So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria returned to Bethel and taught the new residents how to worship the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Yahweh.
- KJV Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
- BSB Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD.
- NKJV Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
- NASB So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the Lord.
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
A returned priest settles in Bethel and teaches the people how to fear the LORD. Yet his instruction came from a center of Jeroboam's calf worship.
Overview
One of the exiled priests comes to Bethel, ironically a chief site of Jeroboam's idolatry, to teach the settlers. The kind of 'fear of the LORD' taught there was likely already compromised by Israel's corrupted worship. This flawed instruction helps explain why the resulting religion blended reverence for the LORD with persistent idolatry.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- 1 Kgs 12:29–32He set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
- Isa 29:13The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;
- Matt 15:14Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
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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 17:28 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
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