CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
2 Kings 17
Chapter 17 of 25
Chapter Overview
What happens in 2 Kings 17
This is the most important chapter in 2 Kings. The northern kingdom of Israel falls to Assyria in 722 BC, and its people are deported. The author explains in detail why God allowed this to happen: centuries of idol worship, breaking God's covenant, and ignoring the prophets' warnings.
Scripture
2 Kings 17
The Fall of Samaria
Study note
Hoshea, Israel's last king, was not as bad as some of his predecessors but still did evil in God's sight. He became a vassal of the king of Assyria but secretly tried to make an alliance with Egypt. When the king of Assyria discovered this betrayal, he imprisoned Hoshea, invaded the whole land, besieged Samaria for three years, and finally captured it in 722 BC. The people of Israel were deported to various locations in the Assyrian Empire. The ten northern tribes were effectively scattered and lost.
1 Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria during the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah. He reigned nine years. In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2 He did what the Lord considered evil, though he was not as bad as the Israelite kings before him. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria invaded. Hoshea gave in and agreed to pay taxes to Assyria. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
4 But later, the Assyrian king found out Hoshea was scheming against him. Hoshea had secretly contacted King So of Egypt and stopped making his annual payments to Assyria. So the Assyrian king arrested Hoshea and threw him in prison. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present 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 The Assyrian king then invaded the whole country. His army marched on Samaria and surrounded it for three years. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
6 In Hoshea's ninth year, Assyria's king took Samaria. He moved Israel's people to Assyria. He put them in Halah and by the Habor River in Gozan. He also put them in Mede cities. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Why Israel Fell
Study note
The author gives a long and detailed explanation of why God allowed Israel to be destroyed. The people had sinned against God who had rescued them from Egypt. They worshipped other gods, followed pagan customs, set up idols and sacred poles, burned incense at high places, and even sacrificed their children in fire. God sent prophet after prophet to warn them, but they refused to listen. They rejected God's covenant, followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves. Finally, God removed Israel from his sight, leaving only the tribe of Judah -- and even Judah was not following God's commands.
7 All of this happened because the Israelites had been sinning against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from Egypt and freed them from Pharaoh's grip. They had been worshiping other gods. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
8 They had picked up the ways of the nations the Lord had driven out of the land. They also followed practices started by Israel's own kings. And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
9 The Israelites had been doing things in secret that offended the Lord their God. They built pagan shrines in every town, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
10 They set up sacred stone pillars and wooden idol poles. They placed them on every hill and under every leafy tree. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
11 They burned incense at all these pagan shrines, just like the nations the Lord had expelled. Their evil actions made the Lord furious. And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
12 They worshiped idols, even though the Lord had specifically told them, 'You must never do this.' For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
13 Again and again, the Lord had sent prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: 'Turn away from your evil ways! Obey my commands and follow the laws I gave to your ancestors through my servants the prophets.' Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
14 But they would not listen. They were just as stubborn as their ancestors, who had also refused to trust the Lord their God. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
15 They threw out God's laws and the agreement he had made with their ancestors. They ignored his warnings. They chased after empty idols and became empty themselves. They mimicked the surrounding nations even though the Lord had told them not to. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
16 They gave up every command the Lord their God had given. They made two golden calf idols and an idol pole. They worshiped the stars and served the god Baal. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17 They even burned their own sons and daughters as sacrifices. They used fortune-telling and sorcery. They completely gave themselves over to doing evil in the Lord's sight and made him extremely angry. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
18 The Lord was so angry with Israel that he cast them out of his sight. Only the tribe of Judah remained. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
19 But even Judah failed to keep the Lord's commands. They fell into the same sinful habits Israel had started. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
20 The Lord rejected all of Israel's descendants. He brought punishment on them and let their enemies overpower them until finally he banished them from his presence. And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
21 The Lord split Israel from David's family. The people chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as king. Jeroboam pulled Israel from the Lord. He led them into awful sin. For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.
22 The Israelites kept right on sinning the way Jeroboam had taught them. They never changed their ways. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23 In the end, the Lord banished Israel from his presence, just as he had warned through every one of his prophets. The people of Israel were carried off to Assyria, where they remain to this day. Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
Foreigners Settle in Samaria
Study note
After deporting the Israelites, the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to live in the cities of Samaria. These foreigners did not worship the Lord, so God sent lions among them. When the king of Assyria heard about this, he sent an Israelite priest back to teach the newcomers how to worship the God of the land. But each nationality also continued worshipping their own gods, creating a mixed religion.
24 The Assyrian king brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. He settled them in the cities of Samaria to take the Israelites' place. They moved in and lived in Samaria's towns. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
25 At first, these new residents did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, and the lions killed some of the people. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
26 Word reached the Assyrian king: 'The people you moved to Samaria do not know how to worship the God of that land. He has sent lions to attack them because they do not know what he expects.' Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27 The Assyrian king ordered, 'Send one of the priests you deported from Samaria back there. Have him settle in the land and teach the people what the God of that territory expects.' Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28 So one of the deported priests returned and settled in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29 But each group of people also kept making and worshipping their own gods. They put their idols in the shrines the Samaritans had built on the hilltops. Howbeit 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.
30 The Babylonians made an idol they called Succoth-benoth. The people from Cuth made one called Nergal. The people from Hamath made one called Ashima. And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 The people from Avva made idols called Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim burned their own children as sacrifices to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 These people also worshiped the Lord. But they picked anyone they wanted to serve as priests at their hilltop shrines. So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
33 They acted like they worshiped the Lord. But they still served their own gods. They kept the ways of the lands they came from. They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
A Warning for All
Study note
The author emphasizes that the new residents of Samaria continued their mixed worship practices. They claimed to worship the Lord but also served their own gods. God had made a covenant with the descendants of Jacob (Israel), commanding them to worship only him. But the people did not listen and continued their old ways. This mixed population would later become known as the Samaritans, whom the Jews of Jesus' day looked down upon.
34 They keep up these same mixed practices to this day. They do not truly worship the Lord or follow the laws and commands he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
35 The Lord had made a firm deal with Israel. 'You must not worship other gods. Do not bow to them. Do not serve them. Do not bring them gifts.' With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
36 'Only worship the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with his incredible power. Bow down to him alone and bring your sacrifices only to him.' But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
37 'Carefully follow the laws, rules, teachings, and commands he wrote for you. Never worship other gods.' And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.
38 'Never forget the agreement I made with you. Never worship other gods.' And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
39 'Worship the Lord your God alone. He is the one who will save you from every enemy.' But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
40 But the people paid no attention. They kept doing what they had always done. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
41 So these foreign nations went through the motions of worshiping the Lord but also kept serving their own idols. Their children and grandchildren have done the same thing their ancestors did, right down to the present day. So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
Key Themes
Themes in 2 Kings 17
The final consequence of centuries of unfaithfulnessGod's patience has limits when repentance is refusedThe danger of syncretism: mixing true worship with false religionGod's prophets warn, but people must choose to listen
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
2 Kings 24-33 John 4:9, 20-24
The origin of the Samaritans through this mixing of peoples and religions explains the Jewish-Samaritan hostility that Jesus intentionally crossed in His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, breaking down barriers of prejudice and exclusion.
Apply This Today
Living 2 Kings 17
The fall of Israel did not happen overnight; it was the result of generations of warning that went unheeded. God is incredibly patient, sending prophet after prophet, but He will not force people to obey. This chapter is a sobering reminder that persistent refusal to listen to God leads to devastating consequences. The time to respond is always now.
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