What Does 2 Kings 17:11 Mean in the King James?
And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A rising offering does not turn destructive practice into devotion: this verse sets incense beside wicked acts and the anger they provoke.
THE MEANING
The verse names a live contradiction: incense rises at the high places, while the people echo the pattern of those the LORD has carried away and do what provokes him to anger. It holds ritual and harmful conduct in the same frame, without softening either.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Religious ritual does not make harmful conduct harmless or aligned with God.
THE ROOT
וַיַּקְטִרוּ
wayyaqṭîrû
GROWS FROM
קטר
To send up smoke, especially by burning an offering.
“burnt incense” in this verse is wayyaqṭîrû. The root names both the act of burning incense and the smoke that rises from it. Here that visible ritual stands beside deeds that provoke the LORD’s anger, showing that the rising smoke alone does not describe the whole life.
ALSO GROWS
qetoret: Incense
קְטֹרֶת
The noun for incense shares the root of the verb here, joining the ritual substance to the act of sending it up.
qitor: Smoke
קִיטֹר
This branch names the smoke itself, the visible trace of what the incense-burning produces.
לְהַכְעִיס
lehak'is
GROWS FROM
כעס
To be vexed or angry; in the causative form, to provoke anger.
“to provoke to anger” in this verse is lehak'is. The form here is causative: the deeds actively provoke the anger named in the clause. The root keeps the act and the anger in one word-family, presenting the offense as a rupture in relationship rather than a vague reaction.
ALSO GROWS
ka'as: Anger, vexation
כַּעַס
This noun names the anger that the verb in the verse causes.
hik'is: He caused anger; he provoked
הִכְעִיס
This causative form makes explicit the action carried by the verse’s infinitive.
THE PATTERN
Outward reverence does not erase the contradiction of actions that provoke God.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.THE THREAD
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.The verb translated “provoked me to anger” in both passages comes from כעס, binding the act and the anger in the same word-family. This echo shows the anger as part of the rupture caused by turning toward what opposes God.
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