2 Kings 17:38 - Exposition

And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget. The "covenant" intended is not the covenant of circumcision, which God made with Abraham ( Genesis 17:9-14 ), but the covenant of protection and obedience made at Sinai between God and the entire people ( Exodus 19:5-8 ), and most solemnly ratified by sprinkling with blood and by a covenant feast, as related in Exodus 24:3-11 . This was the covenant which Israel had been warned so frequently not to "forget" ( Deuteronomy 4:23 ; Deuteronomy 8:11 ; Deuteronomy 26:13 ; Proverbs 2:17 ), yet which they had "forgotten," or, at any rate, "forsaken," as already declared in Exodus 24:15 . Neither shall ye fear other gods. The writer has probably a practical object in his reiteration. He expects his words to reach the ears of the mixed race inhabiting Samaria in his day, and would fain warn them against their idolatrous practices, and point them to the pure worship of Jehovah. It is pleasing to remember that ultimately the mixed race was won to the true faith, and that the Samaritans of our Lord's time were as true worshippers of Jehovah, and as zealous followers of the Law, as the Jews themselves. The interesting community at Nablous still maintains Samaritan forms, and reads the Samaritan Pentateuch.