THE FALL OF SAMARIA This chapter relates the reign of Hoshea. He intrigued with Egypt and rebelled against Assyria; and Samaria, in consequence, was taken and its people carried into captivity, their place being filled by a mixed population.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOSHEA] Hoshea, unlike Pekah (2 Kings 16:5), belonged to the faction in Samaria which relied on Assyrian support, and Tiglath-pileser, in his inscriptions, states that after he had slain Pekah, he 'appointed' Hoshea to rule over Israel, and received as tribute 10 talents of gold and 1,000 talents of... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALMANESER] succeeded Tiglath-pileser, his reign lasting from 727 to 723 b.c. GAVE HIM PRESENTS] i.e. rendered him tribute.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO] This king, whose name should perhaps be written Seve, is generally identified with Sabako, the first king of the 25th dynasty, though some authorities regard him as a petty prince who was vassal of the Pharaoh. The interference of Assyria with the Israelite kingdoms raised the fears of Egypt, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF ASSYRIA] Not Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:3), who died before Samaria was captured, but his successor, Sargon (723-705). The fall of Samaria took place in 722 b.c. CARRIED ISRAEL AWAY] The numbers deported, as given in Sargon's own inscription, amounted to 27,280 so that a considerable popula... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGS OF ISRAEL] especially Jeroboam, who introduced the calf-worship, and Ahab, who introduced Baal worship.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TOWER OF THE WATCHMEN] i.e. the watch towers erected for solitary guardians of the vineyards and flocks in lonely localities, the phrase FROM THE TOWER.. FENCED CITY thus embracing thinly and thickly populated places.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL NOT DO THIS THING] cp. Deuteronomy 12:31. Some of the pillars and Asherim (so read for 'images and groves' in 2 Kings 17:10) were probably, like the calves, erected in honour of the LORD, and the LXX after 'things' adds 'unto the LORD.' If so they had an evil tendency, because they were ass... [ Continue Reading ]
BY ALL THE PROPHETS] Among the prophets who laboured in Israel were Ahijah, Jehu (son of Hanani), Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Jonah, Oded, Amos, and Hosea; whilst those who ministered in Judah included (up to the time here indicated) Shemaiah, Iddo, Azariah, Hanani, Jehu, Zechariah (son of Jehoiada), M... [ Continue Reading ]
VANITY] often applied to idols (1 Kings 16:13)... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN] i.e. the stars. There is no previous reference in Kings to this form of idolatry in N. Israel, but an allusion to it occurs in Amos 5:26, where the name 'Chiun' probably denotes the planet Saturn. Warnings against it are found in Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
WALKED ISRAEL] as when Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, introduced Baal worship: cp. 2 Kings 8:18; 2 Kings 8:27; 2 Kings 16:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE SEED] The writer here anticipates the future, and refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, an event which he still has to relate.... [ Continue Reading ]
BROUGHT _MEN_ FROM, etc.] Of the names that follow, BABYLON was on the Euphrates; CUTHAH was between the Euphrates and the Tigris; AVA, perhaps the Ivah of 2 Kings 18:34, is identified by some with the Ahava of Ezra 8:15; HAMATH was on the Orontes; SEPHARVAIM ('the two Sippars') was in Babylonia. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
LIONS] These, which were common in the Jordan valley, would multiply in consequence of the depopulation of the country.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MANNER] i.e. the ordinances of worship.... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE OF THE PRIESTS] The priests alone were acquainted with the proper ritual. LET THEM] i.e. the priest and his attendants.... [ Continue Reading ]
SUCCOTH-BENOTH] perhaps Zir-bânit, the wife of Merodach. NERGAL] the Assyrian god of war.... [ Continue Reading ]
ADRAMMELECH AND ANAMMELECH] probably the gods Adar and Anu, with the addition of the word 'melech' ('king').... [ Continue Reading ]
OF THE LOWEST OF THEM] better, 'of all classes': cp. 1 Kings 12:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY FEARED THE LORD AND SERVED, etc.] cp. 2 Kings 17:41. The religion that prevailed was a combination of the worship of the Lord (Jehovah), as the God of the land of Israel (2 Kings 17:27), with that of the various deities adored by the different nations from which the settlers were drawn. The wor... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY FEAR NOT THE LORD] i.e. the worship of the Lord implied in 2 Kings 17:33 was not such as God desired.... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THIS DAY] i.e. as late as the time of the writer of the passage, though whether the statement proceeds from the compiler of the book, or from one of his authorities, is not certain. The Israelite exiles, whose native land was thus occupied by strangers, lost their nationality in the country of... [ Continue Reading ]