and ends with Jerusalem’s fall and a faint glimmer of Davidic continuity. Read this chapter with the wider themes of prophetic witness, judgment, and exile in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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