What Does 2 Kings 17:25 Mean in the King James?

And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

2 Kings 17:25 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The absence of awe is not left as an inward attitude: the LORD sends lions into the place they inhabit, and some are killed.

THE MEANING

This verse confronts you now with a severe account of divine action: people dwell without awe of the LORD, and the LORD sends lions among them, killing some. The deaths are part of the sentence’s claim; its account of judgment is bodily and violent.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that divine judgment is always inward or symbolic: here, the verse says lions kill people.

THE ROOT

יָרְאוּ

yare'u

GROWS FROM

ירא

yare

To fear, revere, stand in awe.

When the LORD is the one feared, this root carries awe: not merely a passing feeling, but recognition of who the LORD is. The verse names the absence of that awe before naming the lions.

ALSO GROWS

yir'ah: Fear, reverence, awe.

יִרְאָה

This noun shows that the verb belongs to a wider language of awe, making the missing response more than simple alarm.

mora: Fear, dread, terror.

מוֹרָא

This branch holds the root’s fearful edge beside its reverent one, fitting a verse where the encounter becomes terrifying and lethal.

וַיְשַׁלַּח

vayeshalach

GROWS FROM

שלח

shalach

To send, send forth, release.

“sent” in this verse is vayeshalach. The verb carries the motion of sending forth or releasing into another’s space. Here that movement bears teeth: lions enter the settlement and kill.

ALSO GROWS

shilluach: Sending away, dismissal.

שִׁלּוּחַ

This branch makes the root’s sense of dispatch visible; in this verse, the LORD sends the lions into the community.

Shiloach: Shiloah, a watercourse whose name means “sent.”

שִׁלֹחַ

The sent waters associated with restoration of sight share this root; here, the thing sent is instead lethal, and the verse does not soften that difference.

THE PATTERN

Scripture portrays divine judgment as a concrete encounter that makes God’s power felt and fearsome.

I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

Exodus 23:27 · KJVGod’s terror is sent ahead as a force in the world, alongside the destruction of adversaries.

And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Acts 5:11 · KJVThe verse joins deadly judgment to fear spreading through a whole community and reaching those who hear.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:31 · KJVThe verse names an encounter with the living God as fearsome, matching the bodily danger this passage does not hide.

THE THREAD

I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

Exodus 23:27 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨שלח⁩ (shalach, send or release): one sends lions among the people, while the other sends fear ahead. The shared verb shows the force of divine sending; what enters the scene may be terror or lethal judgment.

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