What Does 2 Kings 17:41 Mean in the King James?
So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
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
Awe of the LORD does not stop a life from serving rival images, and divided service can become a family inheritance.
THE MEANING
Your awe of the LORD can stand beside service to what human hands have fashioned; reverence and allegiance are distinct. What one generation serves can become the pattern its children and grandchildren inherit.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that reverence by itself proves undivided devotion: awe of the LORD can coexist with service to rival images.
THE ROOT
עֹבְדִים
ʿovdim
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
To work, serve, or labor.
“served” in this verse is ʿovdim. The same root names both serving and the servant who serves. Here, service means ongoing labor, exposing the gap between the LORD who receives their awe and the images that receive their work.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: Servant
עֶבֶד
The servant is named by the same root as service, tying the act to an ongoing relation rather than a passing gesture.
ʿavodah: Work, service
עֲבֹדָה
The same seed names work and service, drawing attention to where repeated labor is given.
יְרֵאִים
yere'im
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“feared” in this verse is yere'im. Here, yare names awe toward the LORD. That awe remains present even as service goes elsewhere, exposing a split between reverence and allegiance.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Awe, reverence
יִרְאָה
This noun from the same root names the reverent stance directed toward the LORD in the verse.
nora': Awesome, fearsome
נוֹרָא
This form describes what evokes awe, echoing the reverence the nations show the LORD.
THE PATTERN
Reverence and service can split, and what receives a person’s service reveals divided allegiance.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.THE THREAD
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.The same Hebrew roots, ירא (yare, awe) and עבד (avad, serve), appear together here, with both actions directed toward the LORD. That pairing makes the split in 2 Kings visible: awe is named toward the LORD while service is given to images.
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