Verse 7
7. For so it was, that Rather, and it came to pass when. Compare the use of ויהי כי , in Genesis 6:1; Genesis 26:8; Genesis 27:1; Genesis 44:24. From this verse on through 2 Kings 17:17 the historian gives the theocratic view of Israel’s downfall. The apodosis, giving the consequences of Israel’s sins, follows in 2 Kings 17:18-23. So momentous a catastrophe was the fall of the kingdom of Israel, that the historian pauses in the midst of his narrative to dwell at length upon its moral aspects.
Which had brought them up out of… Egypt “The deliverance from Egypt was really the selection of Israel to be God’s peculiar and covenant people. Exodus 19:4-6. It was not only the beginning, but also the symbol, of all Divine grace towards Israel, the pledge of its Divine guidance. It therefore stands at the head of the covenant, or organic law, (Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6,) and it is always cited as the chief and fundamental act of the Divine favour. Leviticus 11:45; Joshua 24:17; 1 Kings 8:51; Psalms 81:10; Jeremiah 2:6. Therefore this author also makes it the stand-point for his review and criticism of the history. He means to say thereby: “Although no people on earth had experienced such favour from Almighty God as Israel had, nevertheless it abandoned this God and served other gods.” Bahr.
Feared other gods See the fuller statement of 2 Kings 17:16.
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