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 .

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 .

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.

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.

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.

In the statutes of the heathen i.e. according to the laws and customs of the heathen, in the worship of their Baals, and other of their sins. Which they had made, i.e. which the kings of Israel had ordained concerning the worship of the calves, and against their going up to Jerusalem to worship.

Things that were not right against the Lord: this belongs, either,

1. To their gross idolatries, and other abominable practices, which they were ashamed to own before others: compare Eze 8:12 . Or,

2. To the worship of calves; and so the words are otherwise rendered, and that agreeably to the Hebrew text, they cloaked, or disguised , or covered things that were not right against, or before, or towards the Lord , i.e. they covered their idolatrous worship of the calves with fair pretences of necessity, the two kingdoms being now divided, and at enmity; and of their honest intention of serving the true God, and retaining the substance of the Jewish religion, from which they alleged that they differed only in circumstances of worship.

From the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city in all parts and places, both in cities and in the country; yea, in the most uninhabited and neglected parts, where few or none dwell beside the watchmen, who are left there in towers, to preserve the cattle and fruits of the earth, or to give notice of the approach of enemies.

As did the heathen not only to the Lord, which was practised and tolerated sometimes in the kingdom of Judah; but also to the idols or Baals of the heathen.

Whom the Lord carried away before them for the same sins; by whose example they should have taken warning.

To provoke the Lord to anger i.e. in despite and contempt of God, and his authority and command, as the next verse shows.

Testified against Israel disowned, and gave testimony against their false worship, which they would fasten upon him, and against all their impieties.

By all the prophets, and by all the seers to whom he declared his mind by extraordinary revelations and visions, and by whom he published it to you, bearing witness from heaven to their doctrine by eminent and glorious miracles.

According to all the law which I commanded your fathers whereby he accuseth them of partiality, that they observed only those laws of God which they might safely keep, and lived in the constant breach of others, which their kings forbade them to observe.

Hardened their necks i.e. 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: See Poole "Deu 31:27" .

They followed vanity i.e. idols; oft so called, because of their nothingness, impotency, and unprofitableness; and to show the folly and madness of idolaters.

Became vain by the long worship of idols, they were made like them, vain, sottish, and senseless creatures.

They left all the commandments of the Lord they grew worse and worse; from a partial disobedience to some of God’ s laws, they fell by degrees to a total apostacy from all of them.

The host of heaven the stars, as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, &c. See Deu 4:19 .

Sold themselves to do evil of which phrase See Poole "1Ki 21:20" .

Out of his sight i.e. out of Canaan, the only place of God’ s solemn worship and gracious presence; or, out of his church.

The tribe of Judah only and the greatest part of the tribe of Benjamin, and those of the tribes of Simeon and Levi, who adhered to them, and were incorporated with them; and therefore very fitly denominated from them: See Poole "1Ki 11:13" .

Judah’ s idolatry and wickedness is here remembered, as an aggravation of the sin of the Israelites, which was not only evil in itself but scandalous and mischievous to their neighbour, who by heir examples were instructed in their wicked arts, and provoked to an imitation of them: see Hos 4:15 , and compare Mat 18:7 .

All the seed of Israel i.e. all the kingdom or tribes of Israel; first one part of them, 2Ki 15:29 , and now the rest. But this extends not to every individual person of these tribes; for many of them removed into the kingdom of Judah, and were associated with them, as appears from 2Ch 11:16 , and many other places.

They made Jeroboam king which action is here ascribed to the people, because they would not tarry till God, by his providence, had invested Jeroboam with the kingdom which he had promised him; but rashly, and unthankfully, and rebelliously rose up against the house of David, to which they had such great obligations, and set him upon the throne without God’ s leave or advice.

Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord he not only dissuaded, but kept them by force from God’ s worship at Jerusalem, the only place appointed for it.

A great sin so the worship of the calves is called, to meet with that idle conceit of the Israelites, who esteemed it a small sin, especially when they were forced to it by severe penalties; which yet he shows did not excuse it from being a sin, and a great sin too.

But willingly and resolutely followed the wicked example and commands of their kings, though contrary to God’ s express commands.

The Lord removed Israel out of his sight: they continued to the last obstinate and incorrigible under all the instructions and corrections which God sent to them; and therefore were most justly given up by God into this dreadful captivity; which all this foregoing discourse was designed to prove.

The king of Assyria either Shalmaneser, or rather his son and successor, Esar-haddon, Ezr 4:2 , because this was a work of some time; and as his father had projected, and possibly begun this, so he executed or finished it; whence it is ascribed to him, rather than to his father. Babylon then was subject to the Assyrian monarch; but a few years after revolted from him, and set up another king; as appears both from sacred and profane histories.

Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim ; several places then in his dominion.

They feared not the Lord they did not acknowledge nor worship God in any sort.

Therefore for this gross neglect and contempt of God, which was contrary to the principles and practices of the heathens, who used to worship the gods of the nations where they lived, and gave that honour to their false gods which here they denied to the true. 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, who as he had cast the Israelites out for their neglect of God’ s service, so both could and would in his due time turn them out also, if they were guilty of the same sins.

They spake i.e. they wrote, or sent messengers to him for relief.

Know not the manner of the God of the land they supposed the true God to be like one of their topical deities, who had their particular countries and provinces allotted to them.

One of the priests i.e. one of the chief of the priests, with others, to be under his inspection and direction, as may be gathered from the following words; where it is said of the same person, or persons,

let them go & c., and then,

let him teach & c. Nor is it probable that one priest could suffice for the instruction of the inhabitants of so many and distant parts.

i.e. The manner of God’ s worship, as it was practised in Israel; as may be gathered both from the quality of this person, who was all Israelitish priest; and from the place of his residence, Beth-el, a place infamous for the worship of the calves, and from the manner of their making priests by this man’ s direction, 2Ki 17:32 .

Made gods of their own or, worshipped , (as that verb is sometimes used; of which see Exo 32:35 ) i.e. those whom they worshipped in the places from whence they came, whose names here follow.

The Samaritans i.e. the former people, or inhabitants, not of the city, but of the kingdom of Samaria.

Of the lowest of them priests of the high places: See Poole "1Ki 12:31".

Which sacrificed for them to wit, unto the true God; for as to the worship of their own gods, they needed no instruction, and would not permit a person of another religion to minister therein.

They feared the Lord they worshipped God externally in that way which the Israelites used.

Served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence: these words belong, either,

1. To both the foregoing branches, and to the Israelites; and then the sense is, they trod in the steps of their predecessors, the Israelites, (who, in regard of their several tribes, are both here and elsewhere called nations,) who did, many of them, worship both God in their calves, and Baal too. Or,

2. To the last branch only; but then the words must be otherwise rendered, they served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from which they brought, or carried them, or from whence they (these new inhabitants) were brought, i.e. each of them served the god of the country or place whence he was brought, as is related above, 2Ki 17:30,31 . But these nations could not so properly be said to be carried away , or to be carried away captive , (as this Hebrew word signifies,) as the Israelites; and therefore the former interpretation seems more proper.

Unto this day they do either,

1. The Samaritans, whose religion he hath hitherto been describing, and to the description whereof he returns, 2Ki 17:41 . So the following verses are a digression, wherein he designs only to take an occasion to compare them with the Israelites, and to aggravate the sins of the Israelites above theirs, which he doth, 2Ki 17:35 , &c., and then returns to the former description, 2Ki 17:41 . Or rather,

2. The Israelites, who are the principal subjects of this whole discourse; and of whom he unquestionably speaks, 2Ki 17:35 , and thence to 2Ki 17:41 , of whom also the last words of 2Ki 17:33 are to be understood; and from thence he takes an occasion to return to his main business, to relate and aggravate the sins of Israel, and thereby to justify his severe proceedings against them to all the world. So the sense of the place is this, As the Israelites before their captivity gave these nations an ill example, in serving the Lord and Baal together; so, or after their former manner, they do unto this day , in the land of their captivity. They fear not the Lord ; though they pretended to fear and serve both the Lord and idols, yet in truth they did not, and do not fear or worship the Lord, but their own calves, or other vain inventions; and God will not accept that mongrel and false worship, which they pretend to give to the true God. Or this may intimate that the Israelites were worse than their successors, because these feared the Lord and idols too; but they did quite cast off the fear and worship of God in their captivity, and wholly degenerate into heathenish idolatry. Their statutes , i.e. God’ s law delivered to their fathers, and to them, as their inheritance, Psa 119:111 . This is alleged as an evidence that they did not fear the Lord, whatsoever they pretended because they lived in the constant breach of his statutes. The children of Jacob , i.e. themselves; the noun put for the pronoun; which is usual among the Hebrews. Israel ; a name signifying his special interest in God, and power with him, which was given to him, not only for himself, but for his posterity also, whom God frequently honours with that name. And by this great favour he aggravates their sin.

A covenant containing many precious promises, upon the condition here following: see Gen 17:7 Exo 19:5 24:7 .

The Lord your God i.e. God alone, as the whole context shows.

He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies and therefore you have no pretence of need to go to other gods for relief.

So i.e. in like manner, and after their example. These nations, who came in their stead.

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)

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)

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.)

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.)

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)

Offended. Hebrew, "They concealed (or spoke secretly; Haydock) words, which were not right before the Lord:" (Calmet) being guilty of hypocrisy or of blasphemy. (Haydock) ---

Watchmen: the meanest huts. (Tirinus) ---

All was contaminated. (Calmet) ---

Towers were erected to guard the flocks from thieves, 2 Paralipomenon xxvi. 10. (Menochius)

Groves. Hebrew Asherim, Astarte or Venus, to whom "the groves" were consecrated, chap. xxi. 7., and xxiii. 4. (Calmet)

Removed by the sword, (Menochius) or by flight. (Haydock)

Abominations. Hebrew gillulim, "idols of dung." ---

Thing. Literally, "word."

Seers. See 1 Kings ix. 9. (Menochius) ---

God never ceased to admonish the rebels. (Haydock) ---

Jeremias xxv. 5. (Menochius)

Testimonies. The ceremonial law was in memory of some great transactions, as the sabbath was of the creation; and the whole law was given with great solemnity, in the presence of witnesses. (Calmet)

Heaven: sun and mood; and the stars, which were like the soldiers of the two former. This expression is very common in Scripture.

Fire. See chap. xvi. 3. ---

Delivered. Hebrew, "sold," 3 Kings xxi. 20., and 1 Machabees i. 16. (Calmet) ---

To provoke. This was the consequence of their wickedness. (Worthington)

Sight, as objects of horror, cast away from the temple, and from the promised land. ---

Tribe, or kingdom. See 3 Kings xii. 20. Israel began to be rejected by God, when the schism took place. (Haydock) ---

It was entirely lost, when Salmanasar took the people into captivity. Some few were left; and these formed a part of the kingdom of Josias, on their returning to the service of the true God, (2 Paralipomenon xxiv. 6.) while others fled into Egypt, Osee viii. 13., and ix. 3. (Calmet)

Day. If Esdras was the author of this book, as it is very probable, this observation would tend to show how much more favourably the Jews were treated than the kingdom of Israel, which was still, for the most part, in captivity. (Calmet)

King, Assaraddon, who led away the remnants of Israel, and fulfilled the prediction, Isaias vii. 8. (Du Hamel) ---

Babylon, or the territory. These people had been lately conquered from the Babylonian empire, from Syria, &c. ---

Cutha: the greatest part were from this city; so that the Samaritans were afterwards called Cutheans. ---

Emath, on the Orontes. ---

Sepharvaim; or the Saspires, near Media. (Calmet) ---

We find several other places mentioned, 1 Esdras iv. 9. (Haydock)

Lions. The Samaritan Chronicle says the fruits, though beautiful to the eye, were of a poisonous quality; and Josephus, as usual, ([Antiquities?] ix. 14.) alters the text, saying that the people were afflicted with pestilence, and the oracle being consulted, told them to worship the High God; on which account, they desired the king to send them a priest. (Calmet) ---

These nations had not been accustomed to fear the Lord in their own country; but God was more offended when they exercised their idolatrous worship in that land, which he had chosen in a particular manner for himself. (Menochius) ---

He suffers wickedness and infidelity to prevail to a certain point; but when his patience is exhausted, (Calmet) all nature fights for him against the wicked. (Haydock)

King; Assar-adon, 1 Esdras iv. 2. They did not send as soon as they came into the country. ---

Land. They reason according to their false notions, as if a plurality of gods were not incompatible: and all would go on well, if each were served according to his will. On the same principle, they united the worship of the true God with that of idols, (Calmet) as had been done before by the Israelites. (Menochius) ---

Yet God having shewn that he could have forced them to comply, (Tostat) was pleased to remove the scourge; as if he preferred that imperfect worship rather than to suffer pure idolatry to reign. (Genebrard)

Let him. Hebrew, Chaldean, Septuagint, "them go." Probably more went; but one was of superior dignity. He might have been priest of the golden calves, as none of the priests of Jerusalem had yet been taken. Hence he taught the Cutheans to join the worship of God with that of idols. Some think that no part of the Scripture was used among them, till the building of the temple by Sanballat, on Mount Garizim: (Le Quien, Antiquite. v. 13.) but this is extremely improbable. How should he pretend to teach the law without the books of Moses? (Haydock) ---

The Samaritans have retained the Pentateuch in the Phœnician character, while the Jews have insensibly adopted the Chaldee, during their captivity. On some occasions, these people have boasted of their descent from the patriarchs, John iv. 12., and 20. But in times of danger, they have confessed their true origin. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] ix. fin., and xii. 5.

Bethel. Garizim was not then honoured with the temple, as the Samaritans would pretend. (Chronicles) They wished to join in building that at Jerusalem, under Esdras. (Calmet) ---

Lord. Collins would make us believe, that the Samaritans continued "for a long time" without the Pentateuch, and all "heathens for many ages." But the first supposition "is to me incredible," says Kennicott; and Hottinger himself allows, that the priests did bring back a copy of the law "exactly corresponding with the autograph of Moses." (Exert. p. 8.) And as for the Samaritans being heathens, Prideaux, whom this infidel writer quotes, (Haydock) says, "consistently with his Bible, that they continued in that gross idolatry of worshipping other gods in conjunction with the True; which last words are very unfairly omitted." (Kennicott, Diss. ii. p. 115.) ---

This was the true origin and state of this mixture of nations, who were sent to cultivate the lands of Samaria. (Haydock)

Dwelt. This impure service did not deserve a mitigation of the late chastisement. But God often punishes in this world (Haydock) to manifest his glory, (John ix. 3.) and spares to display his power (Calmet) and goodness. (Haydock) ---

He had sufficiently convinced these nations of his dominion over all.

Socoth-benoth, "the tents of young women," who prostituted themselves once in their lives at Babylon, in honour of Mylitta. (Herodotus ii. 199.) ---

Nergel, "light." (Calmet) ---

The Pyreia (Haydock) of the Persians are famous in history. (Strabo xv.) (Selden, Synt. ii. 8.) ---

Asima, like an ape, goat, &c. (Calmet)

Hevites, who came from Ava. ---

Nebahaz. "Nebo the seeing, or living and possessing." Nebo was a famous idol of Babylon. ---

Tharthac; perhaps Sar, (prince) Sak, or Sesac, (Jeremias xxv. 26., and li. 41.) the sun, &c. ---

Adramelech, "the magnificent king," and Anamelech, "the king of clemency," may denote the sun and moon; as these were the divinities commonly adored in the East, under various names. The same victims were offered to these as to Moloc and Saturn; whence we may infer, that they were the same idols. St. Jerome translates the work of Eusebius on the Hebrews, (Calmet) and places without any disapprobation of his opinion, that Socoth-benoth, &c., were the names of towns, which the people built in Samaria. (Haydock)

Worshipped, or appeared to worship: for true religion admits of no false god. (Worthington) ---

Lowest. This expression sometimes means the most noble. (Haydock) ---

But the priests were chosen from the midst of the people, without examination. They employed the priest, whom the king had sent for the worship of the true God, whilst others were appointed to serve the idols. (Calmet)

His ceremonies. Hebrew, "they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes." (Protestants) (Haydock) ---

This involves a sort of contradiction, unless we explain it of the Israelites; thought hey had not been mentioned before. There is a confusion in the original text; and ver. 41 seems to require that we should understand it in this manner, as the Cutheans could hardly be blamed for neglecting a thing of which they had before no knowledge. The Israelites are justly blamed for obstinately continuing in their prevarication, even in the midst of their captivity. The Syriac and Arabic translate, "The Israelites have been forced to leave their country, because they have abandoned the Lord; and they have not obeyed his laws, his precepts, and his ordinances, which he gave to," &c. Many adopt this explanation. (Junius; Vatable, &c.) (Calmet) ---

Septuagint make these people unite the true and the false worship, as ver. 41. "They did according to their judgment. These fear, and do according to their justifications ( Greek: dikaiomata ) and decision; and according to the law," &c. (Haydock)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God,.... By committing idolatry, which is the sin enlarged upon in the following discourse, as the cause of their being carried captive:

which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; which is observed to show their ingratitude, and to aggravate their sin of idolatry:

and had feared other gods; which could do them neither good nor hurt, wherefore it must be great stupidity to fear them.

And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel,.... Meaning the Canaanites, in whose idolatrous ways they walked, and whom they imitated; though their ejection out of the land should have been a warning to them, and they were the more inexcusable, as they were particularly cautioned against walking in them, Lev 18:3.

and of the kings of Israel, which they had made; their laws and statutes, to worship the golden calves, and not go up to Jerusalem to worship.

And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God,.... As being partly conscious to themselves that they were not right, and ashamed to commit them openly; and partly as foolishly imagining, that, being done privately, they were not seen and observed of God, having imbibed some atheistical notions of him, that he was not omniscient, or saw not, and had forsaken the earth; or they "covered" ^g these actions of theirs under reigned and plausible pretences, that what they did they were obliged to by their kings, and with political views, and that they worshipped the true God in the calves; but these were coverings too thin not to be seen through:

and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city; not content with those built in former times, they built new ones; and these not in their metropolis only, but in all the cities of the kingdom; and not in large cities only, but in every town and village between one fortified city and another; even wherever there was a watch tower erected, either for shepherds to watch their flocks, or for keepers of gardens, orchards, and vineyards, to watch the fruits of them, that they were not taken away.

And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree. That is, statues and idols; for groves of trees could not be set under green trees; but they placed idols of stone, and of wood, as the latter were, in such places as Heathens were wont to do; see Jer 3:6; see Gill on 1Ki 14:23, so the Indians to this day have idols dispersed here and there in the fields, placed in little groves, or at the foot of some hill that casts a shadow ^h.

And there they burnt incense in all the high places,.... As even the tribe of Judah did, which is observed in all the preceding reigns:

as did the Heathen whom the Lord carried away before them: the Canaanites, and therefore they might justly expect to be carried captive also:

and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: by their several immoralities, but especially their idolatries.

For they served idols,.... Baalim, as the Targum; dunghill gods, as the word signifies, as they are often called in Scripture; and Sterculius was one of the names of Saturn, an Heathen deity, which he had, as is supposed, by his finding out the method of making land fruitful with dung ⁱ:

whereof the Lord said unto them, ye shall not do this thing; see Exo 20:3.

Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers,.... Against their sins, reproving them for them, dehorting them from them, exhorting them to repent and leave them; as in all preceding reigns, by Ahijah the Shilonite, by Elijah and Elisha, by Hosea, Amos, and Micah, and others:

saying, turn ye from your ways; repent of them, and reform from them, worship of the calves particularly:

and keep my commandments, and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers; which was given them and enjoined them at Mount Sinai:

and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets; by whom he put them in mind of them, explained them, and urged obedience to them.

Notwithstanding, they would not hear,.... Their instructions, advice, and admonitions, and obey them:

but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God: as Terah and Nahor, who were idolaters; or rather, their fathers in the wilderness, that made and served the calf, and those that rebelled against Moses and Aaron; it is a metaphor taken from oxen, that will not submit their necks to the yoke, but draw back from it, or cast it off, see Act 7:51.

And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers,.... At Sinai and Horeb, see Exo 24:8,

and his testimonies which he testified against them; calling heaven and earth to witness what he would do to them if they broke his laws, Deu 4:26, and which were so many testifications of his mind and will what they should do, or otherwise what should be done to them; Ben Gersom also interprets this of the feasts of the passover and tabernacles, which were witnesses of Israel's coming out of Egypt, and of the sanctification and redemption of the firstborn, a testimony of the slaying the firstborn in Egypt:

and they followed vanity; idols, which are vain things for help, can neither hear, see, speak, &c.

and became vain; as sottish and stupid as the idols they worshipped; which is the usual fruit and effect of idolatry, see Rom 1:21.

and went after the heathen that were round about them: imitated them in their idolatrous practices, as the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, &c. concerning

whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them; of this charge see Deu 6:13.

And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God,.... Which their idolatry led them to; and indeed he that offends in one point is guilty of them all, Jam 2:10.

and made them molten images, even two calves; which they set up at Dan and Bethel, in the times of their first king Jeroboam, 1Ki 13:28.

and made a grove; as Ahab, another of their kings, did, 1Ki 16:33.

and worshipped all the host of heaven: not the angels, sometimes so called, but, besides the sun and moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus:

and served Baal; which was service to the sun, as Abarbinel interprets it; this was the god of the Zidonians Ahab worshipped, having married a princess of that people, 1Ki 16:31.

And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire,.... To Baal or Moloch, which were the same, and represented the sun, which, as the above writer observes, presides in the element of fire; this was done either by way of lustration, or so as to be burnt, see 2Ki 16:3.

and used divination and enchantments: to get knowledge of what was to be done at present, or of things to come, neglecting the word of God and his prophets, and acting against the express law of God, Deu 18:10.

and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger; as Ahab their king did, see 1Ki 21:20, they were as much the servants of sin as if they had sold themselves to be slaves to it.

Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel,.... Nothing being more provoking to him than idolatry:

and removed them out of his sight; not out of the reach of his all seeing eye, but from all tokens of his favour, from the good land he had given them, and all the benefits and privileges of it:

there was none left but the tribe of Judah only; and part of Benjamin, which was annexed to it, and incorporated in it, and made one kingdom, and maintained the same worship; and there was the lot of Simeon, which was within the tribe of Judah; and the priests and the Levites, and various individuals of the several tribes, that came and settled among them for the sake of worship; but no perfect, distinct, tribe besides.

Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God,.... But were infected with the idolatry of the ten tribes, and drawn into it by their example, and persisted therein, notwithstanding what befell the ten tribes; which are aggravations of the sins of them both, see Jer 3:7,

but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made; worshipping the calves as they did, particularly in the times of Ahaz, he setting the example, see 2Ki 16:3.

And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel,.... The ten tribes, with loathing and contempt, and wrote a "loammi" on them, rejected them from being his people, gave them a bill of divorce, and declared them no more under his care and patronage:

and afflicted them; as he did before he utterly cast them off, as by famine, drought, and pestilence, Amo 4:6.

and delivered them into the hands of spoilers; as, first, into the hands of Hazael and Benhadad, kings of Syria, and then of Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, 2Ki 13:3,

until he had cast them out of his sight; by suffering them, as now, to be carried captive by Shalmaneser, 2Ki 17:6.

For he rent Israel from the house of David,.... In the times of Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from him, signified by the rending of a garment in twelve pieces, ten of which were given to Jeroboam; and it is here ascribed to the Lord, being according to his purpose and decree, and which was brought about by his providence, agreeably to a prophecy of his, see 1Ki 11:30.

and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; of themselves, without consulting the Lord and his prophets; and which was resented by him, though it was his will, and he had foretold it, that Jeroboam should be king, see Hos 8:4.

and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord; forbidding them to go up to Jerusalem to worship; the Targum is,

"made them to err:"

and made them sin a great sin; obliging them to worship the calves he set up.

For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did,.... They observed his injunction, not to go to Jerusalem to worship, and they worshipped the calves he did:

they departed not from them: in all succeeding reigns, until the time of their captivity.

Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight,.... Suffered them to be carried captive into the land of Assyria:

as he had said by all his servants the prophets; by Hosea, Amos, Micah, and others; see their prophecies, and also 1Ki 13:32,

so was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day; the time of the writing this book; nor have they returned unto our days, nearly 2,800 years later.

And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,.... Which was at this time under the dominion of the king of Assyria; though in a little time after this it revolted, and had a king of its own, 2Ki 20:12, this king of Assyria was either Shalmaneser, who carried Israel captive, or it may be rather his son Esarhaddon, see Ezr 4:2,

and from Cuthah; which, according to Josephus ^k, was a city in Persia, where was a river of the same name; but it was rather a place in Erech, in the country of Babylon; see Gill on Gen 10:10,

and from Ava; the same with Ivah, Isa 37:13, where perhaps a colony of the Avim had settled, Deu 2:23.

and from Hamath; a city of Syria, which lay on the northern borders of the land of Canaan, Num 34:8

and from Sepharvaim; thought by some to be the Sippara of Ptolemy, or the Sippareni of Abydenus, in Mesopotamia; though Vitringa takes it to be a city in Syro-Phoenicia; see Gill on Isa 36:19,

and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel; not in Samaria, which was now destroyed, according to the prophecy in Mic 1:6 as Abarbinel and other Jewish writers note:

and they possessed Samaria; as an inheritance; sowed it with corn, and planted vineyards there:

and dwelt in the cities thereof; in the several parts of the kingdom.

And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord,.... Did not serve him in any manner, but their idols only, which they brought with them; whereas it was usual with Heathens to serve the gods of the country, as they reputed them, where they came, along with their own; but even this those men did not do:

therefore the Lord sent lions among them; even into their cities, into which lions sometimes came ^l, especially when old, out of the thickets of Jordan and other places where they haunted, see Jer 49:19.

which slew some of them; this the Lord did to assert his sovereignty, authority, and mighty power, and to let them know that he could as easily clear the land of them, as they, by his permission, had cleared the land of the Israelites, Josephus ^m calls this a plague that was sent among them.

Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria,.... In letters, or by messengers they sent unto him:

saying, the nations which thou hast removed; from different places before mentioned:

and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land; taking Jehovah the God of Israel to be a topical deity, limited peculiarly to the land of Israel, whereas he was the God of the whole earth; a like notion obtained among the Syrians, see 1Ki 20:28 now they say they know not his "manner" or "judgment" ⁿ, the laws, statutes, ordinances, and judgments, according to which he was worshipped by the people of Israel:

therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them; they perceived it was not a common case, nor could they impute it to any second cause, as want of food with the lions, &c. but the hand of a superior Being was in it: and they could think of no other reason, but

because they know not the manner of the God of the land; how he was to be worshipped; and because they did not worship him, and knew not how to do it, it was resented in this manner by him.

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying,.... Gave the following orders and directions:

carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; for they carried away all the people of every class, civil and religious:

and let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land; it is in the plural number, "let them go", &c. ^o; there might be more priests than one ordered, or, however, others, to attend and assist him in his work; the Jews say ^p, two were sent to circumcise them, and teach them the book of the law; and they give their names, Dosthai, or Dosithaeus, and Zachariah; and Josephus ^q says, the people desired that priests might be sent to them of the captives.

Then one of the priests whom, they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel,.... According to an Arabic writer ^r, his name was Uzziah; but Epiphanius ^s says his name was Esdras; but he wrongly makes him to be sent by Nebuchadnezzar, thirty years after the captivity of the Jews in Babylon: this priest was, doubtless, one of the priests of the calves; for there were none else in the kingdom of Israel carried captive, and as seems also by his choosing to dwell in Bethel, where probably he formerly dwelt, and officiated in the service of the calf there, and by teaching to make priests of the lowest order of the people, as Jeroboam's priests were, 2Ki 17:32.

and taught them how they should fear the Lord; serve and worship him; he might not teach them the worship of the calves, that being a political business, and now no end to be answered by it; and besides, they were now carried out of the land. This priest taught, no doubt, according to the law of Moses, but was not the author of the Pentateuch; which ridiculous conceit of Le Clerc is sufficiently exposed by Witsius ^t.

Howbeit, every nation made gods of their own,.... Served and worshipped those they brought with them, and which were the work of their own hands, even the nations, or those out of the nations, mentioned 2Ki 17:24 these, notwithstanding the instructions they had about the worship of the God of Israel, retained and served their own deities: and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt; as the Israelites had built high places everywhere for idolatry, and put images in them, 2Ki 17:9 these Heathens placed their gods there in the room of them, which were as follow.

And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth,.... That is, those that came from Babylon made and served an idol of this name, which, according to the Jewish writers ^u, were the figures of an hen and chickens; but others suppose them to be the Pleiades, or seven stars, the stars being had in great veneration by the Babylonians; though others rather think those Succothbenoth, "tabernacles", or "booths of the daughters", as the words may be rendered, have respect to the apartments in the temple of Venus, or Mylitta with the Babylonians and Assyrians, in which women once in their lives prostituted themselves to whomsoever asked them, in honour of Venus; of which filthy practice of theirs Herodotus ^w makes mention; and Valerius Maximus speaks ^x of a temple of Sicca Venus, which is near in sound to this, where the like impurities were committed:

and the men of Cuth made Nergal; which, according to the Jews, was in the likeness of a cock; but others, because the first part of the word signifies a lamp, suppose fire is meant, worshipped by the Persians, from whom it is thought these men came; but rather the word signifies, as Hillerus ^y observes, the fountain of light, and denotes the sun, worshipped by the Babylonians, Cuth being a province of theirs; from hence one of the princes of Babylon had part of his name, Jer 39:3.

and the men of Hamath made Ashima; which, the Jews say, was in the form of a goat, without any wool on it, or an ape ^z; but according to Hillerus ^a, with the Arabs, Ashima is the name of a lion, a symbol of the sun, under which form it might be worshipped; unless Ashima is the same with Shamaim, the heavens, worshipped by the Heathens; we read of the Ashemath of Samaria, by which they swore, Amo 8:14, though that was before these men came thither.

And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak,.... The former of which is represented by the Jews in the shape of a dog, deriving the word from "nabach", to bark, as if it was the same with the Anubis Latrator of Virgil ^b, an Egyptian deity; though that is said ^c to have its name from NOeb, which in the Egyptian language signifies "gold", the statutes of it being made of gold; and the latter in the form of an ass, for what reason I cannot say; but the first word, according to Hillerus ^d, signifies, "the remote one seeth", that is, the sun, which beholds all things; and Tartak is a chain, and may denote the fixed stars chained as it were in their places; or the satellites of the planets, chained to their orbs:

and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and to Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim; which were the same with Moloch; which may be concluded, partly from the worship paid them, and partly from the signification of their names; both end with "melech", king, which Moloch also signifies; the first may be interpreted the mighty king, and the latter the king that answers in an oracular way; from the first, one of the sons of Sennacherib king of Assyria had his name, Isa 37:36, though the Jews, according to their fancy, represent the one in the likeness of a mule, and the other in the likeness of a horse; and some make the one to be a peacock, and the other a pheasant ^e; the Septuagint version puts the article before them in the feminine gender, excepting the two last, taking them for she deities, or leaving the word εικονα, "images", to be understood.

So they feared the Lord,.... Worshipped the God of Israel in the manner they were taught:

and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places; these were made after the manner of Jeroboam's priests, 1Ki 12:31, and were to sacrifice to the God of Israel in the high places, and temples built there; for otherwise they had, no doubt, priests of their own to sacrifice to their gods, and which they brought with them.

They feared the Lord, and served their own gods,.... Worshipped both:

after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence; the Israelites, whom they had carried captive from Samaria; they worshipped the Lord in their idols, as they did, who pretended to worship God in the calves; so they worshipped the supreme God in and by their idols, and made use of them as mediators with him.

Unto this day they do after the former manners,.... Which may be understood either of the new colonies in Samaria doing after the former customs in their own land, or after the customs of the idolatrous Israelites; or of the Israelites in captivity continuing in their idolatry, not being in the least reformed by their troubles; or of such of them as were left in the land, who repented not of their idolatries, nor reformed from them:

they fear not the Lord; did not worship him, at least not alone, and much less in a spiritual manner, with reverence and godly fear:

neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; that is, they did not observe the statutes and ordinances of the law given on Mount Sinai respecting religious worship, to act according to them.

With whom the Lord had made a covenant,.... As he did at Sinai, 2Ki 17:15.

and charged them, saying, ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; all which is contained in the first and second commandments of the law.

But the Lord, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt, with a great power, and a stretched out arm,.... Which is observed, to show the obligations they lay under, in point of gratitude, to serve the Lord:

him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice: and him only, and not other gods; none but he being the object of religious fear and divine worship, and to whom sacrifices should be offered.

And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment which he wrote for you,.... On the two tables of stone:

ye shall observe to do for evermore; those commands relating to religious worship, especially the object of it, and to moral duties, being of eternal obligation; and all other statutes and ordinances of a ceremonial kind he ordered to be written for them, being such that they were to regard until the Messiah came, and a new world began:

and ye shall not fear other gods; which is repeated, that it might be observed, as it also afterwards is.

And the covenant that I have made with you, ye shall not forget,.... The law given at Mount Sinai; the first table of which chiefly concerned the worship of the one true and living God, and forbid the worship of any other, as follows:

neither shall ye fear other gods; or make them the object of worship.

But the Lord your God ye shall fear,.... Or worship him, both internally and externally, according to his revealed will; for the fear of God includes both internal and external worship:

and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies; that is, provided they feared and served him as he required, and it became them to do.

Howbeit, they did not hearken, but did after their former manner. They did not repent of their idolatries, but persisted in them, and even when they were in captivity in Assyria, or such of them as were left in the land.

So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images,.... Just in like manner as the Israelites had done, who served the Lord and the calves, and worshipped God and Baal:

both their children, and their children's children; that is, the children and children's children of the Samaritans:

as did their fathers, so do they unto this day; to the writing of this book, which some ascribe to Jeremiah, to whose times, and even longer, they continued this mixed and mongrel worship, for the space of three hundred years, to the times of Alexander the great, of whom Sanballat, governor of Samaria, got leave to build a temple, on Gerizim, for his son-in-law Manasseh, of which he became priest; and the Samaritans were prevailed upon to relinquish their idolatry, and to worship only the God of Israel; and yet it seems but ignorantly, and not without superstition, to the times of Christ, Joh 4:22.

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

¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

¹ tn Heb “went up against.”

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.”

¹ tn Heb “went up against.”

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

¹ tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Heb “feared.”

¹ tn Heb “walked in the customs.”

² tn Heb “and [the practices of] the kings of Israel which they did.”

¹ tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.

² sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.

¹ tn Heb “and they did evil things, angering the Lord.”

¹ tn Or “served.”

² sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.

³ tn Heb “about which the Lord had said to them, ‘You must not do this thing.’”

¹ tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”

¹ tn Heb and they stiffened their neck like the neck of their fathers.”

¹ tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”

² tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).

³ tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing”, which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.

⁴ tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”

¹ tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

² tn Or “served.”

¹ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.

² tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”

¹ tn Heb “very angry.”

² tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”

¹ tn Heb “they walked in the practices of Israel which they did.”

¹ tn Or “afflicted.”

¹ tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”

² tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is נָדָא (nada’), an alternate form of נָדָה (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb נָדָח (nadakh), “drive away.”

³ tn Heb “a great sin.”

¹ tn Heb “turn away from.”

¹ tn Heb “until.”

² tn Heb “the Lord turned Israel away from his face.”

³ tn Heb “just as he said.”

¹ tn The object is supplied in the translation.

² sn In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.

¹ tn Heb “in the beginning of their living there.”

² tn Heb “fear.”

¹ tn Heb “and they said to the king of Assyria, saying.” The plural subject of the verb is indefinite.

² tn Heb “Look they are killing them.”

¹ tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.

² tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.

¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

² tn Heb “fear.”

¹ sn The verb “make” refers to the production of idols. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 210-11.

² tn Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.

¹ sn No deity is known by the name Succoth Benoth in extant Mesopotamian literature. For speculation as to the identity of this deity, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211.

² sn Nergal was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld.

³ sn This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211-12.

¹ sn Nibhaz and Tartak were two Elamite deities. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.

² sn Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim are unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.

¹ tn Heb “feared.”

² tn Heb “and they appointed for themselves from their whole people priests for the high places and they were serving for them in the house[s] of the high places.”

¹ tn Heb “fearing.”

¹ tn Heb “fear.”

² tn Heb “commanded.”

¹ tn Or “covenant.”

² sn That is, the descendants of Jacob/Israel (see v. 35b).

¹ tn Heb “and outstretched arm.”

¹ sn This refers to the foreigners whom the king of Assyria settled in the land (see v. 35a).

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.