And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
What does 2 Kings 17:30 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 17:29-33 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on 2 Kings 17:30
She and her husband were, next to Bel and Beltis, the favorite divinities of the Babylonians. Nergal, etymologically "the great man," or "the great hero," was the Babylonian god of war and hunting. His name forms an element in the Babylonian royal appellation, Nergal-shar-ezar or Neriglissar. The Assyrian inscriptions connect Nergal in a very special way with Cutha, of which he was evidently the tutelary deity. Ashima is ingeniously conjectured to be the same as Esmun, the AEsculapius of the Cabiri or "great gods" of the Phoenicians.
Key words
- tabernacles
-
tabernacles.
- tabernacles
-
tabernacles.
Context in 2 Kings 17
Show chapter context
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.
Related topics
Explore by topic
A collection of passages on hope under pressure, future inheritance, resurrection expectation, and confidence in God’s final faithfulness.
Bible verses about anxiety and fear
Verses for readers searching for biblical language about fear, worry, troubled thoughts, and the call to trust God under pressure.
Bible verses about justice and mercy
Key texts on public righteousness, neighbor-love, social ethics, compassion, and the prophetic refusal to separate worship from justice.
Passages on the nature of truth, honesty, deception, the word of God as truth, and Jesus' claim to be the truth.