And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
What does 2 Kings 17:25 mean?
The terror of the Almighty will sometimes produce a forced or feigned submission in unconverted men; like those brought from different countries to inhabit Israel.
Key themes
Read with
Keep this verse inside 2 Kings 17:24-28 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on 2 Kings 17:25
The depopulation of the country, insufficiently remedied by the influx of foreigners, had the natural consequence of multiplying the wild beasts and making them bolder. Probably a certain number had always lurked in the jungle along the course of the Jordan Jeremiah 49:19 ; Jeremiah 50:44 ; and these now ventured into the hill country, and perhaps even into the cities. The colonists regarded their sufferings from the lions as a judgment upon them from "the god of the land" ( 2 Kings 17:26 ; compare 1 Kings 20:23 note).
Key words
- beginning
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And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord,.
- dwelling
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And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord,.
- there
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And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord,.
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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