_A.M. 3279. B.C. 725._
The reign of Hoshea, _2Ki 17:1, 2 Kings 17:2. The king of Assyria
imprisons him, and carries Israel captive, 2 Kings 17:3. The cause of
this captivity, 2 Kings 17:7. The strange nations transplanted into
Canaan are plagued with lions, 2 Kings 17:24. An Israelitish priest is
s... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the twelfth year of Ahaz, began Hoshea to reign_ 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 till Ahaz's twelfth year. _Nine years_ After his confirmation
and peaceable possessi... [ Continue Reading ]
_But not as the kings of Israel that were before him_ For he neither
worshipped Baal, as many of his predecessors had done, nor compelled
the people to worship the calves, one of which, that of Dan, being
destroyed or carried away before this time, as the Hebrew writers
affirm. And whereas the kings... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea_ If the king and
people of Israel had applied themselves to God, made their peace with
him, and addressed their prayers to him, they might, and no doubt
would have recovered their liberty, ease, and honour; but they
withheld their tribute, and trusted... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land_ And made
himself master of it, treating the Israelites as traitors rather than
as fair enemies, and punishing them with the sword of justice. _And
went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years_ During which time it
held out, but doubtless... [ Continue Reading ]
_For so it was_, &c. Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten
tribes is but briefly related in the preceding verses, it is largely
commented upon by the historian in those that follow; and the reasons
of it assigned, which are not taken from the second causes, the
weakness of Israel and thei... [ Continue Reading ]
_And walked in the statutes of the heathen_ According to their laws
and customs in the worship of their Baals, and other of their sins.
_And of the kings of Israel, which_ statutes _they had made_ Had
ordained concerning the worship of the calves, and against their going
up to Jerusalem to worship.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They burned incense, as did the heathen_ Namely, in high places; and
that not only to the Lord, which, though an irregularity, was
practised and tolerated sometimes, even in the kingdom of Judah, but
also to the idols of the heathen. _Whom the Lord carried away before
them_ For the same sins; by wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet the Lord testified against Israel_ Against their false worship,
and 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, bearing witness from heaven to their
doctrine, by eminent and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks _
Refused to submit their necks to the yoke of God's precepts: a
metaphor taken from stubborn oxen that will not bow to the yoke. _Like
to the neck of their fathers_ In the wilderness; _that did not believe
in the Lord their God_ This w... [ Continue Reading ]
_They followed vanity_ Idols; so called, because of their
unprofitableness, impotency, and nothingness, and to show the folly
and madness of idolaters. _And became vain_ By the long worship of
idols they were made like them, vain, sottish, and senseless
creatures. _And they left all the commandments... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel_ For he is a jealous
God, and highly resents the giving that honour to any created or
imaginary being, which is due to himself only. _And removed them out
of his sight_ A very strong expression, to signify, not only his
casting them out of Canaan, then... [ Continue Reading ]
_Also Judah kept not, &c., but walked in the statutes of Israel_
Followed the idolatrous devices of the ten tribes, which they did most
notoriously in the reign of Ahaz. And though his son Hezekiah made a
noble reformation, it lasted no longer than his time, so extremely
corrupted was the nation. Ju... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord rejected all the seed of Israel_ All the kingdom, or tribes
of Israel, first one part of them, 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: see
2 Chronicles 11:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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
rebelliously rose up against the house of David, to which they were
under such great oblig... [ Continue Reading ]
_They departed not from them_ But willingly and resolutely followed
the wicked examples and commands of their kings, though contrary to
God's express commands. _Until the Lord removed Israel_ They continued
to the last, obstinate and incorrigible under all the instructions and
corrections which God... [ Continue Reading ]
_The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon_ Which then was subject
to the Assyrian monarch, but a few years after revolted from him, and
set up another king, as appears from both sacred and profane
histories. _And from Cuthah_, &c. Several places then in his dominion.
It is probable that it was n... [ Continue Reading ]
_And so it was that they feared not the Lord_ They did not acknowledge
nor worship the true God in any sort. _Therefore the Lord sent lions
among them_ For their gross neglect and contempt of God, which was
contrary to the principles and practices of the heathen, who used to
worship the gods of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria_, &c. They wrote, or sent
messengers to him, to acquaint him with this grievance, setting forth,
it is likely, the loss which their infant colony had sustained by the
lions, and the continual fear they were in of them; and that they
looked upon it as a ju... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the king of Assyria commanded, Carry thither one of the priests_
That is, one of the chief priests, with others 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... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then one of the priests whom they had carried away came_, &c. A
prophet would have done them more good, especially as it appears this
was but one of the priests of the calves, who therefore chose to dwell
at Beth-el. _And taught them how they should fear the Lord_ That is,
the manner of God's worsh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit, every nation made gods of their own_ Or, _worshipped_, as
the Hebrew word here used sometimes means; of which see Exodus 32:35.
That is, they worshipped the gods which they had served in the places
from whence they came. _And put them in the high places which the
Samaritans_ That is, which... [ Continue Reading ]
_The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth_, &c. In this and the
following verse are the names of the gods or goddesses which each
nation of these new-comers to Samaria and its vicinity set up. The
learned are not agreed as to the signification of several of these
names, nor is it worth while to spend... [ Continue Reading ]
_So they feared the Lord_ Worshipped him externally in that way which
the Israelites had used: having and serving gods of their own besides.
_And made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests_, &c. See note
on 1 Kings 12:31. _Which sacrificed in the high places_ Unto the true
God; for as to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto this day_, &c. That is, till the time when this book was
written, and long after, about three hundred years in all, till the
time of Alexander the Great, when Manasseh, brother to Jaddus the
high-priest of the Jews, having married the daughter of Sanballat,
governor of the Samaritans, went ove... [ Continue Reading ]
_So these nations feared the Lord_, &c. Namely, the nations that came
in the place of the Israelites. They followed their example, and acted
as they had done, endeavouring to unite things perfectly
irreconcilable, the worship of the true God and the worship of idols.... [ Continue Reading ]