Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 17:24-41
The Aftermath Of The Final Israelite Exile (2 Kings 17:24).
We have become used to talking about The Exile, meaning the exile resulting from the last days of Jerusalem, but in fact Israel suffered many exiles. Quite apart from the number taken into exile over the centuries as a result of invasions by foreign nations which sometimes consisted of whole communities (consider e.g. the servant girl of Naaman), there was a major exile when Assyria invaded northern Israel and annexed a large section of it to form part of an Assyrian province (2 Kings 15:20). Large numbers of Israelites were taken away captive and colonies of Israelites were then formed in different parts of the Assyrian Empire. For them that was ‘the exile'. It was then followed by this final Israelite exile when Samaria was taken and the cream of the country sheltering in it were exiled to Assyria and Media. And to this we must add those who went into voluntary exile, fleeing as refugees to places like Egypt, and even overseas. Indeed Isaiah tells us that by his day there were exiles in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam,Babylon, Hamath, and the islands of the sea (Isaiah 11:11; see also Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 51:14), and this long before what we know of as ‘the Babylonian exile'.
But the question naturally arose as to ‘what happened to the land of Israel after that?' And that is the question that the prophetic author now seeks to answer. It must be pointed out that it is a mistake to see these people who are being described as the forbears of the ‘Samaritans' of New Testament times. Those being described were a polytheistic people, and they remained so. The New Testament ‘Samaritans' on the other hand were a people who had clung to their own version of the Book of the Law (the Pentateuch), were firmly monotheistic, and were localised in a specific area. They did not arise from the miscellany described below (except possibly as a small group of believing Israelites who settled together apart from the others around Shechem, determined to maintain a pure form of Yahwism, and forming their own community. But that is simply hypothesis. There is no early evidence for it).
We must first recognise that the land was not totally denuded of Israelites. Many would have fled to the mountains when the final Assyrian invasion began, and would have remained in hiding until they had gone, (they had done it often before), and the Assyrian possibly was never to remove everyone, but only the cream of the people, the rulers, the aristocrats the elders, the craftsmen, the scribes, and so on. The common people were left behind. And to these would now be added a new aristocracy transferred from other nations. And the consequence was a mixed people who were neither one thing or the other, but remained essentially polytheistic, even though it did become intermingled with a smattering of Yahwism. They were no better than those who had formed a part of the cult of Jeroboam. Indeed it is stressed that (unlike the later ‘Samaritans') they did not observe the Law of YHWH.
They were still there with their mixed ideas in the days of the original source. Those who remained of them may well have been forcibly converted to Judaism in the days the Hasmoneans (the late inter-testamental period), when such forced conversions regularly took place (consider the Edomites and the Galileans), thus becoming ‘Jews'. But if so we have no record of the fact. And by then it might well be that many exiled Israelites had returned to their homeland. Thus the ‘Jews' of Jesus' days were a hotch potch of different nationalities and far from being a pure people descended from Abraham, were a multinational people. (Indeed a hitch potch of nations was what Israel had always been, as Exodus 12:38 makes clear. Consider also the servants of Abraham, e.g. Eliezer the Damascene and Hagar the Egyptian, who formed a good part of those who went to Egypt, and those who like Uriah the Hittite had become Israelites by proselytisation - Exodus 12:48).
Analysis.
a And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities (2 Kings 17:24).
b And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear YHWH, therefore YHWH sent lions among them, which killed some of them (2 Kings 17:25).
c For which reason they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the law of the god of the land, therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they kill them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land” (2 Kings 17:26).
d Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there, and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land (2 Kings 17:27).
e So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear YHWH (2 Kings 17:28).
f However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt (2 Kings 17:29).
g And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim (2 Kings 17:30).
f So they feared YHWH, and made for themselves from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared YHWH, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away (2 Kings 17:32).
e To this day they do after the former manner. They do not fear YHWH, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law or after the commandment which YHWH commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel (2 Kings 17:34).
d With whom YHWH had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them, but YHWH, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, him shall you fear, and to him shall you bow yourselves, and to him shall you sacrifice” (2 Kings 17:35).
c “And the statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do for ever more, and you shall not fear other gods, and the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods, but YHWH your God you shall fear, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies” (2 Kings 17:37).
b However, they did not listen, but they did after their former manner (2 Kings 17:40).
a So these nations feared YHWH, and served their graven images, their children likewise, and their children's children, as did their fathers, so do they to this day (2 Kings 17:41).
Note that in ‘a' the people were brought to Israel from many different nations, and in the parallel these nations feared YHWH and served their graven images. In ‘b' at the beginning they did not fear YHWH, and in the parallel Israel had similarly not listened to YHWH. In ‘c' their troubles were put down to the fact that they did not know the law of God, and in the parallel Israel were called on to obey the law of God. In ‘d' the nations were to be taught the law of God, and in the parallel that law is summarised as it relates to their situation. In ‘e' the priest taught them that they should fear YHWH, and in the parallel in spite of it they did not fear YHWH. In ‘f' the peoples set up their own gods, and in the parallel they feared YHWH and worshipped their own gods. centrally in ‘g' we learn the details of the gods who were set up as gods of the land.
‘And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel, and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities.'
Just as the cream of the Israelites had been transported to other lands, so the cream of the people of other lands were transported to Israel. (In the words of Sargon, ‘I settled people of the many lands I had conquered into Hatti-land'). This would not, however, take place immediately but as and when these peoples rebelled against Assyria and were thus treated in this way. The aim was to divide and rule. Some came from some distance, from Babylon and Cuthah. Others came from nearer at hand, from Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim. Meanwhile the Israelites who were left were scraping a living from parts of the deserted land, while much of the rest of the land lay waste and was an open invitation to the many wild beasts who roamed the area to take possession of it.
A rebellion in Southern Mesopotamia in Sargon's first year (c 721 BC) resulted in peoples being deported from there to ‘Hatti land' (which was a general description that could include Syria and Palestine) while in his second year one took place at Hamath under Ilubi'di, probably with the same result. In his seventh year (c 714 BC) Sargon records the suppression of an Arabian revolt and the settlement of captives in Samaria. Thus the new population of Samaria began to settle in and develop.
Along with a good number from Babylonia itself, people were introduced from Cuthah, a centre for the cult of Nergal, which is generally located at Tell Ibrahim north east of Babylon (in around 709 BC). They were prominent enough for their name (Kuthim) later to be used as a term of abuse for the population of Samaria. Avva is mentioned as ‘Iwwa in 2 Kings 18:34 along with Sepharvaim, possibly as loosely connected with Hamath, and various suggestions have been made as to its identity (e.g. Ammia near Byblos, ‘Imm east of Antioch, ‘Ama in Elam, or Tell Kefr ‘Aya on the upper Orontes). Hamath, which was north of Aram (Syria), originally submitted to Assyria, but led a coalition against Sargon which resulted in its capital city being burned, its king Ilubi'di being killed, and presumably the cream of its population transported. Sepharvaim is usually connected with Sibraim, which was between Damascus and Hamath (Ezekiel 47:16). It was called Sabara'in in the Babylonian Chronicle. Others see it as the Babylonian Sippar.
‘And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear YHWH, therefore YHWH sent lions among them, which killed some of them.'
The length of time that it took for the land to be settled and restored to cultivation resulted in a good number of lions and other wild beasts establishing themselves in the area. This was always a danger when land was left unsettled (compare Leviticus 26:22; and see 1 Samuel 17:34; 1 Samuel 17:46). Thus the new settlers found themselves being troubled by lions, which were a feature of Palestine for many centuries. This was put down by them to the fact that they were not giving due obeisance to the God of the land. ‘YHWH sent lions among them' is describing what happened as seen from the author's viewpoint. To him everything that happened was caused by YHWH. He would have agreed with Amos 3:6 which says, ‘shall there be evil in a city, and YHWH has not done it?'.
‘For which reason they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the law of the god of the land, therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they kill them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” '
The problem was severe enough for the new inhabitants to appeal to Sargon pointing out that because ‘they did not know the law of the land' the god of the land had sent lions among them to kill them. It should be noted that while on the one hand the Assyrian kings could be cruel in their tyranny, they were also on the other hand concerned for their subjects once they had colonised them. They wanted them to be semi-independent while looking to their ‘father' the king of Assyria. After all satisfied people contributed to the wealth of Assyria. Thus he took notice of their complaint.
‘Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there, and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.'
Their problem was taken seriously, for Sargon gave command that one of the priests who had been brought from Samaria should be sent back in order to teach them the law of the god of the land. (He was not to know that such a priest would be a priest frowned on by YHWH as not being of the house of Aaron). Note the change from ‘him' to ‘them'. He would not be expected to go alone, but to take with him some support.
‘So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear YHWH.'
Thus a leading priest was forced to return to Samaria (no doubt with assistants) and take up his abode in Bethel, in order to teach the people ‘the fear of YHWH'. He would be seen as the ‘high priest' of YHWH. Bethel was thus once again a centre of a form of Yahwism. But this was one of Jeroboam's false priests, and his idea of Yahwism would not have gone down well in Jerusalem. He would probably have no law book, and would rather be teaching them what he himself had learned within the cult of Jeroboam. It was not a very promising way for these peoples to discover the real truth about YHWH.
‘However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.'
Meanwhile each nation made gods of their own and set them up in the ‘high places' which had been left behind by the transported ‘Samaritans'. Israel thus became the home of a multiplicity of gods.
This is the first mention of the term ‘Samaritans' in the Bible, but we must not mix these up with the Samaritans of New Testament times who were ardent monotheists based around Shechem, who had their own copy of the Law which they sought to live by. It will be noted in fact that the Samaritans mentioned in this verse have actually been transported to other countries. The term was thus NOT referring to the new people in the land.
‘And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.'
This multiplicity of gods are now described. ‘Succoth-benoth' probably means ‘the booths of Banitu', a Babylonian goddess also known as Ishtar/Astarte (parallel with Asherah). As the name implies (‘the booths of prostitutes/daughters') it was probably not a very savoury religion. Yahwism was unusual in expecting an ethical response. ‘Nergal' (‘lord of the great city') had his cult centre in Cuthah and was noted for bringing havoc on the world through plagues, war, pestilence and floods. His consort in the under-world was Ereshkigal. Ashima, Nibhaz and Tartak would be local deities of their own people. Adram-melech (or Adar-melech - ‘the lordship of Melech') and Ana-melech (possibly Anu-melech - ‘the king Anu') had similar features to Melech of the Ammonites and encouraged child sacrifice. Thus the gods that Samaria had previously turned to (2 Kings 17:16) were simply introduced in another form.
The problem with any names of deities like this Isaiah 1). that they have to be transposed from another language, and 2). that the Hebrew writers often ‘played' with the names of gods in order to give them a derisive meaning, indicating their contempt of them. Thus Ashima may be a deliberate corruption of Asherah, the Canaanite mother goddess (compare Amos 8:14 where Ashemath Shomeron is ‘the sin of Samaria'), and Ninhaz may be a corrupt of Mizbeach indicating a deified altar. But all this is conjectural.
‘So they feared YHWH, and made for themselves from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.'
So these people ‘feared YHWH' (paid him lip service in order to get into favour with Him) and as Jeroboam had done (1 Kings 12:31) chose their own high priests to serve in the high places dedicated to YHWH, and no doubt other gods as well. And these (illegitimate) high priests sacrificed on their behalf in those high places. (So far was it from the true ‘law of the God of the land').
‘They feared YHWH, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.'
Thus their religion was totally syncretistic, and to them YHWH was simply one of a number of gods, in His case connected with Samaria. Thus they both ‘feared YHWH' as a local deity, and continued to serve their own gods as they had done amongst their own peoples. We can compare how in Isaiah YHWH speaks of the possibility of the fear of YHWH being simply ‘a human tradition learned by rote' (Isaiah 29:13)
The Prophetic Author's Summing Up Of The New Religion.
The prophetic author makes quite clear that there was little connection between their parody of Yahwism, and the genuine Yahwism as practised among the Jews. He emphasises that they continued in their own way and never came into any genuine connection with either YHWH or His covenant. Above all they failed to follow YHWH's commandments and statutes which were at the centre of true Yahwism (which was not surprising as they probably knew little about them, only the garbled version brought to them by the priest). And especially they failed to recognise that YHWH was the only true God, and that they must worship Him only and not bow down to statues and images.
‘To this day they do after the former manner. They do not fear YHWH, nor do they do after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law or after the commandment which YHWH commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel,'
And the author points out that is spite of their nearness to Judah they still behave in this way. They have learned nothing from Judah. They do not truly fear YHWH, nor do they follow after the statutes, ordinances, law and commandment commanded by YHWH to the children of Jacob whom He named Israel, for they do not even know what they are.
‘With whom YHWH had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them, but YHWH, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, him shall you fear, and to him shall you bow yourselves, and to him shall you sacrifice,” '
And this is especially so of the first two commandments. For in those commandments YHWH had made a covenant with His people saying, ‘You shall not fear other gods, or bow down to them, or serve them, or sacrifice to them.' The only One Whom they must fear, and to Whom they must bow down or sacrifice is ‘YHWH Who brought them out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm.' Thus these new inhabitants of Samaria are failing on all counts.
“And the statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do for ever more, and you shall not fear other gods, and the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods, but YHWH your God you shall fear, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.”
The prophetic author then applies the lesson to his readers. They too were to observe ‘for evermore' the statutes, ordinances, law and commandment which He had made with them, and were not to fear other gods. Nor were they to forget the covenant that He had made with them. They were not to fear other gods, but were to fear YHWH alone. ‘YHWH your God you shall fear.' And then they could be sure that He would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. (The continual repetitions are typical of Hebrew style).
‘However, they did not listen, but they did after their former manner.'
This could refer to Israel, but more probably refers to the newcomers simply because of the repetition of ‘their former manner' (see 2 Kings 17:33).
‘So these nations feared YHWH, and served their graven images, their children likewise, and their children's children, as did their fathers, so do they to this day.'
The author then sums up the position by pointing out what the actual position was. They ‘feared YHWH and served their graven images' in complete contradiction to the commandment of YHWH. And their children and their children's children followed suit, right up to the writer's day. Thus they never really came to know YHWH, or came within His covenant.