2 Kings17

The chapter details the final fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. King Hoshea's rebellion against Assyria led to Samaria's three-year siege and Israel's subsequent captivity. This judgment was a direct consequence of Israel's persistent idolatry and rejection of the LORD's commandments, despite prophetic warnings. New inhabitants were then settled in Samaria, who developed a syncretistic religion, fearing the LORD while also serving their own gods.
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The Fall of Samaria and the End of Israel

1
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. ​
2
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. ​
3
Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ​
4
But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison. ​
5
Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.
6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. ​

The Theological Reason for Israel's Exile

7
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods ​
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and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
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The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. ​
10
They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
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They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger.
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They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.”
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Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.” ​
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But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
15
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate. ​
16
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. ​
17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. ​
18
So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, ​
19
and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. ​
20
So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.
21
When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. ​
22
The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.
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Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.

Foreign Settlers and Syncretistic Worship

24
Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns. ​
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Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ​
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So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.”
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Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”
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Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD. ​
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Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places.
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The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
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the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim. ​
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So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.
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They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away. ​
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To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel. ​
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For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.
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Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him. ​
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And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods.
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Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods,
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but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.”
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But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs.
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So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. ​

Study Notes for 2 Kings 17

Verse 1

Hoshea was the last king of the Northern Kingdom (Israel). His reign was marked by political instability and increasing subservience to the rising power of Assyria.

Verse 2

Hoshea’s evil was relative; he was likely less aggressive in promoting Baalism than kings like Ahab, perhaps due to Assyrian dominance limiting internal religious policy, but he still failed to worship Yahweh exclusively.

Verse 3

Shalmaneser V (727–722 BCE) initiated the final campaign against Israel. The requirement of 'presents' (tribute) indicates Israel’s status as a vassal state to the Assyrian Empire.

Verse 4

Seeking alliance with Egypt (likely Pharaoh Osorkon IV, referred to here as So) and withholding tribute constituted high treason against Assyria, an act often condemned by prophets like Isaiah.

Verse 6

The conquest occurred in 722 BCE. While Shalmaneser V began the siege, his successor Sargon II often claimed credit for the capture and subsequent deportation, which was a standard Assyrian strategy to prevent future rebellion.

Verse 7

This verse marks a crucial shift from historical narrative to theological interpretation. The exile is explicitly framed as divine judgment for covenant violation, specifically forgetting the deliverance from Egypt.

Verse 9

The 'high places' (Bamot) were unauthorized worship sites, often mixing Yahweh worship with Canaanite fertility rites, which were spread throughout the land, symbolizing pervasive apostasy.

Verse 13

This emphasizes God’s justice and patience; judgment was not arbitrary but followed repeated, clear warnings delivered through generations of prophets calling Israel back to the Mosaic Law.

Verse 15

To 'follow vanity and become vain' links the worship of worthless idols (vanity) directly to the moral and spiritual emptiness (becoming vain) of the worshiper, illustrating the corrupting power of idolatry.

Verse 16

The mention of the 'two calves' explicitly recalls the foundational sin initiated by Jeroboam I at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12), justifying the removal of his dynasty’s kingdom.

Verse 17

Causing children to pass through the fire refers to child sacrifice, associated with the god Molech, representing the most severe form of religious apostasy and moral depravity.

Verse 18

This verse underlines the completeness of the judgment on the Northern Kingdom. Only the Southern Kingdom (Judah) remained, though Judah’s own faithfulness was also precarious (v. 19).

Verse 19

The historian includes this warning about Judah to show that the principles of divine judgment are universal, foreshadowing Judah’s own eventual exile (586 BCE) if they continued in the sins of Israel.

Verse 21

The political schism initiated by Jeroboam I (931 BCE) is identified here as the foundational theological sin that led the entire Northern Kingdom into persistent idolatry and eventual destruction.

Verse 24

The Assyrian policy of deporting conquered populations and replacing them with foreign settlers led to a mixed, non-Israelite population in the central region, which eventually became known as Samaria.

Verse 25

The text interprets the attack by lions as divine judgment for the foreigners' failure to acknowledge Yahweh, the 'God of the land,' according to common ancient Near Eastern belief that local deities controlled their territories.

Verse 28

The returned priest settles in Bethel, a site historically associated with unauthorized Yahwistic worship (Jeroboam's calves). This compromise ensured that the instruction given was already corrupted and syncretistic.

Verse 31

The Sepharvites practiced child sacrifice, a horrific pagan ritual similar to that practiced by the former Israelites (v. 17), highlighting the persistent evil that continued in the land.

Verse 33

This verse defines syncretism: they 'feared the LORD' (acknowledged Yahweh as a powerful local deity) but simultaneously 'served their own gods,' violating the core command of exclusive worship.

Verse 34

'Unto this day' provides a chronological marker, indicating that the mixed religious practices persisted into the time of writing, explaining the complex origins of the later Samaritans.

Verse 36

The historian contrasts the fear of foreign gods with the proper fear and worship owed exclusively to Yahweh, the God who demonstrated singular power through the Exodus deliverance.

Verse 41

This final summary confirms that the syncretistic religion established by the settlers became hereditary, continuing the pattern of compromised and mixed worship that Yahweh had condemned in Israel itself.

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