2 Kings 17:10 describes the people of Israel setting up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on hilltops and under leafy trees, which were worship sites tied to pagan gods. The verse is part of the narrator’s explanation for why the northern kingdom fell to Assyria, so it reads as a record of cause and consequence rather than a command for readers today. The narrator of 2 Kings is the one speaking, and the people in view are the Israelites of the northern kingdom.
And they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill, and under every green tree…
2 Kings 17:10 (WEB)
What 2 Kings 17:10 Means
The verse names two kinds of objects. The pillars were upright stones, often linked to worship of male deities, and the Asherah poles were wooden objects connected with Asherah, a goddess the Canaanites honored. Both were set up openly on high places, the hilltop shrines where people believed the gods could be approached, and beneath trees, which were common sites for worship in the region.
The phrase “every high hill” and “every green tree” is meant to sound thorough. The writer is saying the practice was not limited to one shrine or one town but had spread across the land. It does not claim that every single Israelite was involved, only that the pattern had become widespread enough to define the nation’s religious life.
What the verse does not do is give a direct lesson about these objects in isolation. Its purpose is to show a turning away from the LORD, the God who had brought Israel out of Egypt. Reading it well means seeing it as evidence in a larger argument about faithfulness and its absence.
The Context of 2 Kings 17:10
Second Kings was composed as a continuation of the story begun in 1 Kings, covering the period from the divided monarchy through the exile of both kingdoms. Chapter 17 recounts the fall of Samaria, the capital of Israel, to Assyria around 722 BC. Verses 7 through 12 stop to explain why this happened, and the explanation is strikingly direct: Israel had sinned against the LORD, had feared other gods, and had followed the customs of the nations God had driven out before them.
Verse 10 sits in the middle of a list of failures. Just before it, the people are said to have built high places in all their cities, and just after it they are said to have burned incense at those places and served idols that God had forbidden. The verses that follow in verse 13 show that God did not abandon them without warning, since he sent prophets calling them to turn back. Seen this way, verse 10 is not an isolated detail about religious décor but one stage in a long history of ignored correction.
Key Phrases in 2 Kings 17:10
Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other gods before me.
(WEB)
This commandment states the principle that Israel violated in 2 Kings 17. The verse 2 Kings 17:10 describes the practical outworking of a people who had set aside the first command, which is why the two passages belong together.
Jeremiah 7:13
Now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer…
(WEB)
Jeremiah speaks to Judah with the same urgency that the prophets brought to Israel, reminding the people that God had repeatedly called them back. Reading it alongside 2 Kings 17:10 shows how the warnings of the prophets came to be ignored and why the judgment followed.
A Short Prayer From 2 Kings 17:10
Lord, you have shown me in this story how easily a heart can drift toward things that cannot save it. I ask you to search my habits and show me where my loyalty has settled somewhere other than with you. Give me the humility to hear your correction and the courage to turn back when I see it. Keep my worship focused on you alone, in every place and every season of my life. Amen.
