And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
What does 2 Kings 17:20 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 17:19-23 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on 2 Kings 17:20
All the seed of lsrael - The Jews, i. e. as well as the Israelites. God's dealings with both kingdoms were alike. "Spoilers" were sent against each, time after time, before the final ruin came on them - against Israel, Pul and Tiglath-pileser 2 Kings 15:19 , 2 Kings 15:29 ; 1 Chronicles 5:26 ; against Judah, Sennacherib 2 Kings 18:13-16 , Esar-haddon 2 Chronicles 33:11 , and Nebuchadnezzar thrice.
Key words
- rejected
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And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel,.
- Israel
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And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel,.
- delivered
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and delivered them into the hands of spoilers; as, first, into the hands of Hazael and Benhadad, kings of Syria, and then of Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, 2 Kings 13:3 , until he had cast them out of his sight; by suffering them, as now, to be carried captive by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:6 .
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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