2 Kings 17:29 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 17:29 mean?

2 Kings 17:29 describes how each group of people living in the land of Samaria made their own gods and placed them in the shrines on the high places that the Samaritans had built, with each group doing this in the cities where they settled. The verse shows that after the original Israelites were taken away, the new inhabitants brought their own religious customs and idols into the land.

The setting is after the Assyrian conquest of Israel, when the Assyrians resettled people from various nations into Samaria. The verse is part of a larger explanation of why things went wrong in Israel: the newcomers continued the pattern of idol worship, filling the land with many different gods. The writer is describing the religious confusion and mixture that resulted from these events.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 17:29

• "nation" (גּוֹי, goy): This word refers to a people group or nation. Here, it emphasizes that every distinct group brought its own religious practices, not just one or two.
• "gods" (אֱלֹהִים, elohim): This word can mean "gods" in the plural, showing that each group made multiple idols, not just a single deity.
• "houses" (בַּיִת, bayit) and "places" (בָּמָה, bamah): These words refer to the physical shrines or temples ("houses") on the "high places," which were elevated sites used for worship. The verse highlights that these were pre-existing sites built by the Samaritans, now reused for new idols.

Why 2 Kings 17:29 matters

• The verse clarifies that the religious practices in Samaria after the exile were not a return to Israel’s original faith, but a mix of many foreign customs and idols.
• It shows how the Assyrian policy of resettling conquered peoples led to a patchwork of religions, which helps explain later tensions between Jews and Samaritans.
• The detail about each nation making its own gods in their own cities highlights the fragmentation and lack of unity in worship, contrasting with the biblical ideal of worshiping one God in one place.