Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute. The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it 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 on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
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2 Kings 17:3-6 sits inside this longer paragraph.
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute. The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it 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 on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made. The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yahweh their God; and they built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill, and under every green tree; and there they burned incense in all the high places, as the nations whom Yahweh carried away before them did; and they did wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger; and they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” Yet Yahweh testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and 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.” Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn’t believe in Yahweh their God. They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them. They abandoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal. They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hands of raiders, until he had cast them out of his sight. For he tore Israel from David’s house; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drove Israel from following Yahweh, and made them sin a great sin. The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they didn’t depart from them until Yahweh removed Israel out of his sight, as he said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to this day.
Parallel Translations
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Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.
The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him, and bound him in prison.
Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it 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 on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
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Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
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, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
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 Medes.
Show all 3 translations
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Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him presents.
And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no present 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.
Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Cross-references (45)
- Hosea 13:16 (vv5–6) Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and…
- Deuteronomy 28:64 (v6) Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which…
- 1 Chronicles 5:26 (v6) So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them…
- Hosea 10:14 (v3) Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day…
- Leviticus 26:32-33 (v6) I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies that dwell in it will be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations,…
Show all 44 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:36 (v6) Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There…
- Deuteronomy 29:27-28 (v6) Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. Yahweh rooted them out of…
- 2 Kings 18:10-11 (v6) At the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was…
- Isaiah 13:17 (v6) Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.
- Isaiah 21:2 (v6) A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have…
- Amos 5:27 (v6) Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.
- Leviticus 26:38 (v6) You will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up.
- Deuteronomy 4:25-28 (v6) When you shall father children and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a…
- Deuteronomy 30:18 (v6) I declare to you today that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to…
- 1 Kings 14:15-16 (v6) For Yahweh will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their…
- 2 Samuel 8:2 (v3) He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one…
- 2 Samuel 8:6 (v3) Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David…
- 2 Kings 15:19 (v3) Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to…
- 2 Kings 15:29 (v3) In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead,…
- 2 Kings 16:7-8 (v3) So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me out of the hand of…
- 2 Kings 18:9 (v5) In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up…
- 2 Kings 18:9-16 (v3) In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up…
- 2 Kings 18:14-15 (v4) Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, “I have offended you. Return from me. That which you put on me, I…
- 2 Kings 18:21 (v4) Now, behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt. If a man leans on it, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. So…
- 2 Kings 18:31 (v3) Don’t listen to Hezekiah.’ For the king of Assyria says, ‘Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat from his own…
- 2 Kings 19:12 (v6) Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in…
- 2 Kings 19:36-37 (v3) So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh. As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god,…
- 2 Kings 24:1 (v4) In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
- 2 Kings 24:20 (v4) For through the anger of Yahweh, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled…
- 2 Kings 25:1-3 (v5) In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his…
- 2 Kings 25:7 (v4) They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- 2 Chronicles 32:11 (v4) Doesn’t Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘Yahweh our God will deliver us out of the hand of…
- Psalms 149:7-8 (v4) to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
- Isaiah 7:7-8 (v3) This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.” For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of…
- Isaiah 10:5-6 (v3) Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! I will send him against a profane nation, and against the…
- Isaiah 10:11-12 (v3) shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? Therefore it will happen that when the Lord has…
- Isaiah 31:1-3 (v4) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they…
- Isaiah 37:12-13 (v6) Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in…
- Jeremiah 52:4-5 (v5) In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his…
- Ezekiel 17:13-19 (v4) He took some of the royal offspring, and made a covenant with him. He also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;…
- Daniel 5:28 (v6) PERES: your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
- Hosea 1:6 (v6) She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of…
- Hosea 1:9 (v6) He said, “Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
- Isaiah 30:1-4 (v4) “Woe to the rebellious children”, says Yahweh, “who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that…
44 distinct cross-references across this passage (45 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 For he had paid tribute for the space of…
For he had paid tribute for the space of eight years.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–6 2Ki 17:3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of…
2Ki 17:3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
Ver. 3. Against him came up Shalmaneser.] Son to Tiglathpileser, and father to Sennacherib; not the same with Sennacherib, as Eusebius maketh him. Under this Shalmaneser Tobias was carried captive, and he seemeth to be the same with that Shalman {Hos 10:14} who "spoiled Betharbel" - famous afterwards for the overthrow of Darius there - "in the day of battle; the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6 Shalmaneser; the son or successor of Tiglath-pileser. The ancient…
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.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–6 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria,.... Which…
Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria,.... Which some take to be the same with Tiglathpileser, see Ch1 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.
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(w) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 2. (x) De Judicio Temp. fol. 221. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 6 Shalmaneser - The son, or successor of Tiglath-pileser. The…
Shalmaneser - 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.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–6 Verse 3. Shalmaneser] This was the son and successor…
Verse 3. Shalmaneser] This was the son and successor of Tiglath-pileser. He is called Shalman by Hosea, Ho 10:14, and Enemessar, in the book of Tobit, 1:2.
Gave him presents.] Became tributary to him.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3–5 2Ki 17:3. Against him came up Shalmaneser — The…
2Ki 17:3. Against him came up Shalmaneser — 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. And Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents — Swore fealty to him, and engaged to pay him tribute. Thus the destruction came gradually, and they were, for some time, made tributaries, before they were made captives to the king of Assyria. And if the lesser judgment had prevailed to humble and reform them, the greater would have been prevented.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–6 Of Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath-pileser in the Assyrian…
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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6 Salmanasar, who is called Salman, or Salomo; (Osee x.…
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.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6 Against him came up Shalmaneser--or Shalman (Hos 10:14), the…
Against him came up Shalmaneser--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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–6 3. Shalmaneser — This Assyrian king and warrior seems…
3. Shalmaneser — This Assyrian king and warrior seems to have been the regular and undisputed successor of Tiglath-pileser, and was therefore, probably, his son. The monuments bearing his records have been so mutilated by his successors that they shed very little light on his history. Josephus states, on the authority of Menander, that the name of this king was inscribed in the archives of Tyre, and that during the reign of one Eluleus he overran all Phenicia. But after his departure old Tyre rebelled, and the king of Assyria returned, and warred for five years against the city, but though he was assisted by many Phenicians, the Tyrians were more than a match for him, and his siege was unsuccessful. These wars with Phenicia were probably contemporaneous with those against Samaria.
Hoshea became his servant — Became a vassal king, rendering presents, or tribute, to Shalmaneser as the great king. Some think that Hoshea had refused or neglected to pay tribute to Assyria, and this was the reason of Shalmaneser’s invasion; others think that this coming up of the Assyrian king was merely an expedition of conquest, growing out of the ambition of the new sovereign, and not from any provocation of Hoshea.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–6 3. Shalmaneser king of Assyria] This king according to…
3. Shalmaneser king of Assyria] This king according to the Assyrian monuments succeeded Tiglath-pileser, and was succeeded by Sargon. His reign lasted from b.c. 727–722.
and Hoshea became his servant] Probably it was in this way that Hoshea made himself strong enough to attack Pekah, and to mount the throne. The wars of Israel in the days of Pekah must have weakened the kingdom excessively, and made external help a necessity for any one who came to the throne.
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and gave [R.V. brought] him presents] The word for ‘presents’ is that which came to be used for the ‘meal-offering’ of the Israelites. It is used euphemistically here for a gift which, though given with the appearance of free will, was no doubt compulsory, and of the nature of tribute.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–6 (3) Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria.—Shalmaneser…
(3) Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria.—Shalmaneser IV. (Shalmânu-ushshir, “Shalman be gracious!”), the successor of Tiglath Pileser II., and predecessor of Sargon, reigned 727-722 B.C. No annals of his reign have come down to us in the cuneiform inscriptions, but a fragment of the Eponyra-list notes foreign expeditions for the three successive years 725-723 B.C. This agrees with what Menander states (Josephus, Ant. ix. 14, 2), according to whom Shalmaneser made an expedition against Tyre (and no doubt Israel, as the ally of Tyre), which lasted five years—i.e., was continued beyond Shalmaneser’s reign into that of Sargon. Nothing is known of the death of Shalmaneser.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–6 Against him came up Shal-maneser King of Assyria. Shalmaneser"s…
Against him came up Shal-maneser King of Assyria. Shalmaneser"s succession to Tiglath-pileser on the throne of Assyria, once doubted, is now rendered certain by the Eponym Canon, which makes him ascend the throne in B.C. 727, and cease to reign in B.C. 722. It is uncertain whether he was Tiglath-pileser"s son or a usurper. The name, Shalmaneser (Sali-manu-uzur) was an old royal name in Assyria, and signified "Shalman protects" (compare the names Nabu-kudur-uzur, Nergal-asar-uzur, Nabu-pal-uzur, etc.). And Hoshea became his servant. Hoshea had been placed on the throne by Tiglath-pileser ("Eponym Canon," pp. 123, 124, lines 17, 18), and had paid him tribute (ibid., lines 18, 19). We must suppose that on Tiglath-pileser"s death, in B.C. 727, he had revolted, and resumed his independence. Shalmaneser. having become king, probably came up against Hoshea in the same year, and forced him to resume his position of Assyrian tributary. This may have been the time when Shalman spoiled Beth-Arbel in the day of battle" (Dos. 10:14), defeating Hoshea near that place (Arbela, now Irbid, in Galilee), and taking it. And gave him presents; or, rendered him tribute, as in the margin of the Authorized Version.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of…
2Ki_17:6-8
In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria.
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Captivity of Israel
The seeds of Israels captivity were sown by Solomon. The introduction of foreign wives into the royal family was the first step toward Israels fall. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, cuts the die that stamps the face of all the subsequent religious history of Israel With the fourth dynasty, that of Omri, a new religious period begins. Omris greatness and foreign popularity secured for his son Ahab alliance with the royal house of Zidon. With all the energy and fire of her strong character, Jezebel persecuted and destroyed the prophets of Jehovah, and transplanted into Israel the sensual worship of Baal and the Asherah. But the rise of the dynasty of Jehu was the fall not only of Omris house, but of Phoenician Baal-worship also. From a political point of view, Israel had seen some prosperous times. Omri had secured a large domain, and probably a rich revenue. Ahab was less fortunate in his political relations. An invasion of the great Assyrian army forced a coalition of all the petty western nations for self-defence. In an inscription of Shalmanezer
II. is an account of a battle between him and these peoples, which took place near the ancient city of Karkar. Among the enemies vanquished we find twelve hundred chariots, twelve hundred horsemen, twenty thousand men of Hadadezer of Damascus; two thousand chariots, iron thousand men, of Ahab of Israel. In another inscription of the same monarch there is mention of Jehu, the son of Omri! as one of his tributaries. Here Omri appears as the ancestor of Jehu. The anarchy that cursed Israel during its later history seems to have been instigated largely by the monarchs of the East. In one of Tiglath-pilesers inscriptions, where he gives an account of his subjection of the land of Omri, he says: Pekah their king I put to death, and I appointed Hoshea to the sovereignty over them. The Bible record, 2Ki_15:30, simply mentions the conspirator, murderer, and successor. The inscriptions tell us who stood behind, shifted the scenes, and directed the actors. Tiglath-pileser was absolute ruler of Palestine. Israels power was broken, its army reduced, its land partially depopulated.
I. The capture of Samaria. Hoshea seems to have been faithful to his Assyrian lord as long as the latter lived. But at the death of Tiglath-pileser and the accession of his successor, Shalmanezer IV., there was probably, as whenever rulers changed at Nineveh, a widespread revolt among their tributaries in the distant provinces. Hoshea, though religiously superior to his predecessors, despairs of the situation under the tyrants of the East, and appeals to So (Sabako), of Egypt, for relief. He withholds his accustomed tribute, thus openly defying the armies of the great king. His appeal to Egypt seems to have won for him only the enmity of the new king of Assyria. Shalmanezer then came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. He threshed the land right and left, taking captive and devastating, until he had driven the unsubmissive within the walls of Samaria.
II. Causes of the captivity of Israel. After narrating the catastrophe of Samaria and the disposition of its population, the writer enumerates the causes of the same. The Israelites practised secretly the idolatry of their neighbours, building high places throughout the land, upon which they burnt incense to Canaanitish deities. Obelisks of Baal and the Asherim were set on every high hill and under every green tree. These Phoenician deities were symbols of the generative powers of Nature. They were the objects of the most degrading and licentious forms of worship. They appealed directly to the sensual impulses, and thus easily corrupted and led astray Israel.
III. Significance of the captivity. The ten tribes revolted against Solomons successor in order to avoid political oppression. But their anarchistic method of choosing rulers made them for a hundred and fifty years the victims of the most arbitrary kings. By their disregard of political obligations and treachery toward their conquerors, these self-willed monarchs ultimately brought upon their people the just rewards of national rebellion--captivity and servitude. Jehovah had permitted them to exist as a part of his chosen people, but they were under the same conditions as Judah; their continuance depended on their faithfulness to his commands. When all law and testimony were ignored, and Jehovah was insulted and defied, then mercy gave place to justice, prosperity to disaster, blessings to cursings, and peace to captivity. This catastrophe is the strongest kind of corroboration to the truth of the warnings of the prophets. They besought and entreated Israel to turn from all evil ways. They warned and threatened, they accused and condemned them by the word of Jehovah. The threatened fate at length came to pass. With steadfast purpose, Jehovah brought upon his enemies the just fruits of their evil deeds. God is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Disregard of His words, commands, warnings, and threats is just as blameworthy in His sight to-day as two thousand five hundred years ago. Godless living is still the bane of national life. Let each one of us, by the grace of God, so live that the golden text of the lesson may never be true of us,--Because you have forsaken Jehovah, He hath also forsaken you. (Ira M. Price.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v6 2 Kings
2 Kings
A KINGDOM’S EPITAPH
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2Ki 17:6 - 2Ki 17:18.
The brevity of the account of the fall of Samaria in 2Ki 17:6 contrasts with the long enumeration of the sins which caused it, in the rest of this passage. Modern critics assume that 2Ki 17:7 - 2Ki 17:23 are ‘an interpolation by the Deuteronomic writer,’ apparently for no reason but because they trace Israel’s fall to its cause in idolatry. But surely the bare notice in 2Ki 17:6, immediately followed by 2Ki 17:24, cannot have been all that the original historian had to say about so tragic an end of so large a part of the people of God. The whole purpose of the Old Testament history is not to chronicle events, but to declare God’s dealings, and the fall of a kingdom was of little moment, except as revealing the righteousness of God.
The main part of this passage, then, is the exposition of the causes of the national ruin. It is a post mortem inquiry into the diseases that killed a kingdom. At first sight, these verses seem a mere heaping together, not without some repetition, of one or two charges; but, more closely looked at, they disclose a very striking progress of thought. In the centre stands 2Ki 17:13, telling of the mission of the prophets. Before it, 2Ki 17:7 - 2Ki 17:12, narrate Israel’s sin, which culminates in provoking the Lord to anger {2Ki 17:11}. After it, the sins are reiterated with noticeable increase of emphasis, and again culminate in provoking the Lord to anger {2Ki 17:17}. So we have two degrees of guilt-one before and one after the prophets’ messages; and two kindlings of God’s anger-one which led to the sending of the prophets, and one which led to the destruction of Israel. The lessons that flow from this obvious progress of thought are plain.
I. The less culpable apostasy before the prophets’ warnings. The first words of 2Ki 17:7, rendered as in the Revised Version, give the purpose of all that follows; namely, to declare the causes of the calamity just told. Note that the first characteristic of Israel’s sin was ungrateful departure from God. There is a world of pathos and meaning in that ‘their God,’ which is enhanced by the allusion to the Egyptian deliverance. All sins are attempts to break the chain which binds us to God-a chain woven of a thousand linked benefits. All practically deny His possession of us, and ours of Him, and display the short memory which ingratitude has. All have that other feature hinted at here-the contrast, so absurd if it were not so sad, between the worth and power of the God who is left and the other gods who are preferred. The essential meanness and folly of Israel are repeated by every heart departing from the living God.
The double origin of the idolatry is next set forth. It was in part imported and in part home-made. We have little conception of the strength of faith and courage which were needed to keep the Jews from becoming idolaters, surrounded as they were by such. But the same are needed to-day to keep us from learning the ways of the world and getting a snare to our souls. Now, as ever, walking with God means walking in the opposite direction from the crowd, and that requires some firm nerve. The home-made idolatry is gibbeted as being according to ‘the statutes of the kings.’ What right had they to prescribe their subjects’ religion? The influence of influential people, especially if exerted against the service of God, is hard to resist; but it is no excuse for sin that it is fashionable.
The blindness of Israel to the consequences of their sin is hinted in the reference to the fate of the nations whom they imitated. They had been cast out; would not their copyists learn the lesson? We, too, have examples enough of what godless lives come to, if we had the sense to profit by them. The God who cast out the vile Canaanites and all the rest of the wicked crew before the sons of the desert has not changed, and will treat Israel as He did them, if Israel come down to their level. Outward privileges make idolatry or any sin more sinful, and its punishment more severe.
Another characteristic of Israel’s sin is its being done ‘secretly.’ Of the various meanings proposed for that word {2Ki 17:9} the best seems to be that it refers to the attempt to combine the worship of God and of idols, of which the calf worship is an instance. Elijah had long ago taunted the people with trying ‘to hobble on both knees,’ or on ‘two opinions’ at once; and here the charge is of covering idolatry with a cloak of Jehovah worship. A varnish of religion is convenient and cheap, and often effectual in deceiving ourselves as well as others; but ‘as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,’ whatever his cloak may be; and the thing which we count most precious and long most for is our god, whatever our professions of orthodox religion.
The idolatry is then described, in rapid touches, as universal. Wherever there was a solitary watchman’s tower among the pastures there was a high place, and they were reared in every city. Images and Asherim deformed every hill-top and stood under every spreading tree. Everywhere incense loaded the heavy air with its foul fragrance. The old scenes of unnamable abomination, which had been so terribly avenged, seemed to have come back, and to cry aloud for another purging by fire and sword.
The terrible upshot of all was ‘to provoke the Lord to anger.’ The New Testament is as emphatic as the Old in asserting that there is the capacity of anger in the God whose name is love, and that sin calls it forth. The special characteristic of sin, by which it thus attracts that lightning, is that it is disobedience. As in the first sin, so in all others, God has said, ‘Ye shall not do this thing’; and we say, ‘Do it we will.’ What can the end of that be but the anger of the Lord? ‘Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.’
II. 2Ki 17:13 gives the pleading of Jehovah. The mission of the prophets was God’s reply to Israel’s rebellion, and was equally the sign of His anger and of His love. The more sin abounds, the more does God multiply means to draw back to Himself. The deafer the ears, the louder the beseeching voice of His grieved and yet pitying love. His anger clothes itself in more stringent appeals and clearer revelations of Himself before it takes its slaughtering weapons in hand. The darker the background of sin, the brighter the beams of His light show against it. Man’s sin is made the occasion for a more glorious display of God’s character and heart. It is on the storm-cloud that the sun paints the rainbow. Each successive stage in man’s departure from God evoked a corresponding increase in the divine effort to attract him back, till ‘last of all He sent unto them His Son.’ In nature, attraction diminishes as distance increases; in the realms of grace, it grows with distance. The one desire of God’s heart is that sinners would return from their evil ways, and He presses on them the solemn thought of the abundant intimations of His will which have been given from of old, and are pealed again into all ears by living voices. His law for us is not merely an old story spoken centuries ago, but is vocal in our consciences to-day, and fresh as when Sinai flamed and thundered above the camp, and the trumpet thrilled each heart.
III. The heavier sin that followed the divine pleading. That divine voice leaves no man as it finds him. If it does not sway him to obedience, it deepens his guilt, and makes him more obstinate. Like some perverse ox in the yoke, he stiffens his neck, and stands the very picture of brute obduracy. There is an awful alternative involved in our hearing of God’s message, which never returns to Him void, but ever does something to the hearer, either softening or hardening, either scaling the eyes or adding another film on them, either being the ‘savour of life unto life or of death unto death.’ The mission of the prophets changed forgetfulness of God’s ‘statutes’ into ‘rejection’ of them, and made idolatry self-conscious rebellion. Alas, that men should make what is meant to be a bond to unite them to God into a wedge to part them farther from Him! But how constantly that is the effect of the gospel, and for the same reason as in Israel-that they ‘did not believe in the Lord their God’!
The miserable result on the sinners’ own natures is described with pregnant brevity in 2Ki 17:15. ‘They followed vanity, and became vain.’ The worshipper became like the thing worshipped, as is always the case. The idol is vanity, utter emptiness and nonentity; and whoever worships nothingness will become in his own inmost life as empty and vain as it is. That is the retribution attendant on all trust in, and longing after, the trifles of earth, that we come down to the level of what we set our hearts upon. We see the effects of that principle in the moral degradation of idolaters. Gods lustful, cruel, capricious, make men like themselves. We see it working upwards in Christianity, in which God becomes man that men may become like God, and of which the whole law is put into one precept, which is sure to be kept, in the measure of the reality of a man’s religion. ‘Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.’
In 2Ki 17:16 - 2Ki 17:17 the details of the idolatry follow the general statement, as in 2Ki 17:9 - 2Ki 17:12, but with additions and with increased severity of tone. We hear now of calves and star worship, and Baal, and burning children to Moloch, and divination and enchantment. The catalogue is enlarged, and there is added to it the terrible declaration that Israel had ‘sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord.’ The same thing was said by Elijah to Ahab-a noble instance of courage. The sinner who steels himself against the divine remonstrance, does not merely go on in his old sins, but adds new ones. Begin with the calves, and fancy that you are worshipping Jehovah, and you will end with Baal and Moloch. Refuse to hear God’s pleadings, and you will sell your freedom, and become the lowest and only real kind of slave-the bondsman of evil. When that point of entire abandonment to sin, which Paul calls being ‘sold under sin,’ is reached, as it may be reached, at all events by a nation, and corruption has struck too deep to be cast out, once again the anger of the Lord is provoked; but this time it comes in a different guise. The armies of the Assyrians, not the prophets, are its messengers now. Israel had made itself like the nations whom God had used it to destroy, and now it shall be destroyed as they were.
To be swept out of His sight is the fate of obstinate rejection of His commandments and pleadings. Israel made itself the slave of evil, and was made the captive of Assyria. Self-willed freedom, which does as it likes, and heeds not God, ends in bondage, and is itself bondage. God’s anger against sin speaks pleadingly to us all, saying, ‘Do not this abominable thing that I hate.’ Well for us if we hearken to His voice when ‘His anger is kindled but a little.’ If we do not yield to Him, and cast away our idols, we shall become vain as they. Our evil will be more fatal, and our obstinacy more criminal, because He called, and we refused. ‘Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?’ These captives, dragging their weary limbs, with despair in their hearts, across the desert to a land of bondage, were but shadows, in the visible region of things, of the far more doleful and dreary fate that sooner or later must fall on those who would none of God’s counsel, and despised all His reproof, but cling to their idol till they and it are destroyed together.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 This is the name of a man. (See: How…
So
This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)
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year by year
"every year"
shut him up and bound him in prison
"put Hoshea in prison"
besieged it
put troops around the city in order to force it to surrender
carried Israel away to Assyria
The name "Israel" is metonymy for the people living there. AT: "took the Israelite people to Assyria" (See: Metonymy)
Halah ... Habor River ... Gozan
These are the names of locations. (See: How to Translate Names)
Medes
This is the name of a people group. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
send
messenger
Egypt
prison
siege
Medes
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5 17:3-4 King Shalmaneser V succeeded his father Tiglath-pileser III…
17:3-4 King Shalmaneser V succeeded his father Tiglath-pileser III in 726 BC. Hoshea may have reasoned that this leadership change would allow Israel to become independent of Assyrian vassalage. But his withholding of the annual tribute simply invited Shalmaneser’s reprisal. • by asking King So of Egypt: Some scholars understand the name So as an abbreviation of Pharaoh Osorkon IV (730–715 BC). Others equate So with Pharaoh Piankhy (747–716 BC), viewing the biblical name So as a Hebraic rendering of one of the names in Piankhy’s titulary. Still others suggest that So refers to the city of Sais, the capital of Pharaoh Tefnakht (727–720 BC). Whatever the identity of this king, it is clear that Hoshea’s hope for help from Egypt was misplaced.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.