for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
Parallel translations
- WEB and they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
- KJV For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
- BSB They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.”
- NASB They served idols, concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
- NLT Yes, they worshiped idols, despite the Lord’s specific and repeated warnings.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They served idols despite God's explicit command not to. Their sin was open defiance of a clear word from the LORD.
Overview
Israel worshiped idols that the LORD had directly forbidden, leaving them without excuse. Their disobedience was not ignorance but rebellion against a plainly revealed command. This direct violation of the first and second commandments lay at the heart of the covenant breach that brought judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lev 26:1“‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up an engraved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.
- Exod 20:3–5“You shall have no other gods before me.
- Deut 4:23–25Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.
- Deut 5:7–9“You shall have no other gods before me.
- Deut 4:15–19Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,
- Exod 34:14for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
- Deut 12:4You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 17:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.