2 Kings 17:17 - Exposition

And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. (On this phrase, see the comment upon 2 Kings 16:3 .) The sin of child-murder had not Been previously laid to the charge of Israel; but, as it had infected Judah ( 2 Kings 16:3 ), there is no reason why it should not have invaded also the sister kingdom. Perhaps it is alluded to by Hosea 4:2 ; Hosea 5:2 ; and Hosea 6:8 . It was an old sin of the Canaanitish nations (Le 18:21, etc.), and continued to be practiced by the Moabites ( 2 Kings 3:27 ; Amos 2:1 ) and Ammonites, neighbors of Israel. And used divination and enchantments. The "witchcrafts" of Jezebel have been already mentioned ( 2 Kings 9:22 ). Magical practices always accompanied idolatry, and were of many kinds. Sometimes divination was by means of staves or rods (rhabdomancy), which were manipulated in various ways. Sometimes it was by arrows ( Ezekiel 21:21 ). Very often, especially in Greece and Rome, it was by inspecting the entrails of victims. Where faith in God wanes, a trust in magical practices, astrology, chiromancy, "sertes Virgilianae," horoscopes, spirit-rapping, and the like, almost always supervenes. And sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. (On the expression, "sold themselves to do evil," see the comment upon 1 Kings 21:20 .)