And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.
But they turned away from the God of their ancestors and chased after the false gods of the people who had lived in the land before them—the same people God had destroyed.
The writer is explaining that God's people abandoned their faith and started worshiping the same false gods that had belonged to the nations God had already defeated for them.
📚 Historical Context
This verse refers to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh who settled east of the Jordan River. After God helped them conquer the land and defeat the previous inhabitants, these Israelite tribes began adopting the religious practices of the very peoples God had removed. This spiritual unfaithfulness eventually led to their own defeat and exile by the Assyrians.
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