Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 17:41

"So these nations feared Jehovah, and served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children`s children, as did their fathers, so do they unto this day." — 2 Kings 17:41 (ASV)

So these nations feared ... images. —A variation of 2 Kings 17:33.

Their children, and their children’s children. —The captivity of Ephraim took place in 721 B.C. Two generations later bring us to the times of the exile of Judah—the age of the last Redactor of Kings.