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2 Kings

2 Kingschapter 17

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Foreign Nations Are Slain by Lions in Samaria — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

A.Hoshea's treachery, three years of siege, and exile to Halahvv. 1-6

1 In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. 3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

B.The long indictment: they walked in the statutes of the nationsvv. 7-23

7 All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger. 12 They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.” 13 Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. 15 They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate. 16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. 18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. 20 So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence. 21 When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them. 23 Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.

C.Imported peoples, lions sent among them, and a mixed religionvv. 24-33

24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns. 25 Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.” 28 Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD. 29 Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places. 33 They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.

D.They feared Jehovah, and served their graven imagesvv. 34-41

34 To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel. 35 For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them. 36 Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him. 37 And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. 38 Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods, 39 but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.” 40 But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs. 41 So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition
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Chapter summary

Samaria falls.

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾

Samaria falls. Hoshea sends to So king of Egypt and stops paying tribute; Shalmaneser besieges the city three years and takes it, and Israel is carried to Halah and Habor by the river of Gozan and the cities of the Medes. Then the narrator stops the chronicle and preaches the longest explanation in Kings: it happened because Israel sinned against the Jehovah who brought them out of Egypt. High places in every city, pillars and Asherim on every high hill, molten calves, the host of heaven, children passed through the fire, divination, and prophets sent again and again and not heard. Of the foreigners resettled there the verdict is exact: 'They feared Jehovah, and served their own gods.'

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Jeremiah — 2 Kings overview

  • A. 1–6 Hoshea's treachery, three years of siege, and exile to Halah
  • B. 7–23 The long indictment: they walked in the statutes of the nations
  • C. 24–33 Imported peoples, lions sent among them, and a mixed religion
  • D. 34–41 They feared Jehovah, and served their graven images
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
  • 2 Kings 178 verses
    • 2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
    • 2 Kings 17:13Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
    • 2 Kings 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
    • 2 Kings 17:24Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.
    • 2 Kings 17:29Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places.
    • 2 Kings 17:32So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.
    • Read 2 Kings 17: 2 more there →
  • 2 Kings 184 verses
    • 2 Kings 18:8He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
    • 2 Kings 18:9In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
    • 2 Kings 18:11The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
    • 2 Kings 18:34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
    • Read 2 Kings 18 →
  • 1 Kings 114 verses
    • 1 Kings 11:11Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
    • 1 Kings 11:13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
    • 1 Kings 11:31and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.
    • 1 Kings 11:36I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.
    • Read 1 Kings 11 →
  • 2 Kings 133 verses
    • 2 Kings 13:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.
    • 2 Kings 13:3So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
    • 2 Kings 13:6Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.
    • Read 2 Kings 13 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
  • 1 Kings 143 verses
    • 1 Kings 14:15For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
    • 1 Kings 14:22And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done.
    • 1 Kings 14:23They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
    • Read 1 Kings 14 →
  • 1 Kings 123 verses
    • 1 Kings 12:20When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
    • 1 Kings 12:29One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
    • 1 Kings 12:31Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
    • Read 1 Kings 12 →
  • 2 Kings 153 verses
    • 2 Kings 15:9And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.
    • 2 Kings 15:29In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
    • 2 Kings 15:30Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.
    • Read 2 Kings 15 →
  • 2 Kings 193 verses
    • 2 Kings 19:13Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
    • 2 Kings 19:36So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
    • 2 Kings 19:37One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
    • Read 2 Kings 19 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.