The Meaning of 2 Kings 17:33 Explained

2 Kings 17:33

KJV: They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

YLT: Jehovah they are fearing, and their gods they are serving, according to the custom of the nations whence they removed them.

Darby: They feared Jehovah, and served their own gods after the manner of the nations, whence they had been carried away.

ASV: They feared Jehovah, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They feared  the LORD,  and served  their own gods,  after the manner  of the nations  whom they carried away  from thence. 

What does 2 Kings 17:33 Mean?

Study Notes

feared
.
fear of the Lord
The "fear of the Lord," a phrase of the O.T. piety, meaning reverential trust, with hatred of evil.

Context Summary

2 Kings 17:27-41 - They Feared The Lord And Served Their Own Gods
The policy of peopling Israel with other races was intended to keep the land under cultivation, and to break the ties of fatherland, which are the spring of patriotism. Men will not fight for a land which does not pull at their heart-strings. These newly-imported peoples believed that each country was under the care of its own local deity. They therefore deemed it advisable, that, without renouncing their own gods, they should give the God of Israel some sort of recognition. Samaritan religion of this kind is still very popular. Too many people feel that they ought to do something to show their respect for God. They attend to the outward forms of worship, lest they should lose caste; but in their hearts they enthrone worldly and worthless ideals.
The Jews, as we learn from John 4:9, hated the Samaritans, as a kind of mongrel race. But how generous was the Savior, ministering to the woman of Sychar, healing the Samaritan leper, and making one of this despised people the central figure in his parable of mercy, thus compelling the world to speak of the good Samaritan! [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Kings 17

1  Hoshea the Last King of Israel
3  Being subdued by Shalmaneser, he conspires against him with So, king of Egypt
5  Samaria for sinning is led into captivity
24  The strange nations transplanted into Samaria make a mixture of religions

What do the individual words in 2 Kings 17:33 mean?

- Yahweh served they feared and yet their own gods become served according to the rituals of the nations whom they were carried away - from among
אֶת־ יְהוָ֖ה הָי֣וּ יְרֵאִ֑ים וְאֶת־ אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶם֙ הָי֣וּ עֹֽבְדִ֔ים כְּמִשְׁפַּט֙ הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־ הִגְל֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם מִשָּֽׁם

אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
הָי֣וּ  served 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
יְרֵאִ֑ים  they  feared 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: יָרֵא 
Sense: to fear, revere, be afraid.
וְאֶת־  and  yet 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶם֙  their  own  gods 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
הָי֣וּ  become 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
עֹֽבְדִ֔ים  served 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: עָבַד  
Sense: to work, serve.
כְּמִשְׁפַּט֙  according  to  the  rituals 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
הַגּוֹיִ֔ם  of  the  nations 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
אֲשֶׁר־  whom 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
הִגְל֥וּ  they  were  carried  away 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
אֹתָ֖ם  - 
Parse: Direct object marker, third person masculine plural
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
מִשָּֽׁם  from  among 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: שָׁם  
Sense: there, thither.