However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals.
Parallel translations
- WEB However they did not listen, but they did what they did before.
- KJV Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
- BSB But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs.
- NASB However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom.
- NLT But the people would not listen and continued to follow their former practices.
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
Despite this gracious command, the people refused to listen and kept their old ways. The chapter closes on persistent, hardened idolatry.
Overview
The narrator concludes that the inhabitants did not heed the covenant call but continued in their former syncretistic practices. This stubborn refusal mirrors the unbelief that had brought Israel's exile. The closing verse leaves readers sobered by the human tendency to cling to idols, and longing for the new heart that only God's saving grace can give.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Kgs 17:12and they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
- 2 Kgs 17:34To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear Yahweh, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which Yahweh commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
- Deut 4:28There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- 2 Kgs 17:8and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.
- Jer 13:23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
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 17:40 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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