2 Kings 17:9

And the children of Israel did secretly The verb here used occurs nowhere else in the Bible, though one apparently cognate, and differing only by a single letter, is found several times. This latter is used of covering the head, and also of covering walls with gold to look more beautiful than the bare stone would do. From the first notion comes the sense -they did secretly" which both A.V. and R.V. prefer. Others, with the LXX. (ἠμφιέσαντο), think that the meaning probably is -they decked out" their worship, employed things alien to the simplicity of the Mosaic ordinances, viz.the high places, pillars and Asherim of which mention is made in the next clauses.

from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city This seems a sort of proverbial expression. It is found again 2 Kings 18:8. The towers, in which watchmen were stationed to keep guard over the flocks and crops, were always in the most lonely and deserted spots, while fenced cities implied the presence of many inhabitants. So the sense appears to be -in the loneliest as well as in the most populous places".