Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 17:29

"Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt." — 2 Kings 17:29 (ASV)

Howbeit. — And. The colonists did not fear Jehovah in a monotheistic sense; they simply added his worship to that of their ancestral deities.

The houses of the high places. — The temples or chapels which constituted the sanctuaries of the different cities in the Samaritan territory.

The Samaritans — i.e., the people of northern Israel. (Compare Samaria in 2 Kings 17:24.)

Dwelt. — Were dwelling.