2 Kings 17:24-41

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.

2 Kings 17:24. the king of Assyria: see above. In Ezra 4:2 the king who settled Northern Israel is called Esarhaddon (pp. 59f.), the son of Sennacherib (681- 668 B.C.). In Ezra 4:10 it is said to have been the great and noble Osnappar, probably Asshurbani-pal (p. 60), Esar-had-don's successor. The mention of Babylon as a city conquered by the Assyrians is a mark of accuracy. In later days it was, of course, the great oppressor of Judah (see on 2 Kings 20:17).

2 Kings 17:25. The rabbis called the Samaritans proselytes of lions. The lion has long disappeared from Palestine, but was evidently common enough in OT times. A depopulated district soon became dangerous owing to the rapid multiplication of wild beasts, and it was necessary to go armed (see Exodus 23:28; Isaiah 7:24). The sending of the lions was thought to indicate the displeasure of Yahweh, the God of the country, at the rites in His honour not being duly performed.

2 Kings 17:32. The high-place worship continued after the Exile, but we find no trace of it later in Samaria.

2 Kings 17:41. At the time of the Return the Samaritans expressly claimed that they had the same religion as the Jews (Ezra 4:2). The first expression outside the OT of the Jews-' bitter hatred for the Samaritans is in Sir_50:26. Josephus and the rabbis call them Cutheans (see 2 Kings 17:24). The antagonism between Jews and Samaritans in the NT is notorious (John 4:9).