College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
2 Kings 17:1-6
III. THE ASSYRIAN DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL AND THE DEPORTATION OF THE TEN TRIBES 17:1-41
Chapter 17 relates the sad story of how the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrian superpower. After narrating the political facts relating to the reign of the last king of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-6), the author of Kings undertakes a lengthy explanation of why the calamity of captivity befell this portion of God's covenant people (2 Kings 17:7-23). The author then describes the syncretistic practices of the foreigners who were forced to repopulate Samaria (2 Kings 17:24-41).
A. HOSHEA: THE LAST KING OF ISRAEL 17:1-6
TRANSLATION
(1) In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel; and he reigned for nine years. (2) And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, only not like the kings of Israel who were before him. (3) Against him Shalmaneser king of Assyria went up, and Hoshea became a servant to him and rendered to him tribute. (4) And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea because he had sent messengers unto So king of Egypt; and he brought no tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. (5) And the king of Assyria went up in all the land, and went up to Samaria, and laid siege to it for three years. (6) In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, took Israel captive to Assyria, and made them dwell in Halah, and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Nineteenth King of Israel
HOSEA BEN ELAH
732-722 B.C.
(Deliverer)
Synchronism
Hoshea 1 = Jotham 20
Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.
COMMENTS
Hoshea came to the throne in 732 B.C., the twentieth year of Jotham (2 Kings 15:30) and the twelfth year of the coregency of Ahaz (2 Kings 17:1).[590] He reigned for some nine years over the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 17:1). Like his predecessors, Hoshea did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He continued the apostate calf worship, leaned upon the arm of flesh, and turned a deaf ear to the voice of God's prophets. But he was not guilty of any special wickedness like some of those who had occupied that throne before him (2 Kings 17:2). When Tiglath-pileser died, Hoshea tried to regain his independence by withholding the annual tribute money. But the new king, Shalmaneser, came up against him and forced him to resume his position of Assyrian tributary.[591] These events probably transpired in the year 727 B.C.
[590] For a discussion of the problem in this synchronism, see the special study at the conclusion of the next chapter.
[591] This may have been the time when Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle (Hosea 10:14), defeating Hoshea near that place and taking the city.
Though forced back into the Assyrian orbit, Hoshea searched for some means by which he might extricate himself. Grasping at straws, he was persuaded to enter alliance with a certain King So of Egypt. This So is probably to be identified with Sib-'e, a commander of one of the small monarchies of the Egypt delta.[592] King So must have made certain commitments to Hoshea. With this backing the Israelite monarch tried once again to withhold tribute from Shalmaneser. This act of rebellion brought down the wrath of the Assyrian upon Samaria. The text as it stands gives the impression that Hoshea may have gone out to meet Shalmaneser to sue for peace and pardon. He was then arrested and imprisoned (2 Kings 17:4).[593]
[592] J. A. Wilson, So, IDB, vol. R-Z, p. 394. Gray (OTL, p. 642) thinks So is not a person, but a placethe Egyptian capital of this period, Sais. The Hebrew text as it stands suggests that a person is intended.
[593] Others think that 2 Kings 17:4 gives the ultimate result, and 2 Kings 17:5-6 the details of how that result came about.
The king of Assyria came with a vast army to besiege the kingless capital of the country. According to the Hebrew mode of reckoning parts of years as full years, the siege lasted three years. Actually the siege need not have lasted longer than one full year and parts of two other ones, i.e., a little over one year. Samaria held out as long as it could, awaiting the promised aid from Egypt (2 Kings 17:5). Finally in 722 B.C. Samaria fell to the king of Assyria, either Shalmaneser, or to Sargon who claimed the throne that same year.[594] The Assyrian records relate that 27,290 persons were carried captive from Samaria, and doubtlessly many others from smaller villages round about. These captives were taken and distributed in the distant eastern provinces of the Assyrian empire.
[594] In various texts Sargon claims to have captured Samaria. However A. T. Olmstead makes a strong case that Shalmaneser was still king at the time the city fell. The Fall of Samaria, AJSL, XXI (1904, 5), 179-82.