This verse shows how exiled territory became filled with foreign worship, reinforcing that the people did not turn to the true God but continued the cycle of pagan worship.
Then the writer describes the actions of the foreign settlers in Israel, saying, And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima. (v.30) This verse takes place in the historical context following the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, when the Assyrian Empire deported most of Israel’s inhabitants and replaced them with people from other conquered territories. The reference to Babylon locates these settlers in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), where a host of pagan deities and cultic practices flourished. The men from Babylon brought in the worship of “Succoth-benoth,” likely a local Babylonian goddess, and continued their idolatrous practices in the land once occupied by God’s covenant people.
Scripture then points to the men of Cuth, who introduced the worship of the pagan deity Nergal. Cuth is considered to be associated with the ancient city of Cuthah in southeastern Mesopotamia, also in the region around Babylon. Nergal, in Mesopotamian mythology, was a god of war or plague—an example of the kind of foreign devotion these people brought with them, filling the spiritual vacuum left by the northern Israelites’ exile.
Lastly, there were the men from Hamath (located in central Syria along the Orontes River) who brought with them “Ashima,” another idol or deity worshiped in their homeland. By emphasizing these foreign gods, this verse reveals how the relocated settlers intermixed idol worship with local customs, contributing further to the religious identity crisis in what was once the northern kingdom. Their syncretistic practices stood in stark contrast to a faithful worship of the LORD under the Mosaic covenant.
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2 Kings 17:30 meaning
Then the writer describes the actions of the foreign settlers in Israel, saying, And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima. (v.30) This verse takes place in the historical context following the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, when the Assyrian Empire deported most of Israel’s inhabitants and replaced them with people from other conquered territories. The reference to Babylon locates these settlers in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), where a host of pagan deities and cultic practices flourished. The men from Babylon brought in the worship of “Succoth-benoth,” likely a local Babylonian goddess, and continued their idolatrous practices in the land once occupied by God’s covenant people.
Scripture then points to the men of Cuth, who introduced the worship of the pagan deity Nergal. Cuth is considered to be associated with the ancient city of Cuthah in southeastern Mesopotamia, also in the region around Babylon. Nergal, in Mesopotamian mythology, was a god of war or plague—an example of the kind of foreign devotion these people brought with them, filling the spiritual vacuum left by the northern Israelites’ exile.
Lastly, there were the men from Hamath (located in central Syria along the Orontes River) who brought with them “Ashima,” another idol or deity worshiped in their homeland. By emphasizing these foreign gods, this verse reveals how the relocated settlers intermixed idol worship with local customs, contributing further to the religious identity crisis in what was once the northern kingdom. Their syncretistic practices stood in stark contrast to a faithful worship of the LORD under the Mosaic covenant.