Text -- 2 Kings 17:1-6 (NET)

Hoshea’s Reign over Israel

17:1 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria for nine years. 17:2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him. 17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria threatened him; Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute. 17:4 The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. Hoshea had sent messengers to King So of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. 17:5 The king of Assyria marched through the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years. 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 2Ki 17:1

He usurped the kingdom in Ahaz's fourth year; but either was not owned as king, by the generality of the people; or was not accepted and established in his kingdom, 'till Ahaz's twelfth year.

Wesley: 2Ki 17:1

After his confirmation and peaceable possession of his kingdom: for in all, he reigned seventeen, or eighteen years; twelve with Ahaz, who reigned sixteen years, and six with Hezekiah.

Wesley: 2Ki 17:2

_For he neither worshipped Baal, as many of his predecessors did; nor compelled the people to worship the calves; (one of them, that of Dan, being destroyed, or carried away before, as the Hebrew writers affirm;) nor, as some add, hindered those by force, who were minded to go to Jerusalem to worship. And yet, the measure of the Israelites sins, being now full, vengeance comes upon them without remedy.

Wesley: 2Ki 17:3

The son, or successor of Tiglath - pileser. The ancient Hebrew writers made him the same with Sennacherib, who eight years after this time, invaded the kingdom of Judah; it being very frequent in the Eastern parts, for one man to be called by several names. Josephus affirms, that he met with his name in the annals of the Tyrians, which were extant in his days. He came against him, either because he denied the tribute which he had promised to pay; or that he might make him tributary.

Wesley: 2Ki 17:6

_There, we have reason to think, after some time, they were so mingled with the nations, that they were lost, and the name of Israel was no more in remembrance. They that forgot God, were themselves forgotten, and they that studied to be like the nations, were buried among them. Thus ended Israel as a nation. When we read their entry into Canaan, under Hoshea the son of Nun, who would have thought, that such would be their exit, under Hoshea, the son of Elah? Yet we find St. James writing to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. So that tho' we never read of the return of those that were carried captive, nor have any ground to believe, that they still remain a distinct body in some remote corner of the world, yet a remnant of them did escape, and will remain 'till all Israel shall be saved.

JFB: 2Ki 17:1

The statement in 2Ki 15:30 may be reconciled with the present passage in the following manner: Hoshea conspired against Pekah in the twentieth year of the latter, which was the eighteenth of Jotham's reign. It was two years before Hoshea was acknowledged king of Israel, that is, in the fourth of Ahaz, and twentieth of Jotham. In the twelfth year of Ahaz his reign began to be tranquil and prosperous [CALMET].

JFB: 2Ki 17:2

Unlike his predecessors from the time of Jeroboam, he neither established the rites of Baal, nor compelled the people to adhere to the symbolic worship of the calves. [See on 2Ch 30:1.] In these respects, Hoshea acted as became a constitutional king of Israel. Yet, through the influence of the nineteen princes who had swayed the scepter before him (all of whom had been zealous patrons of idolatry, and many of whom had been also infamous for personal crimes), the whole nation had become so completely demoralized that the righteous judgment of an angry Providence impended over it.

JFB: 2Ki 17:3

Or Shalman (Hos 10:14), the same as the Sargon of Isaiah [Isa 20:1]. Very recently the name of this Assyrian king has been traced on the Ninevite monuments, as concerned in an expedition against a king of Samaria, whose name, though mutilated, COLONEL RAWLINSON reads as Hoshea.

JFB: 2Ki 17:4

After having paid tribute for several years, Hoshea, determined on throwing off the Assyrian yoke, withheld the stipulated tribute. Shalmaneser, incensed at this rebellion, proclaimed war against Israel. This was in the sixth year of Hoshea's reign.

JFB: 2Ki 17:4

The Sabaco of the classic historians, a famous Ethiopian who, for fifty years, occupied the Egyptian throne, and through whose aid Hoshea hoped to resist the threatened attack of the Assyrian conqueror. But Shalmaneser, marching against [Hoshea], scoured the whole country of Israel, besieged the capital Samaria, and carried the principal inhabitants into captivity in his own land, having taken the king himself, and imprisoned him for life. This ancient policy of transplanting a conquered people into a foreign land, was founded on the idea that, among a mixed multitude, differing in language and religion, they would be kept in better subjection, and have less opportunity of combining together to recover their independence.

JFB: 2Ki 17:6

That is, the remaining tribes (see on 2Ki 15:29).

JFB: 2Ki 17:6

This passage GESENIUS renders thus, omitting the particle by, which is printed in italics to show it is not in the original: "and placed them in Halah, and on the Chabor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes."

JFB: 2Ki 17:6

The same as Calah (Gen 10:11-12), in the region of the Laycus or Zab river, about a day's journey from the ruins of Nineveh.

JFB: 2Ki 17:6

Is a river, and it is remarkable that there is a river rising in the central highlands of Assyria which retains this name Khabour unchanged to the present day.

JFB: 2Ki 17:6

("pasture") or Zozan, are the highlands of Assyria, which afford pasturage. The region in which the Chabor and the Zab rise, and through which they flow, is peculiarly of this character. The Nestorians repair to it with their numerous flocks, spending the summer on the banks or in the highlands of the Chabor or the Zab. Considering the high authority we possess for regarding Gozan and Zozan as one name, there can be no doubt that this is the Gozan referred to in this passage.

JFB: 2Ki 17:6

"villages," according to the Syriac and Vulgate versions, or "mountains," according to the Septuagint. The Medish inhabitants of Gozan, having revolted, had been destroyed by the kings of Assyria, and nothing was more natural than that they should wish to place in it an industrious people, like the captive Israelites, while it was well suited to their pastoral life [GRANT, Nestorians].

Clarke: 2Ki 17:3

Shalmaneser - This was the son and successor of Tiglath-pileser. He is called Shalman by Hosea, Hos 10:14, and Enemessar, in the book of Tobit, 1:2

Clarke: 2Ki 17:3

Gave him presents - Became tributary to him.

Clarke: 2Ki 17:4

Found conspiracy to Hoshea - He had endeavored to shake off the Assyrian yoke, by entering into a treaty with So, King of Egypt; and having done so, he ceased to send the annual tribute to Assyria.

Clarke: 2Ki 17:5

Besieged it three years - It must have been well fortified, well provisioned, and well defended, to have held out so long.

Clarke: 2Ki 17:6

Took Samaria - According to the prophets Hosea, Hos 13:16, and Micah, Mic 1:6. He exercised great cruelties on this miserable city, ripping up the women with child, dashing young children against the stones, etc. etc

Clarke: 2Ki 17:6

Carried Israel away into Assyria - What were the places to which the unfortunate Israelites were carried, or where their successors are now situated, have given rise to innumerable conjectures, dissertations, discourses, etc. Some maintain that they are found on the coast of Guinea; others, in America; the Indian tribes being the descendants of those carried away by the Assyrians. In vol. i. of the Supplement to Sir Wm. Jones’ s works, we find a translation of the History of the Afghans, by Mr. H. Vansittart; from which it appears that they derive their own descent from the Jews. On this history Sir Wm. Jones writes the following note: -

"This account of the Afghans may lead to a very interesting discovery. We learn from Esdras, that the ten tribes, after a wandering journey, came to a country called Arsaret, where we may suppose they settled. Now the Afghans are said by the best Persian historians to be descended from the Jews; they have traditions among themselves of such a descent, and it is even asserted that their families are distinguished by the names of Jewish tribes; although, since their conversion to the Islam, they studiously conceal their origin. The Pushtoo, of which I have seen a dictionary, has a manifest resemblance to the Chaldaic; and a considerable district under their dominion is called Hazarek or Hazaret, which might easily have been changed into the word used by Esdras. I strongly recommend an inquiry into the literature and history of the Afghans.

Every thing considered, I think it by far the most probable that the Afghans are the descendants of the Jews, who were led away captives by the Assyrian kings

Thus ended the kingdom of Israel, after it had lasted two hundred and fifty-four years, from the death of Solomon and the schism of Jeroboam, till the taking of Samaria by Shalmaneser, in the ninth year of Hoshea; after which the remains of the ten tribes were carried away beyond the river Euphrates

The rest of this chapter is spent in vindicating the Divine providence and justice; showing the reason why God permitted such a desolation to fall on a people who had been so long his peculiar children.

Defender: 2Ki 17:3

Hoshea was the last king of Israel before the Assyrian captivity. Shalmezer V besieged the well-fortified capital city of Samaria but died in the siege. His successor, Sargon II, sacked the city and carried the Israelites away to various Assyrian cities (this information is obtained from an inscription in Sargon's palace. See note on Isa 20:5). It is noteworthy that the names of at least ten Hebrew kings (Omri, Ahab, Jehu, Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea of Israel; Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh of Judah) have been found on excavated Assyrian tablets. The same is true of the various Assyrian kings mentioned in the Bible. All such records are fully consistent with the Biblical records."

TSK: 2Ki 17:1

am 3274, bc 730

In the twelfth : In 2Ki 15:30, this is said to be ""the twentieth year of Jotham,""which Calmet thus reconciles: ""Hosea conspired against Pekah, the 20th year of the reign of this prince, which was the 18th of Jotham, king of Judah. Two years after this, that is, the 4th of Ahaz and the 20th of Jotham, Hosea made himself master of a part of the kingdom, according to 2Ki 15:30. Finally, the 12th year of Ahaz, Hosea had peaceable possession of the whole kingdom, agreeably to 2Ki 17:1."

Hoshea : ""After an interregnum, 2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 18:9.""2Ki 17:1

TSK: 2Ki 17:2

but not as the kings : 2Ki 3:2, 2Ki 10:31, 2Ki 13:2, 2Ki 13:11, 2Ki 15:9, 2Ki 15:18, 2Ki 15:24; 2Ch 30:5-11

TSK: 2Ki 17:3

Shalmaneser : This was the son and successor of Tiglath-pilesercaps1 . hcaps0 e reigned 14 years, from am 3276 to 3290. 2Ki 18:9; Hos 10:14, Shalman

king of Assyria : 2Ki 15:19, 2Ki 15:29, 2Ki 16:7, 2Ki 18:13, 2Ki 19:36, 2Ki 19:37; Isa 7:7, Isa 7:8, Isa 10:5, Isa 10:6, Isa 10:11, Isa 10:12

and Hoshea : 2Ki 16:8, 2Ki 18:14-16, 2Ki 18:31

gave : Heb. rendered

presents : or, tribute, 2Sa 8:2, 2Sa 8:6

TSK: 2Ki 17:4

am 3279, bc 725

found conspiracy : 2Ki 24:1, 2Ki 24:20; Eze 17:13-19

king of Egypt : 2Ki 18:21; Isa 30:1-4, Isa 31:1-3; Eze 17:15

brought : 2Ki 18:14, 2Ki 18:15

bound him : 2Ki 25:7; 2Ch 32:11; Psa 149:7, Psa 149:8

TSK: 2Ki 17:5

am 3281-3283, bc 723-721

the king : 2Ki 18:9

three years : 2Ki 25:1-3; Jer 52:4, Jer 52:5

TSK: 2Ki 17:6

am 3283, bc 721

the king of Assyria : 2Ki 18:10, 2Ki 18:11; Hos 1:6, Hos 1:9, Hos 13:16, foretold

carried : Lev 26:32, Lev 26:33, Lev 26:38; Deu 4:25-28, Deu 28:36, Deu 28:64, Deu 29:27, Deu 29:28, Deu 30:18; 1Ki 14:15, 1Ki 14:16; Amo 5:27

Halah : 2Ki 19:12; 1Ch 5:26; Isa 37:12, Isa 37:13

the Medes : Isa 13:17, Isa 21:2; Dan 5:28

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Ki 17:1

In the twelfth year - Compare 2Ki 15:30 note. The history of the kingdom of Israel is in this chapter brought to a close.

Barnes: 2Ki 17:2

Not as the kings of Israel that were before him - The repentance of a nation like that of an individual, may be "too late."God is long-suffering; but after national sins have reached a certain height, after admonitions and warnings have been repeatedly rejected, after lesser punishments have failed - judgment begins to fall. Forces have been set in motion, which nothing but a miracle could stop; and God does not see fit to work a miracle in such a case. Compare Butler, ‘ Analogy, ‘ Pt. I ch. 2 end.

Barnes: 2Ki 17:3

Of Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath-pileser in the Assyrian Canon, we know little from Assyrian sources, since his records have been mutilated by his successors, the Sargonids, who were of a wholly different family. The archives of Tyre mention him as contemporary with, and warring against, a Tyrian king named Elulaeus. The expedition, referred to here, was probably in the first year of Shalmaneser (727 B.C.). Its main object was the reduction of Phoenicia, which had re-asserted its independence, but (except Tyre) was once more completely reduced. Shalmaneser probably passed on from Phoenicia into Galilee, where he attacked and took Beth-arbel (Arbela of Josephus, now Irbid), treating it with great severity Hos 10:14, in order to alarm Hoshea, who immediately submitted, and became tributary (see the marginal rendering and 1Ki 4:21 note). Shalmaneser then returned into Assyria.

Barnes: 2Ki 17:4

So, king of Egypt, is generally identified with Shebek (730 B.C.), the Sabaco of Herodotus. Hoshea’ s application to him was a return to a policy which had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I (1Ki 12:20 note), but had not been resorted to by any other Israelite monarch. Egypt had for many years been weak, but Sabaco was a conqueror, who at the head of the swarthy hordes of Ethiopia had invaded Egypt and made himself master of the country. In the inscriptions of Shebek he boasts to have received tribute from "the king of Shara"(Syria), which is probably his mode of noticing Hoshea’ s application. References to the Egyptian proclivities of Hoshea are frequent in the prophet Hosea Hos 7:11; Hos 11:1, Hos 11:5; Hos 12:4. King Hoshea, simultaneously with his reception as a vassal by Sabaco, ceased to pay tribute to Shalmaneser, thus openly rebelling, and provoking the chastisement which followed.

Barnes: 2Ki 17:5

All the land - The second invasion of Shalmaneser (723 B.C., his fifth year), is here contrasted with the first, as extending to the whole country, whereas the first had afflicted only a part.

Three years - From the fourth to the sixth of Hezekiah, and from the seventh to the ninth of Heshea; two years, therefore, according to our reckoning, but three, according to that of the Hebrews. This was a long time for so small a place to resist the Assyrians but Samaria was favorably situated on a steep hill; probably Sabaco made some attempts to relieve his vassal; the war with Tyre must have distracted Shalmaneser; and there is reason to believe that before the capture was effected a revolt had broken out at Nineveh which must have claimed Shalmaneser’ s chief attention, though it did not induce him to abandon his enterprise.

Barnes: 2Ki 17:6

The king of Assyria took Samaria - i. e., from the Assyrian inscriptions, not Shalmaneser but Sargon, who claims to have captured the city in the first year of his reign (721 B.C.). At first Sargon carried off from Samaria no more than 27,280 prisoners and was so far from depopulating the country that he assessed the tribute on the remaining inhabitants at the same rate as before the conquest. But later in his reign he effected the wholesale deportation here mentioned.

Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan - Rather, "on the Habor, the river of Gozan."Halah is the tract which Ptolemy calls Chalcitis, on the borders of Gauzanitis (Gozan) in the vicinity of the Chaboras, or Khabour (Habor, the great affluent of the Euphrates). In this region is a remarkable mound called Gla, which probably marks the site, and represents the name, of the city of Chalach, from where the district Chalcitis was so called.

In the cities of the Medes - Sargon relates that he overran Media, seized and "annexed to Assyria"a number of the towns, and also established in the country a set of fortified posts or colonies.

Poole: 2Ki 17:1

Quest. How can this be true, seeing it is said that he reigned , or began to reign , in Israel in the twentieth year of Jotham, 2Ki 15:30 , which was the fourth year of Ahaz, as was there noted? Answ He usurped the kingdom in Ahaz’ s fourth year; but either was not owned as king by the generality of the people, or was not accepted and established in his kingdom by the Assyrian, till Ahaz’ s twelfth year; or in his eight first years he was only a tributary prince, and the king of Assyria’ s viceroy; and after that time he set up for himself, which drew the Assyrian upon him. Nine years to wit, after his confirmation and peaceable possession of his kingdom; for in all he reigned seventeen or eighteen years, to wit, twelve with Ahaz, who reigned sixteen years, and six with Hezekiah, 2Ki 18:10 .

Poole: 2Ki 17:2

For he neither worshipped Baal, as many of his predecessors did; nor compelled the people to worship the calves; one of them, that of Dan, being destroyed, or carried away before, as the Hebrew writers affirm; nor, as some add, hindered those by force who were minded to go to Jerusalem to worship; and yet, the measure of the Israelites’ sins being now full, vengeance comes upon them without remedy: compare 2Ki 23:26 .

Poole: 2Ki 17:3

Shalmaneser; the son or successor of Tiglath-pileser. The ancient Hebrew writers make him the same with Sennacherib, who eight years after this time invaded the kingdom of Judah; see 2Ki 18:10,13 ; it being very frequent in the eastern parts for one man to be called by several names, especially by the people of several countries. Josephus affirms that he met with his name in the Annals of the Tyrians, which were extant in his days. He came against him, either because he denied the tribute which he had promised to pay, or that he might make him tributary.

Gave him presents swore fealty to him, and engaged to pay him a tribute.

Poole: 2Ki 17:4

So king of Egypt by heathen writers called Sua or Sabachus ; that by his assistance he might shake off the yoke of the king of Assyria; who now was, and for many years had been, the king of Egypt’ s rival: see 2Ki 18:21 Jer 36:5 . Shut him up, and bound him in prison, to wit, after he had come up against him, and taken him, with Samaria; the particular relation whereof here follows.

Poole: 2Ki 17:6

This is added to distinguish this place from the former, which was either in Assyria, or in the mountainous and less inhabited parts of Media. Hither he carried them, partly to replenish his own country; and partly because these places were at so great a distance from Canaan, that this would cut off all hopes and thoughts of returning to their own country.

Haydock: 2Ki 17:1

Twelfth. Houbigant would substitute 14th, to make the dates agree, p. 113. See chap. xv. 30. (Haydock) ---

Till this time, Osee had been tributary to the Assyrian monarch. (Grotius) ---

Hebrew may be, "in the 12th year....Osee....had reigned....nine years; which his true. (Calmet) ---

He reigned so long afterwards, ver. 6. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ki 17:2

Him. The Jews say, that he did not hinder his subjects from going to Jerusalem to adore. One of the golden calves had been sent away by Manahem, Osee x. 5. (Calmet) ---

Yet under the less wicked king the nation is destroyed, as their crimes were come to the height; and Osee had not sufficient virtue to suspend the stroke of divine justice any longer. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ki 17:3

Salmanasar, who is called Salman, or Salomo; (Osee x. 14.) and Enemassar, in the Greek of Toby[Tobias]. The Tyrians relate that he took many of their towns, but that Tyre sustained a siege of five years. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] ix. 14.)

Haydock: 2Ki 17:4

Sua; probably Sabachon, king of Ethiopia, who made himself master of Egypt, and burnt king Bocchoris alive. Herodotus (ii. 137.) calls him Abacus. Jocquelot thinks that Sethon is meant, and that he was invaded by Sennacherib on account of this league with Osee. (Calmet) ---

Prison, after he had taken the city, (Haydock) which held out three years. This great city was then reduced to a heap of ruins, and so continued till after the captivity of the Jews, (1 Esdras iv. 17.) when it began to be peopled again. The inhabitants revolted against Alexander the Great, who placed Macedonians in their city, and gave the territory to the Jews. It was afterwards seized by the kings of Egypt and of Syria. But Hyrcan retook it, and levelled it with the ground. Gabinius built another town here, which bore his name till Herod greatly enlarged it, and called it Sebaste. (Calmet) ---

The prophets describe the distress of Samaria, Osee x. 4., and xiv. 1., Micheas i. 6., and Jeremias xxxi. 5.)

Haydock: 2Ki 17:6

Medes. See chap. xvi. 9. The great maxim and policy of these nations, was to transport the conquered nations to a distant country, in order to prevent any revolts. (Calmet)

Gill: 2Ki 17:1

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. In this account there is some difficulty, since it was in the twentieth of Jotham, that is, the fourth of Ahaz, that Hosea conspired against Pekah king of Israel, and slew him, when it might be reasonably thought he began his reign: now either there was an interregnum until the twelfth of Ahaz, or Hoshea however was not generally received and acknowledged as king till then, as others think; he being a tributary to the king of Assyria, and a kind of viceroy, is not said to reign until he rebelled against him; after which he reigned nine years, four in the times of Ahaz, and five in the reign of Hezekiah, 2Ki 18:9, in this way the author of the Jewish chronology goes ^r, in which he is followed by other Jewish writers; and this bids as fair as any to remove the difficulty, unless these nine years refer to the time of his reign before the twelfth of Ahaz; and the sense be, that in the twelfth of Ahaz he had reigned nine year's; but it is said he "began" to reign then.

Gill: 2Ki 17:2

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. He did not worship Baal, as some of them had done; and he could not worship the calves, as all of them had, for they were carried away by the Assyrians in the former captivities, as the Jews ^s say; and who also observe ^t, that he removed the garrisons set on the borders of the land to watch the Israelites, that they might not go up to Jerusalem; and this being done on the fifteenth of Ab, that day was afterwards observed as a festival on that account; and they further remark ^u, that the captivity of the ten tribes was in the reign of this king, who was better than the rest, to show that it was not barely the sins of the kings on whom the Israelites would cast the blame, that they were carried captives, but their own, according to Hos 5:3.

Gill: 2Ki 17:3

Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria,.... Which some take to be the same with Tiglathpileser, see 1Ch 5:26 but he rather seems to be his son; his name was to be found, as Josephus ^w relates, in the archives of the Tyrians, against whom he had an expedition; his name is Salmanassar in Metasthenes ^x, who says he reigned seventeen years:

and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents, to depart from him; he became tributary to him, and agreed to pay him a yearly tax.

Gill: 2Ki 17:4

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea,.... That he was forming a scheme to rebel against him, and cast off his yoke; of this he had intelligence by spies he sent, and placed to observe him very probably:

for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt; to treat with him, and enter into alliance with him, to help him against, and free him from, the king of Assyria. This king of Egypt is supposed to be Sabacon the Ethiopian, who reigned in Egypt ninety years; of whom Herodotus ^y and Diodorus Siculus ^z make mention; by Theodoret he is called Adramelech the Ethiopian, who dwelt in Egypt:

and brought no presents to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; did not pay him his yearly tribute:

therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison; that is, after he took Samaria, the siege of which is next related; unless it can be thought that he met with him somewhere out of the capital, and seized him, and made him his prisoner, and after that besieged his city; which is not so likely.

Gill: 2Ki 17:5

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land,.... Of Israel, there being none to oppose his march; Hoshea not daring to come out, and meet him and fight him:

and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years; so long the city held out against him, see 2Ki 18:9.

Gill: 2Ki 17:6

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria,..... Which was the last year of his reign, and to be reckoned either from the time of his reigning in full power and authority, or from his first casting off the Assyrian yoke; See Gill on 2Ki 17:1.

and carried Israel away into Assyria; not only the inhabitants of Samaria, but all the ten tribes inhabiting the several parts of the kingdom, for which Josephus is express ^a.

and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, by the river of Gozan; some of them he placed here, which were in Assyria. Halah is the Calachena of Ptolemy, at the north of Assyria, and Habor is the mount Chobaras of the same; from which mountain, as you go to the Caspian sea, about midway, is the city Gauzania, the same with Gozan, which might give name to this river ^b. The Jews say ^c, this is the river Sambation, which runs so swiftly, that there is no passing except on the sabbath day; and which then the Jews cannot pass because of the profanation of the sabbath; and is the reason they give why the ten tribes are there detained; and Manasseh ben Israel ^d fancies Habor to be Tabor, a province in Tartary, where some Jews are:

and in the cities of the Medes; others of them he placed there, under his jurisdiction, the same with Hara, 1Ch 5:26, which with the Greeks is called Aria; and Herodotus says ^e, these Medes formerly were called by all Arii. It appears from hence that the kingdom of Media was now subject to the king of Assyria: some ^f take Halach to be Colchi, and Habor to be Iberia, and Hara to be Armenia, and Gauzani to be Media, which all bounded the north of Assyria.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Ki 17:1

¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

NET Notes: 2Ki 17:2

¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 17:3

¹ tn Heb “went up against.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 17:4

¹ tn Heb “and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy.”

² sn For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 s.v. סוֹא and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 196.

³ tn Heb “and bound him in the house of confinement.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 17:5

¹ tn Heb “went up against.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 17:6

¹ tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 17:2

And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, ^{( a )} but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

^{( a )} Though he invented no new idolatry or impiety as others did, yet he sought help from the Egyptians, whom God had forbidden.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 17:4

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, ^{( b )} as [he had done] year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

^{( b )} For he had paid tribute for eight years.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 17:6

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the ^{( c )} Medes.

^{( c )} For at this time the Medes and Persians were subject to the Assyrians.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Ki 17:1-41

1 Hoshea's wicked reign.

3 Being subdued by Shalmaneser, he conspires against him with So, king of Egypt.

5 Samaria for sinning is led into captivity.

24 The strange nations which were transplanted into Samaria, being plagued with lions, make a mixture of religions.

MHCC: 2Ki 17:1-6

When the measure of sin is filled up, the Lord will forbear no longer. The inhabitants of Samaria must have endured great affliction. Some of the poor Israelites were left in the land. Those who were carried captives to a great distance, were mostly lost among the nations.

Matthew Henry: 2Ki 17:1-6

We have here the reign and ruin of Hoshea, the last of the kings of Israel, concerning whom observe,

I. That, though he forced his way to the crown by treason and murder (as we read 2Ki 15:30), yet he gained not the possession of it till seven or eight years after; for it was in the fourth year of Ahaz that he slew Pekah, but did not himself begin to reign till the twelfth year of Ahaz, 2Ki 17:1. Whether by the king of Assyria, or by the king of Judah, or by some of his own people, does not appear, but it seems so long he was kept out of the throne he aimed at. Justly were his bad practices thus chastised, and the word of the prophet was thus fulfilled (Hos 10:3), Now they shall say We have no king, because we feared not the Lord.

II. That, though he was bad, yet not so bad as the kings of Israel had been before him (2Ki 17:2), not so devoted to the calves as they had been. One of them (that at Dan), the Jews say, had been, before this, carried away by the king of Assyria in the expedition recorded 2Ki 15:29, (to which perhaps the prophet refers, Hos 8:5, Thy calf, O Samaria! has cast thee off ), which made him put the less confidence in the other. And some say that this Hoshea took off the embargo which the former kings had put their subjects under, forbidding them to go up to Jerusalem to worship, which he permitted those to do that had a mind to it. But what shall we think of this dispensation of providence, that the destruction of the kingdom of Israel should come in the reign of one of the best of its kings? Thy judgments, O God! are a great deep. God would hereby show that in bringing this ruin upon them he designed to punish, 1. Not only the sins of that generation, but of the foregoing ages, and to reckon for the iniquities of their fathers, who had been long in filing the measure and treasuring up wrath against this day of wrath. 2. Not only the sins of their kings, but the sins of the people. If Hoshea was not so bad as the former kings, yet the people were as bad as those that went before them, and it was an aggravation of their badness, and brought ruin the sooner, that their king did not set them so bad an example as the former kings had done, nor hinder them from reforming; he gave them leave to do better, but they did as bad as ever, which laid the blame of their sin and ruin wholly upon themselves.

III. That the destruction came gradually. They were for some time made tributaries before they were made captives to the king of Assyria (2Ki 17:3), and, if that less judgment had prevailed to humble and reform them, the greater would have been prevented.

IV. That they brought it upon themselves by the indirect course they took to shake off the yoke of the king of Assyria, 2Ki 17:4. Had the king and people of Israel applied to God, made their peace with him and their prayers to him, they might have recovered their liberty, ease, and honour; but they withheld their tribute, and trusted to the king of Egypt to assist them in their revolt, which, if it had taken effect, would have been but to change their oppressors. But Egypt became to them the staff of a broken reed. This provoked the king of Assyria to proceed against them with the more severity. Men get nothing by struggling with the net, but entangle themselves the more.

V. That it was an utter destruction that came upon them. 1. The king of Israel was made a prisoner; he was shut up and bound, being, it is probable, taken by surprise, before Samaria was besieged. 2. The land of Israel was made a prey. The army of the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, made themselves master of it (2Ki 17:5), and treated the people as traitors to be punished with the sword of justice rather than as fair enemies. 3. The royal city of Israel was besieged, and at length taken. Three years it held out after the country was conquered, and no doubt a great deal of misery was endured at that time which is not particularly recorded; but the brevity of the story, and the passing of this matter over lightly, methinks, intimate that they were abandoned of God and he did not now regard the affliction of Israel, as sometimes as he had done. 4. The people of Israel were carried captives into Assyria, 2Ki 17:6. The generality of the people, those that were of any note, were forced away into the conqueror's country, to be slaves and beggars there. (1.) Thus he was pleased to exercise a dominion over them, and to show that they were entirely at his disposal. (2.) By depriving them of their possessions and estates, real and personal, and exposing them to all the hardships and reproaches of a removal to a strange country, under the power of an imperious army, he chastised them for their rebellion and their endeavour to shake off his yoke. (3.) Thus he effectually prevented all such attempts for the future and secured their country to himself. (4.) Thus he got the benefit of their service in his own country, as Pharaoh did that of their fathers; and so this unworthy people were lost as they were found, and ended as they began, in servitude and under oppression. (5.) Thus he made room for those of his own country that had little, and little to do, at home, to settle in a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. In all these several ways he served himself by this captivity of the ten tribes. We are here told in what places of his kingdom he disposed of them - in Halah and Habor, in places, we may suppose, far distant from each other, lest they should keep up a correspondence, incorporate again, and become formidable. There, we have reason to think, after some time they were so mingled with the nations that they were lost, and the name of Israel was no more in remembrance. Those that forgot God were themselves forgotten; those that studied to be like the nations were buried among them; and those that would not serve God in their own land were made to serve their enemies in a strange land. It is probable that they were the men of honour and estates who were carried captive, and that many of the meaner sort of people were left behind, many of every tribe, who either went over to Judah or became subject to the Assyrian colonies, and their posterity were Galileans or Samaritans. But thus ended Israel as a nation; now they became Lo-ammi - not a people, and Lo-ruhamah - unpitied. Now Canaan spued them out. When we read of their entry under Hoshea the son of Nun who would have thought that such as this should be their exit under Hoshea the son of Elah? Thus Rome's glory in Augustus sunk, many ages after, in Augustulus. Providence so ordered the eclipsing of the honour of the ten tribes that the honour of Judah (the royal tribe) and Levi (the holy tribe), which yet remained, might shine the brighter. Yet we find a number sealed of every one of the twelve tribes (Rev. 7) except Dan. James writes to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (Jam 1:1) and Paul speaks of the twelve tribes which instantly served God day and night (Act 26:7); so that though we never read of those that were carried captive, nor have any reason to credit the conjecture of some (that they yet remain a distinct body in some remote corner of the world), yet a remnant of them did escape, to keep up the name of Israel, till it came to be worn by the gospel church, the spiritual Israel, in which it will ever remain, Gal 6:16.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 17:1-2

Reign of Hoshea King of Israel. - 2Ki 17:1. In the twelfth year of Ahaz began Hoshea to reign. As Hoshea conspired against Pekah, according to 2Ki 15:30, in the fourth year of Ahaz, and after murdering him made himself king, whereas according to the verse before us it was not till the twelfth year of Ahaz that he really became king, his possession of the throne must have been contested for eight years. The earlier commentators and almost all the chronologists have therefore justly assumed that there was en eight years' anarchy between the death of Pekah and the commencement of Hoshea's reign. This assumption merits the preference above all the attempts made to remove the discrepancy by alterations of the text, since there is nothing at all surprising in the existence of anarchy at a time when the kingdom was in a state of the greatest inward disturbance and decay. Hoshea reigned nine years, and "did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, though not like the kings of Israel before him"(2Ki 17:2). We are not told in what Hoshea was better than his predecessors, nor can it be determined with any certainty, although the assumption that he allowed his subjects to visit the temple at Jerusalem is a very probable one, inasmuch as, according to 2Ch 30:10., Hezekiah invited to the feast of the Passover, held at Jerusalem, the Israelites from Ephraim and Manasseh as far as to Zebulun, and some individuals from these tribes accepted his invitation. But although Hoshea was better than his predecessors, the judgment of destruction burst upon the sinful kingdom and people in his reign, because he had not truly turned to the Lord; a fact which has been frequently repeated in the history of the world, namely, that the last rulers of a decaying kingdom have not been so bad as their forefathers. "God is accustomed to defer the punishment of the elders in the greatness of His long-suffering, to see whether their descendants will come to repentance; but if this be not the case, although they may not be so bad, the anger of God proceeds at length to visit iniquity (cf. Exo 20:5)."Seb. Schmidt.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 17:3

"Against him came up Salmanasar king of Assyria, and Hoshea became subject to him and rendered him tribute"( מנחה , as in 1Ki 5:1). שׁלמנאסר , Δαλαμανασσάρ (lxx), Salmanasar , according to the more recent researches respecting Assyria, is not only the same person as the Shalman mentioned in Hos 10:14, but the same as the Sargon of Isa 20:1, whose name is spelt Sargina upon the monuments, and who is described in the inscriptions on his palace at Khorsabad as ruler over many subjugated lands, among which Samirina (Samaria?) also occurs (vid., Brandis üb. d. Gewinn , pp. 48ff. and 53; M. v. Niebuhr, Gesch. Ass. pp. 129, 130; and M. Duncker, Gesch. des Alterth. i. pp. 687ff.). The occasion of this expedition of Salmanasar appears to have been simply the endeavour to continue the conquests of his predecessor Tiglath-pileser. There is no ground whatever for Maurer's assumption, that he had been asked to come to the help of a rival of Hoshea; and the opinion that he came because Hoshea had refused the tribute which had been paid to Assyria from the time of Menahem downwards, is at variance with the fact that in 2Ki 15:29 Tiglath-pileser is simply said to have taken a portion of the territory of Israel; but there is no allusion to any payment of tribute or feudal obligation on the part of Pekah. Salmanasar was the first to make king Hoshea subject and tributary. This took place at the commencement of Hoshea's reign, as is evident from the fact that Hoshea paid the tribute for several years, and in the sixth year of his reign refused any further payment.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 17:4-5

The king of Assyria found a conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt, and did not pay the tribute to the king of Assyria, as year by year. The Egyptian king סוא , So, possibly to be pronounced סוה , Seveh , is no doubt one of the two Shebeks of the twenty-fifth dynasty, belonging to the Ethiopian tribe; but whether he was the second king of this dynasty, Såbåtåkå (Brugsch, hist. d'Egypte , i. p. 244), the Sevechus of Manetho, who is said to have ascended the throne, according to Wilkinson, in the year 728, as Vitringa (Isa. ii. p. 318), Gesenius, Ewald, and others suppose, or the first king of this Ethiopian dynasty, Sabako the father of Sevechus, which is the opinion of Usher and Marsham, whom M. v. Niebuhr ( Gesch. pp. 458ff. and 463) and M. Duncker (i. p. 693) have followed in recent times, cannot possibly be decided in the present state of Egyptological research.

(Note: It is true that M. Duncker says, "Synchronism gives Sabakon, who reigned from 726 to 714;"but he observes in the note at pp. 713ff. that the Egyptian chronology has only been firmly established as far back as the commencement of the reign of Psammetichus at the beginning of the year 664 b.c., that the length of the preceding dodekarchy is differently given by Diodorus Sic. and Manetho, and that the date at which Tarakos (Tirhaka), who succeeded Sevechus, ascended the throne is so very differently defined, that it is impossible for the present to come to any certain conclusion on the matter. Compare with this what M. v. Niebuhr (pp. 458ff.) adduces in proof of the difficulty of determining the commencement and length of the reign of Tirhaka , and the manner in which he proposes to solve the difficulties that arise from this in relation to the synchronism between the Egyptian and the Biblical chronology.)

- As soon as Salmanasar received intelligence of the conduct of Hoshea, which is called קשׁר , conspiracy, as being rebellion against his acknowledged superior, he had him arrested and put into prison in chains, and then overran the whole land, advanced against Samaria and besieged that city for three years, and captured it in the ninth year of Hoshea. These words are not to be understood as signifying that Hoshea had been taken prisoner before the siege of Samaria and thrown into prison, because in that case it is impossible to see how Salmanasar could have obtained possession of his person.

(Note: The supposition of the older commentators, that Hoshea fought a battle with Salmanasar before the siege of Samaria, and was taken prisoner in that battle, is not only very improbable, because this would hardly be passed over in our account, but has very little probability in itself. For "it is more probable that Hoshea betook himself to Samaria when threatened by the hostile army, and relied upon the help of the Egyptians, than that he went to meet Salmanasar and fought with him in the open field"(Maurer). There is still less probability in Ewald's view ( Gesch. iii. p. 611), that "Salmanasar marched with unexpected rapidity against Hoshea, summoned him before him that he might hear his defence, and then, when he came, took him prisoner, and threw him into prison in chains, probably into a prison on the border of the land;"to which he adds this explanatory remark: "there is no other way in which we can understand the brief words in 2Ki 17:4 as compared with 2Ki 18:9-11... For if Hoshea had defended himself to the utmost, Salmanasar would not have had him arrested and incarcerated afterwards, but would have put him to death at once, as was the case with the king of Damascus."But Hoshea would certainly not have been so infatuated, after breaking away from Assyria and forming an alliance with So of Egypt, as to go at a simple summons from Salmanasar and present himself before him, since he could certainly have expected nothing but death or imprisonment as the result.)

We must rather assume, as many commentators have done, from R. Levi ben Gersom down to Maurer and Thenius, that it was not till the conquest of his capital Samaria that Hoshea fell into the hands of the Assyrians and was cast into a prison; so that the explanation to be given to the introduction of this circumstance before the siege and conquest of Samaria must be, that the historian first of all related the eventual result of Hoshea's rebellion against Salmanasar so far as Hoshea himself was concerned, and then proceeded to describe in greater detail the course of the affair in relation to his kingdom and capital. This does not necessitate our giving to the word ויּעצרהוּ the meaning "he assigned him a limit"(Thenius); but we may adhere to the meaning which has been philologically established, namely, arrest or incarcerate (Jer 33:1; Jer 36:5, etc.). ויּעל may be given thus: "he overran, that is to say, the entire land."The three years of the siege of Samaria were not full years, for, according to 2Ki 18:9-10, it began in the seventh year of Hoshea, and the city was taken in the ninth year, although it is also given there as three years.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 17:6

The ninth year of Hoshea corresponds to the sixth year of Hezekiah and the year 722 or 721 b.c., in which the kingdom of the ten tribes was destroyed.

6b. The Israelites carried into exile. - After the taking of Samaria, Salmanasar led Israel into captivity to Assyria, and assigned to those who were led away dwelling-places in Chalach and on the Chabor, or the river Gozan, and in cities of Media. According to these clear words of the text, the places to which the ten tribes were banished are not to be sought for in Mesopotamia, but in provinces of Assyria and Media. חלח is neither the city of כּלח built by Nimrod (Gen 10:11), nor the Cholwan of Abulfeda and the Syriac writers, a city five days' journey to the north of Bagdad, from which the district bordering on the Zagrus probably received the name of Χαλωνῖτις or Καλωνῖτις , but the province Καλαχεηνή of Strabo (xi. 8, 4; 14, 12, and xvi. 1, 1), called Καλακινή by Ptolemaeus (vi. 1), on the eastern side of the Tigris near Adiabene, to the north of Nineveh on the border of Armenia. חבור is not the כּבר in Upper Mesopotamia (Eze 1:3; Eze 3:15, etc.), which flows into the Euphrates near Kirkesion (Carchemish), and is called Chebar (kbr) or Chabur (kbwr) by the Syriac writers, Chabûr (xâbûr) by Abulfeda and Edrisi, Χαβώρας by Ptolemaeus, Ἀβόῤῥας (Aboras) by Strabo and others, as Michaelis, Gesenius, Winer, and even Ritter assume; for the epithet "river of Gozan"is not decisive in favour of this, since Gozan is not necessarily to be identified with the district of Gauzanitis, now Kaushan, situated between the rivers of Chaboras and Saokoras, and mentioned in Ptol. v. 18, 4, inasmuch as Strabo (xvi. 1, 1, p. 736) also mentions a province called Χαζηνή above Nineveh towards Armenia, between Calachene and Adiabene. Here in northern Assyria we also find both a mountain called Χαβώρας , according to Ptol. vi. 1, on the boundary of Assyria and Media, and the river Chabor, called by Yakut in the Moshtarik l-hsnîh (Khabur Chasaniae), to distinguish it from the Mesopotamian Chaboras or Chebar. According to Marasz. i. pp. 333f., and Yakut, Mosht. p. 150, this Khabur springs from the mountains of the land of Zauzan, zawzan, i.e., of the land between the mountains of Armenia, Adserbeidjan, Diarbekr, and Mosul (Marasz. i. p. 522), and is frequently mentioned in Assemani as a tributary of the Tigris. It still bears the ancient name Khabûr, taking its rise in the neighbourhood of the upper Zab near Amadîjeh, and emptying itself into the Tigris a few hours below Jezirah (cf. Wichelhaus, pp. 471, 472; Asah. Grant, Die Nestorianer, v. Preiswerk, pp. 110ff.; and Ritter, Erdk. ix. pp. 716 and 1030). This is the river that we are to understand by חבור .

It is a question in dispute, whether the following words גּוזן נהר are in apposition to בּחבור : "by the Chabor the river of Gozan,"or are to be taken by themselves as indicating a peculiar district "by the river Gozan."Now, however the absence of the prep. ב , and even of the copula , ו on the one hand, and the words of Yakut, "Khabur, a river of Chasania,"on the other, may seem to favour the former view, we must decide in favour of the latter, for the simple reason that in 1Ch 5:26 גּוזן נהר is separated from חבור morf d by והרא . The absence of the preposition בּ or of the copula ו before נהר ג in the passage before us may be accounted for from the assumption that the first two names, in Chalah and on the Khabur, are more closely connected, and also the two which follow, "on the river Gozan and in the cities of Media."The river Gozan or of Gozan is therefore distinct from חבור (Khabur), and to be sought for in the district in which Gauzani'a, the city of Media mentioned by Ptol. (vi. 2), was situated. In all probability it is the river which is called Kisil (the red) Ozan at the present day, the Mardos of the Greeks, which takes its rise to the south-east of the Lake Urumiah and flows into the Caspian Sea, and which is supposed to have formed the northern boundary of Media.

(Note: The explanation given in the text of the geographical names, receives some confirmation from the Jewish tradition, which describes northern Assyria, and indeed the mountainous region or the district on the border of Assyria and Media towards Armenia, as the place to which the ten tribes were banished (vid., Wichelhaus ut sup . pp. 474ff.). Not only Ewald ( Gesch . iii. p. 612), but also M. v. Niebuhr ( Gesch. Ass . p. 159), has decided in favour of this view; the latter with this remark: "According to the present state of the investigations, Chalah and Chabor are no doubt to be sought for on the slope of the Gordyaean mountains in the Kalachene of Strabo, the Kalakine of Ptolemaeus, and on the tributary of the Tigris, which is still called Chabur, therefore quite close to Nineveh. The Yudhi mountains in this region possibly bear this name with some allusion to the colony."But with reference to the river Gozan , Niebuhr is doubtful whether we are to understand by this the Kisil Ozan or the waters, in the district of Gauzanitis by the Kehbar, and gives the preference to the latter as the simpler of the two, though it is difficulty to see in what respect it is simpler than the other.)

The last locality mentioned agrees with this, viz., "and in the cities of Media,"in which Thenius proposes to read הרי , mountains, after the lxx, instead of ערי , cities, though without the least necessity.

Constable: 2Ki 9:30--18:1

C. The Second Period of Antagonism 9:30-17:41

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah continued without an alliance between them for the rest of the time the Northern Kingdom existed. This period began with Jehu's accession to the throne in 841 B.C. and continued until the Assyrian captivity of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C.

Constable: 2Ki 17:1-6

16. Hoshea's evil reign in Israel 17:1-6

Hosea was Israel's last king. He reigned in Samaria for 9 years (732-722 B.C.). He was a bad king, but he was not as bad as his predecessors.¹⁰⁸

Shalmaneser V (727-722 B.C.) had succeeded his father Tiglath-Pileser III on Assyria's throne. Hoshea became the servant of Assyria rather than of Yahweh (v. 3). However he was not a faithful servant even of Shalmaneser (v. 4). This led to the end of his freedom and the siege of his capital (vv. 4-5). Samaria fell to Assyria in 722 B.C., and a second deportation of the population to various parts of the Assyrian empire followed in harmony with Assyria's policy toward conquered peoples (cf. 15:29).¹⁰⁹

"So" (v. 4) may be the Hebrew pronunciation of the Egyptian capital, Sais, rather than the name of a pharaoh.¹¹⁰ The verse so translated would read ". . . who had sent messengers to So [to the] king of Egypt," as in the NIV margin. Alternatively So may have been Pharaoh Tefnakht¹¹¹ or Pharaoh Piankhy.¹¹²

As God had promised, the Israelites' apostasy had resulted in their scattering among other peoples (Deut. 28:64). According to 1 Chronicles 7 some members of the ten northern tribes returned to the Promised Land at the end of the 70-year Babylonian Captivity. Apparently most of the Northern Kingdom exiles intermarried and lost their identity among the other Semitic people among whom they went to live. There is no evidence that the "ten lost tribes" became the American Indians, the Afghans, the Armenians, the Nestorians, or the English, as some cults claim.

Israel had suffered for 209 years under 20 different kings from 9 dynasties. Seven of these kings died at the hands of assassins. All of them were evil. They did not comply with the will of Yahweh as contained in the Mosaic Law and the revelations of His prophets.

Guzik: 2Ki 17:1-41

2 Kings 17 - The Fall of Israel

A. The fall of Samaria.

1. (1-2) The evil reign of Hoshea.

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

a. Hoshea the son of Elah: We last saw Hoshea in 2 Kings 15:30, as the man who led a conspiracy against Pekah, the king of Israel. After the successful assassination, Hoshea took the throne and started his own brief dynasty.

b. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him: Hoshea was an evil man, but by no means the worst of the kings of Israel. Sadly, his bloody overthrow of the preceding king and violent ascent to power did not make him unusually evil among the kings of Israel.

i. "He seems not to have inaugurated or continued the anti-Yahwistic practices for which Israel itself is condemned." (Wiseman)

ii. This reminds us that judgment may not come at the height of sin. When God judges a nation or a culture, He has the big picture in view. For that reason, the actual events of judgment may come when things are not as bad in a relative sense.

iii. "It is not the last sand that exhausteth the hour-glass, nor the last stroke of the axe that felleth the tree; so here." (Trapp)

2. (3-4) Hoshea's futile resistance against Assyria.

Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money. And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

a. Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money: In the pattern of Mehahem before him (2 Kings 15:17-22), Hoshea accepted the status of vassal unto the king of Assyria. If he paid his money and did as the king of Assyria pleased, he would be allowed to continue on the throne of Israel.

i. Hoshea thought he had a strategic opportunity when a new king came to the Assyrian throne, but he was wrong. "When Tiglath-pileser III died in 727 B.C. and was succeeded by his own son Shalmaneser V (727-722), the time seemed ripe for certain western states to renounce their vassal status. Moreover, a seemingly important ally lay southward in the delta of Egypt." (Patterson and Austel)

b. And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea: King Hoshea hoped to find help among the Egyptians, who were in a constant power struggle with the Assyrian Empire. On account of this conspiracy, and the failure to pay the yearly tribute money, Hoshea was imprisoned by the king of Assyria.

i. As we might expect among the kings of Israel, Hoshea did not look to the LORD for help - he looked to Egypt. Therefore, Hosea said of him: As for Samaria, her king is cut off like a twig on the water. (Hosea 10:7)

ii. The reference to So, king of Egypt, is probably better understood as a reference to a place - Sais, which was at that time the capital of Egypt. "Thus understood, v. 4 would read 'he had sent envoys to Sais (even unto) the king of Egypt.' " (Patterson and Austel)

3. (5-6) The northern kingdom of Israel is finally conquered by the Assyrians.

Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

a. The king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years: This was a long, dedicated campaign to finally crush the rebellious Kingdom of Israel, who had defied the power of the Assyrian Empire. Though it took a three-year siege, it was worth it to the Assyrians.

i. Three years: "The fact that it took Assyria that long to break Samaria's resistance is a testimony to the good wall Omri and Ahab had built around the capital city." (Dilday)

ii. This shows us that when God brings His judgment, He may use human instruments to do it.

b. The king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria: When Samaria finally fell and the northern kingdom was conquered, the Assyrians implemented their policy towards conquered nations. They deported all but the very lowest classes back to the key cities of their empire, either to train and utilize the talented or to enslave the able.

i. 200 years and 19 kings after the time of Solomon (the last king over a united Israel), the northern kingdom of Israel fell. It was not because the God of Israel was unable to help them, but because they had so forsaken that God and ignored His guidance and correction that He finally stopped actively protecting them and let them rot and degrade according to their desire.

ii. As they carried Israel away to Assyria, they followed their typical custom. When the Assyrians depopulated and exiled a conquered community, they led the captives away on journeys of hundreds of miles, with the captives naked and attached together with a system of strings and fishhooks pierced through their lower lip. God would make sure they were led in this humiliating manner through the broken walls of their conquered cities (Amos 4:2-3).

iii. This shows another principle of God's judgment: When it comes, it is often humiliating and degrading.

iv. It seems that Sargon II, the brother and successor of Shalmaneser, finished this siege or at least took credit for it: "The men of Samaria with their king were hostile to me and consorted together not to carry out their vassal obligations and bring tribute to me, so they fought me . . . I clashed with them and took as booty 27,280 people with their chariots and their gods in whom they trusted. I incorporated 200 chariots into my army. The rest of the people I made to dwell within Assyria. I restored the city of Samaria and made it greater than before." (Inscribed Prisms of Sargon II from Nimrud, cited in Wiseman)

B. The reasons for the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel.

"The rest of this chapter is spent in vindicating the Divine providence and justice; showing the reason why God permitted such a desolation to fall on a people who had been so long his peculiar children." (Clarke)

1. (7) They disregarded the God of their redemption.

For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods,

a. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD: In the following verses, the divine historian explains the fundamental reasons for the conquering and captivity of the northern kingdom. At the root, it was a problem with sin. It wasn't geopolitical changes or social causes - it was sin.

b. They had feared other gods: In the central act of redemption in Old Testament history, God brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt. Remembrance of this act alone should prompt Israel to a single-hearted commitment to the LORD. Yet they did not remember this and instead they feared other gods, breaking the covenant God made with His people.

i. However, the kingdom of Israel had feared other gods since their founding some 200 years before this. This shows us another principle of God's judgment: It is often a long time in coming, because God holds back His judgment as long as possible.

2. (8) They conformed themselves to the godless nations around them.

And had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

a. And had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel: Before Israel occupied Canaan in the days of Joshua, the Promised Land was populated by degenerate, pagan peoples who practiced the worst kinds of idolatry and human sacrifice. One of the fundamental sins of Israel was that they followed in these ancient Canaanite ways.

i. Whom the LORD had cast out: God cast out the Canaanite nations in the days of Joshua because of these sins. Now He had cast out the northern kingdom of Israel for the same sins. God's judgment was not against the ancient Canaanites because of race or ethnicity; it was because of their conduct. As Israel shared the same conduct, they would share the same judgment.

b. Which they had made: It is a little difficult to say if what they made refers to the other gods mentioned in the previous verse or to the statutes mentioned in this verse. Either is valid or true. Men make both their laws and their idols after their own ingenuity and desire.

3. (9-12) Their secret and openly practiced idolatry.

Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger, for they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this thing."

a. Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right: Rebellion and sin cloud the judgment of men, and clearly the judgment of Israel was affected. Their judgment was impaired enough to think they could sin secretly against the God who sees everything.

b. They built for themselves high places in all their cities: These were places of unauthorized and idolatrous sacrifice, as were the sacred pillars.

c. Like the nations whom the LORD had carried away before them: The divine historian repeats this theme. The same sins that brought judgment upon the Canaanites also brought judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel.

4. (13-15) They rejected the repeated warnings from God.

Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets." Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them.

a. Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets: In love, God sent prophets to the northern and southern kingdoms. Their message was a warning against the sins that corrupted God's people and separated them from their God. They invited God's people with the theme, "Turn from your evil ways."

b. Nevertheless they would not hear: God sent these messengers to help Israel and to spare them the judgment that would come if they did not turn from their evil ways. Yet God's people became more stubborn when God brought this call to repentance, and they sunk deeper into sin.

i. When God brings judgment, He first brings warning - and often many warnings over a long period. It is only after these warnings are rejected that the judgment comes.

ii. "Their sin was first against law, but finally it was against patient love." (Morgan)

iii. But stiffened their necks: "Refused to submit their neck to the yoke of God's precepts; a metaphor from stubborn oxen, that make their necks hard, or stiff, and will not bow to the yoke." (Poole)

c. They followed idols, became idolaters: The NIV translates this, "They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless." The NASB has it, "They followed vanity and became vain."

i. "The original is more accurate at this point: 'They worshipped emptiness and became empty.' The word here is hebel meaning 'air,' 'delusion,' or 'vanity.' The idea is that they became like the gods they worshipped. They bowed down to nothingness and became nothing." (Dilday)

5. (16-23) They forsook God and served idols - until judgment finally came.

So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone. Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His sight. For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them commit a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

a. Made for themselves a molded image and two calves: This refers to the infamous sin of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:26-29). This state-sponsored idolatry did not immediately ruin the kingdom - the northern kingdom of Israel lasted as an independent nation for another 200 years following the time of Jeroboam. Yet it certainly was the beginning of the end.

b. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire: This refers to the abominable worship of the idol Molech, to whom children were burned in sacrifice.

c. Practiced witchcraft and soothsaying: The northern tribes embraced the same occult practices that the Canaanite tribes before them. Collectively, these great sins of idolatry provoked God to anger.

d. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone: This was the end of the ten northern tribes as an independent kingdom. When they were dispersed by the Assyrians, some assimilated into other cultures, but others kept their Jewish identity as exiles in other lands.

i. Yet, it is a mistake to think of these ten northern tribes as lost. Far back in the days of Jeroboam and his original break with the southern kingdom of Judah, the legitimate priests and Levites who lived in the northern ten tribes did not like the Jeroboam's idolatry. They, along with others who set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel, then moved from the northern kingdom of Israel to the southern kingdom of Judah (2 Chronicles 11:13-16). So actually, the southern kingdom of Judah contained Israelites from all of the ten tribes.

ii. Considering all this, we can say that the ten northern tribes were not lost, and they certainly did not migrate to Britain in accord with some British-Israelite theories.

· Some (in particular, the godly of that day) migrated to the southern kingdom of Judah in the days of Jeroboam I.

· Some assimilated into other cultures.

· Some kept their Jewish culture and identity in the lands of their exile.

e. Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made: Spiritually speaking, Judah was more faithful to God than the northern kingdom of Israel. Yet they also began to imitate their sinful neighbors to the north.

i. Judah had the lesson right in front of them - the conquered nation of Israel was evidence of what happened when hearts turned from God. Yet they ignored these plain lessons and imitated the sins of Israel.

f. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight: The summary of Israel's sin is simply that they were given over to idolatry. The worshipped the true God in a false way and then began to also worship false gods.

C. The resettlement of Samaria.

1. (24-26) God warns the foreigners who are resettled in Samaria.

Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land."

a. Then the king of Assyria brought people: The policy of the Assyrian Empire was to remove rebellious, resistant people and to resettle their former lands with people from other parts of the empire.

i. "Not only did the Assyrian monarchs hope to make the repopulated and reconstituted districts more manageable, but they hoped to train and encourage the citizenry to transfer their loyalties to the Assyrian Empire." (Patterson and Austel)

b. They did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them: This shows that there was not only something special about the kingdom of Israel, but also something special about the land of Israel. God demanded to be feared among the people of the land, even if they came from other nations.

i. "Perhaps because many unburied bodies still remained after the bloody warfare and due to the depopulating of the land, voracious lions began to roam freely through the area." (Patterson and Austel)

ii. Zechariah 2:12 tells us that the land of Israel is the Holy Land. God regards it as something special, and will hold accountable those who live there and do not fear Him.

iii. "Hereby also God asserted his own right and sovereignty over that land, and made them to understand that neither the Israelites were cast out nor they brought into that land by their valour or strength, but by God's providence." (Poole)

c. Because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land: These Assyrian officials seemed to know what the recently-conquered kingdom of Israel did not know - that they had to honor the God of Israel. Yet, any faith in God among these resettled people was founded in simple fear of the lions - leading to an inadequate relationship with God.

i. "He did send lions among them, and it was these lions that converted them. Their teeth and fangs and fiery eyes and the thunders of their roars converted them. They must have a god to deliver them: they could not bear the lions, therefore they must fear the Lord who could send lions, and who perhaps would cease to send them. Now, dear friends, always be somewhat diffident of your own conversion if you can trace it only and solely to motives of terror." (Spurgeon)

2. (27-33) A religion for Samaria is established.

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land." Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the LORD, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods; according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

a. Taught them how they should fear the LORD: The priesthood of the kingdom of Israel was corrupt, but the king of Assyria did not know and was not interested in the pure religion of Israel. Therefore this nameless, corrupt priest taught the new inhabitants of the land a corrupt religion.

i. Certainly, it had elements of the true faith in it; but at the same time it was corrupted by the centuries of state-sponsored idolatry that reigned in Israel.

b. Every nation continued to make gods of its own: The priest-for-hire brought in by the Assyrians did not tell the new inhabitants of the land that they must only worship the LORD God of Israel. He did not teach it because, coming from Israel, he did not believe it.

c. They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods: This described the pagan peoples that the Assyrians brought into populate the area of the northern kingdom of Israel. They gave a measure of respect to the God of Israel - after all, they did not want to be eaten by lions. Yet they also served their own gods and picked and chose among religious and spiritual beliefs as it pleased them.

· This accurately described the pagan peoples who re-populated Israel.

· This accurately described the northern kingdom of Israel before they were conquered and exiled.

· This accurately describes common religious belief in the modern world.

i. "Are you sure this is not a true description of your own position? You pay an outward deference to God by attending his house, and acknowledging his day, whilst you are really prostrating yourself before other shrines." (Meyer)

ii. "Is not worldly piety, or pious worldliness, the current religion of England? They live among godly people, and God chastens them, and they therefore fear him, but not enough to give their hearts to him. They seek out a trimming teacher who is not too precise and plain-spoken, and they settle down comfortably to a mongrel faith, half truth, half error, and a mongrel worship half dead form, and half orthodoxy." (Spurgeon)

iii. "Let me be right, and let there be no mistake about it; but do not let me try to be both right and wrong, washed and filthy, white and black, a child of God and a child of Satan." (Spurgeon)

3. (34-41) The continuance of this false religion.

To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the LORD had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel, with whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying: "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; but the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. So these nations feared the LORD, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children's children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

a. To this day they continue practicing the former rituals: The area of the northern kingdom of Israel was not re-occupied by Judah before their own subjugation and conquest by the Babylonian empire. This mixed religion first promoted by the Assyrians continued for many centuries in Samaria, existing even until New Testament times.

i. It seems that God was more lenient with these Samaritans of corrupt belief than He was with disobedient Israel. This teaches us that those with more revelation from God are held to stricter account before Him.

ii. Yet, 2 Chronicles 30:10-19 shows us that in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, there were some worshippers of the true God among the area that was formerly the northern kingdom of Israel. Some responded to his invitation to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem.

b. But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies: The writer states this to remind us that if Israel had been faithful - even moderately faithful - to their covenant with God, they would still stand. God would have delivered them from all of their enemies. Instead, they were conquered by the Assyrian Empire after their own self-destruction in sin and rebellion.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: 2Ki 17:4

2 KINGS 17:4 —How can this verse mention a king of Egypt named “So” when there are no records of such a king?

PROBLEM: When Shalmaneser king of Assyria came to do battle with Hoshea king of Israel, Shalmaneser discovered a conspiracy which Hoshea had begun when he “sent messengers to So, king of Egypt” ( 2 Kings 17:4 ). However, besides this statement in the Bible, there are no records of a king of Egypt named So. Is this an error?

SOLUTION: The name translated “So” can also be translated “Sais” which was the name of the capital city of Tefnakht the king of Egypt at the time Hoshea ruled in Israel. Thus the passage should read, “He [Hoshea] sent to Sais, to the king of Egypt.” The word “So” in the NKJV is not the name of the king of Egypt, but of the capital city of the kingdom of Egypt. There is no error here.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF KINGS, in the ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible, constitute one book. Various titles have been given them; in the Septuagint and the Vulgate they are called the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. The authorship of these books is unknown; but the prevailing opinion is that they were compiled by Ezra, or one of the later prophets, from the ancient documents that are so frequently referred to in the course of the history as of public and established authority. Their inspired character was acknowledged by the Jewish Church, which ranked them in the sacred canon; and, besides, it is attested by our Lord, who frequently quotes from them (compare 1Ki 17:9; 2Ki 5:14 with Luk 4:24-27; 1Ki 10:1 with Mat 12:42).

JFB: 2 Kings (Outline)

• MOAB REBELS. (2Ki 1:1)
• AHAZIAH'S JUDGMENT BY ELIJAH. (2Ki 1:2-8)
• ELIJAH BRINGS FIRE FROM HEAVEN ON AHAZIAH'S MESSENGERS. (2Ki 1:9-16)
• AHAZIAH DIES, AND IS SUCCEEDED BY JEHORAM. (2Ki 1:17-18)
• ELIJAH DIVINES JORDAN. (2Ki 2:1-10)
• HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A CHARIOT OF FIRE. (2Ki 2:11-18)
• ELISHA HEALS THE WATERS. (2Ki 2:19-25)
• JEHORAM'S EVIL REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 3:1-3)
• MESHA, KING OF MOAB, REBELS. (2Ki 3:4-5)
• ELISHA PROMISES WATER AND VICTORY OVER MOAB. (2Ki. 3:6-24)
• ELISHA AUGMENTS THE WIDOW'S OIL. (2Ki 4:1-7)
• PROMISES A SON TO THE SHUNAMMITE. (2Ki 4:8-17)
• RAISES HER DEAD SON. (2Ki. 4:18-37)
• PURIFIES DEADLY POTTAGE. (2Ki 4:38-41)
• SATISFIES A HUNDRED MEN WITH TWENTY LOAVES. (2Ki 4:42-44)
• NAAMAN'S LEPROSY. (2Ki 5:1-7)
• ELISHA SENDS HIM TO JORDAN, AND HE IS HEALED. (2Ki 5:8-15)
• ELISHA REFUSES NAAMAN'S GIFTS. (2Ki 5:15-19)
• GEHAZI, BY A LIE, OBTAINS A PRESENT, BUT IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (2Ki 5:20-27)
• ELISHA CAUSES IRON TO SWIM. (2Ki 6:1-7)
• DISCLOSES THE KING OF SYRIA'S COUNSEL. (2Ki 6:8-17)
• HIS ARMY SMITTEN WITH BLINDNESS. (2Ki 6:18-23)
• BEN-HADAD BESIEGES SAMARIA. (2Ki 6:24-33)
• ELISHA PROPHESIES INCREDIBLE PLENTY IN SAMARIA. (2Ki. 7:1-16)
• THE UNBELIEVING LORD TRODDEN TO DEATH. (2Ki 7:17-20)
• THE SHUNAMMITE'S LAND RESTORED. (2Ki 8:1-6)
• HAZAEL KILLS HIS MASTER, AND SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 8:7-15)
• JEHORAM'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ki 8:16-23)
• AHAZIAH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 8:24)
• JEHU IS ANOINTED. (2Ki. 9:1-23)
• AHAZIAH IS SLAIN. (2Ki 9:27-35)
• JEZEBEL EATEN BY DOGS. (2Ki 9:36-37)
• JEHU CAUSES SEVENTY OF AHAB'S CHILDREN TO BE BEHEADED. (2Ki. 10:1-17)
• HE DESTROYS THE WORSHIPPERS OF BAAL. (2Ki 10:18-29)
• JEHOASH SAVED FROM ATHALIAH'S MASSACRE. (2Ki 11:1-3)
• HE IS MADE KING. (2Ki 11:4-12)
• ATHALIAH SLAIN. (2Ki 11:13-16)
• JEHOIADA RESTORES GOD'S WORSHIP. (2Ki 11:17-20)
• JEHOASH REIGNS WELL WHILE JEHOIADA LIVED. (2Ki. 12:1-18)
• HE IS SLAIN. (2Ki 12:19-21)
• JEHOAHAZ'S WICKED REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 13:1-7)
• JOASH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki. 13:8-25)
• AMAZIAH'S GOOD REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki 14:1-6)
• HE SMITES EDOM. (2Ki 14:7)
• JOASH DEFEATS HIM. (2Ki 14:8-16)
• HE IS SLAIN BY A CONSPIRACY. (2Ki 14:17-20)
• AZARIAH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 14:21-22)
• JEROBOAM'S WICKED REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 14:23-29)
• AZARIAH'S REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki 15:1-7)
• ZECHARIAH'S REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 15:8-16)
• MENAHEM'S REIGN. (2Ki 15:17-21)
• PEKAHIAH'S REIGN. (2Ki 15:22-24)
• PEKAH'S REIGN. (2Ki 15:27-31)
• JOTHAM'S REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki 15:32-38)
• AHAZ' WICKED REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki. 16:1-16)
• HE SPOILS THE TEMPLE. (2Ki 16:17-19)
• HOSHEA'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ki 17:1-6)
• SAMARIA TAKEN, AND ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS CARRIED CAPTIVE. (2Ki. 17:7-41)
• HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ki 18:1-3)
• HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 18:4-37)
• SENNACHERIB BESIEGES JERUSALEM. (2Ki. 18:17-37)
• HEZEKIAH IN DEEP AFFLICTION. (2Ki 19:1-5)
• COMFORTED BY ISAIAH. (2Ki 19:6-7)
• SENNACHERIB SENDS A BLASPHEMOUS LETTER TO HEZEKIAH. (2Ki 19:8-13)
• HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER. (2Ki. 19:14-34)
• AN ANGEL DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS. (2Ki 19:35-36)
• SENNACHERIB SLAIN. (2Ki 19:37)
• HEZEKIAH'S LIFE LENGTHENED. (2Ki 20:1-7)
• THE SUN GOES TEN DEGREES BACKWARD. (2Ki 20:8-20)
• MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN, AND GREAT IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 21:1-18)
• AMON'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ki 21:19-26)
• JOSIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ki 22:1-2)
• HE PROVIDES FOR THE REPAIR OF THE TEMPLE. (2Ki 22:3-7)
• HILKIAH FINDS THE BOOK OF THE LAW. (2Ki 22:8-15)
• JOSIAH CAUSES THE LAW TO BE READ. (2Ki 23:1-3)
• HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 23:4-28)
• JEHOIAKIM PROCURES HIS OWN RUIN. (2Ki 24:1-7)
• JEHOIACHIN SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 24:8-9)
• JERUSALEM TAKEN. (2Ki 24:10-16)
• ZEDEKIAH'S EVIL REIGN. (2Ki 24:17-20)
• JERUSALEM AGAIN BESIEGED. (2Ki 25:1-3)
• ZEDEKIAH TAKEN. (2Ki. 25:4-30)

TSK: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

The events detailed in these books (Kings) are highly interesting and important. The account of the wisdom, magnificence, and extended commerce of Solomon; the rash and impolitic conduct of Rehoboam; the disobedient prophet; the widow of Zarephath; Elijah and the prophets of Baal; Ben-hadad’s pride and defeat; Elijah’s assumption into heaven; Elisha’s succession to his ministry, and the series of illustrious miracles he performed; the panic flight of the Syrians; the history of Ben-hadad and Hazael; and the predicted death of Ahab and Jezebel, and their children, are all pregnant with instruction, and have furnished themes for frequent dissertation. We perceive in these impressive histories the characters and qualities of men painted with the utmost fidelity, and the attributes of God displayed with great effect. we contemplate the exact accomplishment of God’s promises and threatenings, the wisdom of his dispensations, and the mingled justice and mercy of his government. The particulars and circumstances are sketched out with a brief and lively description, and the imagination lingers with pleasure in filling up the striking outlines presented to our view. The authenticity of these books is attested by the prophecies they contain, which were subsequently fulfilled; by the citation of our Saviour and his Apostles; by their universal reception by the Jewish and Christian churches; and by the corresponding testimonies of profane authors and ancient sculptures.

TSK: 2 Kings 17 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ki 17:1, Hoshea’s wicked reign; 2Ki 17:3, Being subdued by Shalmaneser, he conspires against him with So, king of Egypt; 2Ki 17:5, Samaria for sinning is led into captivity; 2Ki 17:24, The strange nations which were transplanted into Samaria, being plagued with lions, make a mixture of religions.

Poole: 2 Kings 17 (Chapter Introduction)

KINGS CHAPTER 17

Hoshea king of Israel, his wicked reign: being subdued by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, he conspireth against him with So king of Egypt: he is besieged; taken prisoner; and with all the people carried captive to Assyria for their sins, 2Ki 17:1-23 . The strange nations transplanted into Samaria are plagued with lions: an Israelitish priest is sent to them; whence followeth a mixture of religious, 2Ki 17:24-41 .

MHCC: 2 Kings 17 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Ki 17:1-6) Reign of Hoshea in Israel, The israelites carried captives by the Assyrians.

(v. 7-23) Captivity of the Israelites.

(v. 24-41) The nations placed in the land of Israel.

Matthew Henry: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Book of Kings

This second book of the Kings (which the Septuagint, numbering from Samuel, called the fourth ) is a continuation of the former book; and, some think, might better have been made to begin with the fifty-first verse of the foregoing chapter, where the reign of Ahaziah begins. The former book had an illustrious beginning, in the glories of the kingdom of Israel, when it was entire; this has a melancholy conclusion, in the desolations of the kingdoms of Israel first, and then of Judah, after they had been long broken into two: for a kingdom divided against itself cometh to destruction. But, as Elijah's mighty works were very much the glory of the former book, towards the latter end of it, so were Elisha's the glory of this, towards the beginning of it. These prophets out-shone their princes; and therefore, as far as they go, the history shall be accounted for in them. Here is, I. Elijah fetching fire from heaven and ascending in fire to heaven, ch. 1 and 2. II. Elisha working many miracles, both for prince and people, Israelites and foreigners, ch. 3-7. III. Hazael and Jehu anointed, the former for the correction of Israel, the latter for the destruction of the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal, ch. 8-10. IV. The reign of several of the kings, both of Judah and Israel, ch. 11-16. V. The captivity of the ten tribes, ch. 17. VI. The good and glorious reign of Hezekiah, ch. 18-20. VII. Manassah's wicked reign, and Josiah's good one, ch. 21-23. VIII. The destruction of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon, ch. 24 and 25. This history, in the several passages of it, confirms that observation of Solomon, That righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is the reproach of any people.

Matthew Henry: 2 Kings 17 (Chapter Introduction)

This chapter gives us an account of the captivity of the ten tribes, and so finishes the history of that kingdom, after it had continued about 265 years, from the setting up of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. In it we have, I. A short narrative of this destruction (2Ki 17:1-6). II. Remarks upon it, and the causes of it, for the justifying of God in it and for warning to others (v. 7-23). III. An account of the nations which succeeded them in the possession of their land, and the mongrel religion set up among them (v. 24-41).

Constable: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Second Kings continues the narrative begun in 1 Kings. It opens with the translation of godly Elijah to heaven and closes with the transportation of the ungodly Jews to Babylon. For discussion of title, writer, date, and scope of 2 Kings, see the introductory section in my notes on 1 Kings.

Message¹

Second Kings is a sequel to 1 Kings. First Kings covers about one and a half centuries and 2 Kings about three centuries. In both books the two thrones are in view: the earthly and the heavenly.

First Kings emphasizes the facts of these thrones. The earthly throne consistently failed, but the heavenly throne consistently prevailed. Second Kings emphasizes the consequences that result from each of these situations. Its major value is its revelation of the failure of man and the victory of God.

The failure of man comes through the content of this book, but the victory of God comes through the pre-exilic prophets who wrote during the three centuries covered in 2 Kings. These prophets were Hosea, Amos, and Jonah in Israel. In Judah they were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

Notice first the revelation of this book concerning human failure.

The reason the nations failed was the people lost their vision of Yahweh. We can see this quite clearly in the attitudes and actions of the kings. Most of the kings were evil because they had no vision of the throne in heaven. They did not appreciate their position under God. A few of them were good, but even these fell short of the standard of devotion to God that David had set. Some of them conducted reforms, but none of them removed the places of pagan worship in the land (the "high places"). Essentially they conducted state business with little concern for God. Idolatry and foreign alliances are the evidence that the people lacked a vision of God. Another evidence of this is the people's inability to perceive their national setbacks as divine discipline. The prophets were constantly trying to help the people see this.

The method by which the nations failed was the people forgot their national vocation. They developed, on the one hand, an improper exclusiveness. They did not believe God could have any pity or mercy on any other people but themselves. Jonah demonstrated this attitude. On the other hand, they failed to be exclusive as God meant them to be. They formed alliances with other nations contrary to God's will. God intended His people to be a blessing to all other people and to trust in Him alone. The people not only lost their vision of God, they also lost their vision of their own vocation as a unique nation in the world (Exod. 19:5).

The evidence that the nations failed was the people lost their spiritual sensitivity. It is amazing but true that the ministry of the writing prophets that occupies so much space in the Old Testament was very ineffective in their own day (e.g., Isa. 53:1). The religious reformations that did take place were fairly superficial (cf. 2 Kings 22:8-20). When Hezekiah began his reform it took 16 days simply to carry the accumulated rubbish out of the temple (2 Chron. 29:17). In Josiah's day not even one copy of the Law was available until someone discovered one among the debris in the temple. When the people heard it read they were completely unfamiliar with it (2 Chron. 34:14-21).

Notice too in this book the revelation concerning the victory of God. There is much evidence of this as well.

The reason for God's victory is traceable to His promise, with an oath, to bless Abraham's descendants (Gen. 22:16-18). He will allow nothing to keep Him from fulfilling that promise. His covenant with Abraham underlies all of His dealings with the Israelites that this book documents. Remember that the Davidic Covenant grew out of the Abrahamic Covenant. God's covenants rested on His love.

The method by which God accomplished victory was by using the prophets as His messengers to communicate with His people and by using direct intervention to control their history.

The evidence of God's victory is the continued existence of the physical seed of Abraham. The Jews still exist today. Arnold Toynbe, the historian, called the Jews a fossil race. God has preserved them to fulfill His purposes on the earth. So even though they failed Him, He has not failed them.

I would summarize the message of 2 Kings, therefore, as follows. Though people fail God, God will not fail people. This is foundational to the doctrine of eternal security that the New Testament expounds more fully.

The main reason the Israelites failed God was they lost sight of Him. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision (of God) the people cast off restraint." When people lose sight of God their ideals deteriorate. They turn to idolatry to fill the vacuum left by God's absence. Also, their purposes suffer defeat. They do not achieve fulfillment or realize their destiny. Furthermore their consciences become dead. They become unresponsive to the Word of God. You have a high calling. Point people to God.

On the other hand, God will never fail humanity (Isa. 42:1, 4). The man who said this, Isaiah, could do so because He did not lose sight of God. His vision of God was clear and great (Isa. 1:1; 6:1). It enabled him to maintain confidence in the throne in heaven when the throne on earth was failing terribly (Isa. 40:27-31). Is your confidence in God? Many evangelicals are wringing their hand in distress because the Christian cause seems to be suffering in America. God is still on His throne.

If we are to serve our generation faithfully, we must see God. When we do, we will find inspiration in the certainty of His ultimate victory. How can we keep God in our view? Read the Word daily. Pray. Bring Him into all your decisions, your worries, your fears. Do not lose sight of Him for one day. Do not forget your vocation in life (Matt. 28:19-20). Ask God to keep you spiritually sensitive.

Constable: 2 Kings (Outline)

Outline

(Continued from notes on 1 Kings)

3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:18

4. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:15

5. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-24

6. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29

C. The second period of antagonism 9:30-17:41

1. Jehu's evil reign in Israel 9:30-10:36

2. Athaliah's evil reign in Judah 11:1-20

3. Jehoash's good reign in Judah 11:21-12:21

4. Jehoahaz's evil reign in Israel 13:1-9

5. Jehoash's evil reign in Israel 13:10-25

6. Amaziah's good reign in Judah 14:1-22

7. Jeroboam II's evil reign in Israel 14:23-29

8. Azariah's good reign in Judah 15:1-7

9. Zechariah's evil reign in Israel 15:8-12

10. Shallum's evil reign in Israel 15:13-16

11. Menahem's evil reign in Israel 15:17-22

12. Pekahiah's evil reign in Israel 15:23-26

13. Pekah's evil reign in Israel 15:27-31

14. Jotham's good reign in Judah 15:32-38

15. Ahaz's evil reign in Judah ch. 16

16. Hoshea's evil reign in Israel 17:1-6

17. The captivity of the Northern Kingdom 17:7-41

III. The surviving kingdom chs. 18-25

A. Hezekiah's good reign chs. 18-20

1. Hezekiah's goodness 18:1-12

2. Sennacherib's challenge to Hezekiah 18:13-37

3. Yahweh's immediate encouragement 19:1-13

4. Hezekiah's prayer 19:14-19

5. Yahweh's answer 19:20-37

6. Hezekiah's illness and recovery 20:1-11

7. The prophecy of Babylonian captivity 20:12-19

8. Hezekiah's death 20:20-21

B. Manasseh's evil reign 21:1-18

C. Amon's evil reign 21:19-26

D. Josiah's good reign 22:1-23:30

1. Josiah's goodness 22:1-2

2. Josiah's reforms 22:3-23:27

3. Josiah's death 23:28-30

E. Jehoahaz's evil reign 23:31-35

F. Jehoiakim's evil reign 23:36-24:7

G. Jehoiachin's evil reign 24:8-17

H. Zedekiah's evil reign 24:18-25:7

I. The captivity of the Southern Kingdom 25:8-30

Constable: 2 Kings

2 Kings

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

This Book brings us to the conclusion of the kingdom of Israel, (chap. xvii.) and to the captivity of Juda, at Babylon, chap. xxv. We behold some virtuous princes reigning over the two tribes [of Juda and Benjamin], while the ten were uniformly governed by men of perverse morals. (Worthington) --- Yet there were some who adhered to the Lord in both kingdoms. David and his descendants (Haydock) occupy the throne near 480 years; and, after the captivity, continue in some degree of honour till the coming of Christ. (Worthington) --- But various families rule over Israel; some by usurpation, (Haydock) others by God's appointment: who thus chooses to chastise the wicked. He still watches over his Church, and sends his prophets for the instruction of all. (Worthington) --- We have enquired in the preface of the former Book, who composed this. (Haydock) --- The kingdom of Israel subsists about 250, (Worthignton) or 254 years. This Book contains the transactions of 308 years. (Calmet) --- But the chronology is extremely perplexed. To the sixth year of Ezechias, when Israel was led away captive, the kingdom of Juda seems to have lasted 260, and that of Israel only 241 years, though they both commenced at the same period. The errors regard the kings of Isreal, according to Houbigant, who would assign the following years to the respective kings of Juda and Israel. 1. Of Juda: Solomon, 40; Roboam, 17; Abiam, 3; Asa, 41, Josaphat, 25; Joram, 8; Ochozias, 1; (the same is said to have begun to reign in the preceding year, the 11th of Joram, 4 Kings ix. 29, incorrectly) Athalia, 6; Joas, 40; Amasias, 29p; (he reigns 15 after the death of Joas, king of Isreal) Azarias, 52; Joatham, 16; Achaz, 16; Ezechias, 6; in which year, the three hundredth from the commencement of Solomon's reign, and the two hundred and sixtieth of the kingdom of Juda, Samaria was taken. 2. The kings of Israel: Jeroboam, 22; Nadab, 2; Baasa, 24; Ela, 2; Zambri, 7 days; Amri, 12; Achab, 22; Ochozias, 2; Joram, 12; Jehu, 28; Joachaz, 17; Joas, 16; Jeroboam, 41; Zacharias, 10½; (in the text 10 is omitted.; Haydock) Sellum, 1 month; Manahem, 10; Phaceia, 2; Phacee, 30; (in the text, 20.; Haydock) Osee, 9; in all, 261½ years, (Houbigant, Chron. Sac.) or 261 years and 7 months. The variation of 19 months, which still appears, may be owing to some of the years being incomplete. (Haydock) --- 3. After a reign of 28 years over Juda, Ezechias is succeeded by Manasses, who reigns 55: Amon, 2; Josias, 31; Joachaz, a few months; Eliacim, or Joakim, 11; Joachin, Conias, or Jechonias, had reigned ten years with his father. After three months and ten days reigning alone, he is led away to Babylon with part of the people. Matthanias, or Sedecias, is appointed in his stead; but proving refractory, is also, after nine years, deprived of his sight, and conducted with 832 of his subjects to Babylon. Nabuchodonosor had already led away 3023, under Joachin. After the death of Godolias, who was left to govern the miserable remains of the people, the year of the world 3417, he made 745 more captives, and thus an end was put to the kingdom of Juda. The scourge had been retarded for some time, by the repentance of Manasses, and the prayers of the prophets. (Calmet)

Gill: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS

This, and the preceding book, are properly but one book divided into two parts, because of the size of it, as the book of Samuel; it is a continuation of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah; and for a further account of it the reader is referred to the title of the preceding book.

Gill: 2 Kings 17 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 17

This chapter relates the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel, and how it came about, 2Ki 17:1, the cause of it, their idolatry, which they persisted in, notwithstanding the remonstrances made against it, 2Ki 17:7, in whose stead were placed people from different parts, who exercised a mixed religion, partly Heathenish, and partly Israelitish, 2Ki 17:24.