2 Kings 17:24

_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._ The King of Assyria brought men from Babylon ... The places vacated by the captive Israelites he ordered to be occupied by several colonies of his own subjects from Babylon an other provinces. FROM CUTHAH - or Tiggaba, a city about fifteen miles northeast from Babylon, now Ibrahim, specially dedicated to Nergal, deified Nimrod (Rawlinson's 'Herodotus,' 1:, p. 632; also 2:, p. 587), and uniformly designated his city in the ancient inscriptions (see the notes at 2 Kings 17:30); Josephus places Cuthah in Persia ('Antiquities,' b. 9:, ch. 14:; see also 'Journal of Royal Asiatic Society,' vol. 10:, 15, 23, no

24-41 The terror of the Almighty will sometimes produce a forced or feigned submission in unconverted men; like those brought from different countries to inhabit Israel. But such will form unworthy thoughts of God, will expect to please him by outward forms, and will vainly try to reconcile his service with the love of the world and the indulgence of their lusts. May that fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, possess our hearts, and influence our conduct, that we may be ready for every change. Wordly settlements are uncertain; we know not whither we may be driven before we die, and we must soon leave the world; but the righteous hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from him....

Verse 2 Kings 17:24. _THE KING OF ASSYRIA BROUGHT_ MEN _FROM BABYLON_] He removed one people entirely, and substituted others in their place; and this he did to cut off all occasion for mutiny or insurrection; for the people being removed from their _own land_, had no _object_ worthy of attention to contend for, and no _patrimony_ in the land of their captivity to induce them to hazard any opposition to their oppressors. By men _from Babylon_, we may understand some cities of _Babylonia_ then under the Assyrian empire; for at this time Babylon had a king of its own; but some parts of what was called Babylonia might have been still under the Assyrian government. _FROM CUTHAH_] This is supposed to be the same as _Cush_, the Chaldeans and Syrians changing ש _shin_ into ת _tau_; thus

Sargon is probably the king of Assyria intended, not (as generally supposed) either Shalmaneser or Esar-haddon. The ruins of Cutha have been discovered about 15 miles northeast of Babylon, at a place which is called Ibrahim, because it is the traditional site of a contest between Abraham and Nimrod. The name of Cuilia is found on the bricks of this place, which are mostly of the era of Nebuchadnezzar. The Assyrian inscriptions show that the special god of Cutha was Nergal (see the 2 Kings 17:30 note). Ava or Ivah or Ahava Ezra 8:15 was on the Euphrates; perhaps the city in ancient times called Ihi or Aia, between Sippara (Sepharvaim) and Hena (Anah). On Hamath, see...

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 17:1 THE REIGN OF HOSHEA OVER ISRAEL. DESTRUCTION OF THE ISRAELITE KINGDOM, AND THE GROUNDS OF IT RE-PEOPLING OF THE KINGDOM BY ASSYRIAN COLONISTS. 2 KINGS 17:1 REIGN OF HOSHEA. Hoshea, the last King of Israel, had a short reign of nine years only, during two of which

AND THE KING OF ASSYRIA BROUGHT MEN FROM BABYLON,.... Which was at this time under the dominion of the king of Assyria; though in a little time after this it revolted, and had a king of its own, 2 Kings 20:12, this king of Assyria was either Shalmaneser, who carried Israel captive, or it may be rather his son Esarhaddon, see Ezra 4:2, AND FROM CUTHAH; which, according to Josephus k, was a city in Persia, where was a river of the same name; but it was rather a place in Erech, in the country of Babylon, Genesis 10:10, AND FROM AVA; the same with Ivah, Isaiah 37:13, where perhaps a colony of the Avim had sett

2 Kings 17:23. _So was Israel carried away out of their own hand to Assyria this day. 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._ It was a part of the tactics of the Assyrian empire to take people away from their original location and colonize them in other places to shift them to another land; so that while the Israelites were taken to Babylon, numbers of those who had lived round about Babylon were brought to live in the Samaritan province, in order that nationalities might thus be broken down and patriotism might expire, thus making it easier for the Assyrian tyrant to govern the land....

7. ASSYRIA CONQUERS ISRAEL AND THE CAPTIVITY CHAPTER 17 _ 1. Hoshea, Israel's last king (2 Kings 17:1)_ 2. Shalmaneser imprisons Hoshea (2 Kings 17:3) 3. Israel carried into captivity (2 Kings 17:5) 4. Retrospect and Israel's sins (2 Kings 17:7) 5. The colonization of Samaria (2 Kings 17:24) Israel's last king was Hoshea. His name means “deliverance.” It indicates what might have been had he and the people repented of their sins. The record of his character is brief. “And he did that which was

THE ORIGIN OF THE SAMARITANS. This is a somewhat mixed account. 2 Kings 17:24 describes the settlement of the land with captives from other parts of the Assyrian empire, and the sending of a priest to teach them the manner of the God of the country. Next, 2 Kings 17:29 relates that the new settlers not only feared (_i.e._ worshipped) Yahweh, but also served their own gods. Finally (2 Kings 17:34) there is a general statement regarding the sin of Israel. This has no connexion with what precedes, nor does it in any way describe the Samaritan religion. It is perhaps nothing more than a new description of the sins for which Israel and Judah were carried away captive....

BROUGHT MEN. These were the substituted people forming the nucleus of the later Samaritans; but subsequently intermixed with Israelites returning with Ezra and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:3; Nehemiah 13:23). In N.. called "foreigners" (Luke 17:18). Compare Matthew 10:5; Matthew 10:6. Sargon refers to this in his inscriptions. Only one figure remains (7) of the number he gives. CUTHAH. Ten miles north-east of Babylon. In the first year of Sargon there was war between Cuthah and Babylon, and the people of Cuthah were transported to Syria and Pales