Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 17:21

"For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following Jehovah, and made them sin a great sin." — 2 Kings 17:21 (ASV)

For he rent ... —The verse assigns the source and origin of the evil; it makes the secession of the Ten Tribes from the house of David the ultimate cause of their ruin. The “for,” therefore, refers to what has just been said in 2 Kings 17:18–20.

He rent Israel. —The Hebrew as it stands can only mean Israel rent. The lack of an object after the transitive verb favors the suggestion of Thenius that the niphal should be restored: Israel rent himself away (compare the Vulgate, “scissus est”). (If Israel were the object, ‘eth should be expressed.)

Drove. —Hebrew text, put far away (Amos 2:3). Hebrew margin, misled (2 Chronicles 21:11); the Targum and Syriac “caused to stray.” The argument obviously is this—separation from Judah led to the calf-worship, and that to idolatry pure and simple.