2 Kings 17:41
So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
The nations described lived in a divided worship, outwardly fearing and revering the Lord while continuing to serve and worship graven images and idols. That mixed worship followed the pattern of the fathers and ancestors and persisted through their children and grandchildren and on through descendants into later generations. Their religion had been contaminated by idolatry after they were conquered and overcome by an idolatrous nation and mingled with its people.
They treated their idols as mere reminders of the living God, yet they were prone to reverence the images themselves. Their claim to worship the true God did not remove their idolatry. Near Mount Gerizim they retained some knowledge of the true God and followed ceremonies given through Moses, but idolatry remained mingled with their worship. Later instruction brought their worship closer to the Jews' religion, yet they still clung to idolatry. Their claim to be God's people, combining Jewish faith with heathenism, became a source of division and hostility between the two nations.