“And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Kings 17:17 Mean?
2 Kings 17:17 is the summary indictment explaining why God allowed the Northern Kingdom to be conquered and deported by Assyria. The verse catalogs the worst of Israel's sins in a single devastating sentence: child sacrifice, divination, enchantments, and the ultimate verdict — "sold themselves to do evil."
"Caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire" — this is Molech worship, the practice of child sacrifice by fire in the Valley of Hinnom. The Hebrew he'eviru means to cause to cross over, to make pass through — a sanitized term for an unspeakable act. The inclusion of "daughters" alongside "sons" indicates the practice was comprehensive. "Used divination and enchantments" (qesem and nachash) — Israel had replaced the God who speaks with occult systems that whisper. They traded the prophetic word for the fortune teller's booth.
The phrase "sold themselves" (hithmakerhu) is marketplace language — they put themselves on the auction block, they traded their own identity for the price of doing evil. The Hebrew makar means to sell, the same word used for selling a person into slavery. Israel didn't drift into evil. They sold themselves into it — voluntarily, actively, transactionally. They traded their freedom as God's people for slavery to practices that consumed their own children. The exile that follows isn't arbitrary punishment. It's the natural endpoint of a people who sold themselves into bondage — they ended up in literal captivity because they'd already chosen spiritual captivity.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Israel 'sold themselves' — active, voluntary, transactional. Where in your life are you voluntarily trading something valuable for something destructive, even if the trade seems small?
- 2.The progression went from syncretism to child sacrifice. What 'small compromise' in your life could you trace forward to a much darker destination if left unchecked?
- 3.The exile was the physical reality catching up to the spiritual one. Where are external consequences in your life reflecting internal choices you haven't addressed?
- 4.They replaced the prophetic word with divination. What have you substituted for genuinely hearing from God — algorithms, self-help, horoscopes, other people's opinions?
Devotional
They sold themselves. That's the phrase that should make you stop. Not "fell into" or "were deceived by" or "gradually drifted toward." Sold. The marketplace word. The slavery word. Israel put themselves on the block and traded their identity as God's people for the right to sacrifice their children and consult spirits. Nobody forced this. They chose it, actively, transactionally, with full awareness of the price.
The progression is worth tracing: they started by worshipping other gods alongside Yahweh. Then they replaced Yahweh with other gods entirely. Then they started sacrificing their children to those gods. Then they sold themselves — surrendered their entire identity — to evil. The slope didn't feel steep while they were on it. Each step felt like a small adjustment. But the distance between "adding a little Baal worship" and "burning your children alive" is measured in compromises, not miles. Each one made the next one conceivable.
The exile — Assyria conquering the Northern Kingdom and scattering its people across the empire — wasn't God overreacting. It was the physical manifestation of what had already happened spiritually. They'd already sold themselves into bondage. They'd already surrendered their identity. They'd already passed their future through the fire. The Assyrian deportation was the external reality catching up to the internal reality. When you sell yourself to something, you eventually end up owned by it. Israel discovered that the gods they chose weren't content with incense. They wanted the children. And then they wanted everything.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire,.... To Baal or Moloch, which were the same, and…
Sold themselves to do evil - Abandoned themselves to the will of the devil, to work all iniquity with greediness.
Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes was but briefly related, it is in these verses largely commented…
to pass through the fire Of the character of this Moloch-worship, see above 2Ki 16:3, note.
used divination and…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture