_A.M. 3279. B.C. 725._ The reign of Hoshea, _2Ki 17:1, 2 Kings 17:2. The king of Assyria imprisons him, and carries Israel captive, 2 Kings 17:3. The cause of this captivity, 2 Kings 17:7. The strange nations transplanted into Canaan are plagued with lions, 2 Kings 17:24. An Israelitish priest is s... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the twelfth year of Ahaz, began Hoshea to reign_ He usurped the kingdom in Ahaz's fourth year; but either was not owned as king by the generality of the people, or was not accepted and established in his kingdom till Ahaz's twelfth year. _Nine years_ After his confirmation and peaceable possessi... [ Continue Reading ]
_But not as the kings of Israel that were before him_ For he neither worshipped Baal, as many of his predecessors had done, nor compelled the people to worship the calves, one of which, that of Dan, being destroyed or carried away before this time, as the Hebrew writers affirm. And whereas the kings... [ Continue Reading ]
_Against him came up Shalmaneser_ The son or successor of Tiglath-pileser. The ancient Hebrew writers made him the same with Sennacherib, who, eight years after this time, invaded the kingdom of Judah; it being very frequent, in the eastern parts, for one man to be called by several names. Josephus... [ Continue Reading ]
_The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea_ If the king and people of Israel had applied themselves to God, made their peace with him, and addressed their prayers to him, they might, and no doubt would have recovered their liberty, ease, and honour; but they withheld their tribute, and trusted... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land_ And made himself master of it, treating the Israelites as traitors rather than as fair enemies, and punishing them with the sword of justice. _And went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years_ During which time it held out, but doubtless... [ Continue Reading ]
_For so it was_, &c. Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes is but briefly related in the preceding verses, it is largely commented upon by the historian in those that follow; and the reasons of it assigned, which are not taken from the second causes, the weakness of Israel and thei... [ Continue Reading ]
_And walked in the statutes of the heathen_ According to their laws and customs in the worship of their Baals, and other of their sins. _And of the kings of Israel, which_ statutes _they had made_ Had ordained concerning the worship of the calves, and against their going up to Jerusalem to worship.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They burned incense, as did the heathen_ Namely, in high places; and that not only to the Lord, which, though an irregularity, was practised and tolerated sometimes, even in the kingdom of Judah, but also to the idols of the heathen. _Whom the Lord carried away before them_ For the same sins; by wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet the Lord testified against Israel_ Against their false worship, and all their impieties. _By all the prophets, and by all the seers_ To whom he declared his mind by extraordinary revelations and visions, and by whom he published it, bearing witness from heaven to their doctrine, by eminent and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks _ Refused to submit their necks to the yoke of God's precepts: a metaphor taken from stubborn oxen that will not bow to the yoke. _Like to the neck of their fathers_ In the wilderness; _that did not believe in the Lord their God_ This w... [ Continue Reading ]
_They followed vanity_ Idols; so called, because of their unprofitableness, impotency, and nothingness, and to show the folly and madness of idolaters. _And became vain_ By the long worship of idols they were made like them, vain, sottish, and senseless creatures. _And they left all the commandments... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel_ For he is a jealous God, and highly resents the giving that honour to any created or imaginary being, which is due to himself only. _And removed them out of his sight_ A very strong expression, to signify, not only his casting them out of Canaan, then... [ Continue Reading ]
_Also Judah kept not, &c., but walked in the statutes of Israel_ Followed the idolatrous devices of the ten tribes, which they did most notoriously in the reign of Ahaz. And though his son Hezekiah made a noble reformation, it lasted no longer than his time, so extremely corrupted was the nation. Ju... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord rejected all the seed of Israel_ All the kingdom, or tribes of Israel, first one part of them, and now the rest: but this extends not to every individual person of these tribes, for many of them removed into the kingdom of Judah, and were associated with them: see 2 Chronicles 11:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They made Jeroboam king_ Which action is here ascribed to the people, because they would not tarry till God, by his providence, had invested Jeroboam with the kingdom which he had promised him, but rashly and rebelliously rose up against the house of David, to which they were under such great oblig... [ Continue Reading ]
_They departed not from them_ But willingly and resolutely followed the wicked examples and commands of their kings, though contrary to God's express commands. _Until the Lord removed Israel_ They continued to the last, obstinate and incorrigible under all the instructions and corrections which God... [ Continue Reading ]
_The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon_ Which then was subject to the Assyrian monarch, but a few years after revolted from him, and set up another king, as appears from both sacred and profane histories. _And from Cuthah_, &c. Several places then in his dominion. It is probable that it was n... [ Continue Reading ]
_And so it was that they feared not the Lord_ They did not acknowledge nor worship the true God in any sort. _Therefore the Lord sent lions among them_ For their gross neglect and contempt of God, which was contrary to the principles and practices of the heathen, who used to worship the gods of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria_, &c. They wrote, or sent messengers to him, to acquaint him with this grievance, setting forth, it is likely, the loss which their infant colony had sustained by the lions, and the continual fear they were in of them; and that they looked upon it as a ju... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the king of Assyria commanded, Carry thither one of the priests_ That is, one of the chief priests, with others under his inspection and direction, as may be gathered from the following words, where it is said of the same person or persons, _Let them go_, &c, and then, _Let him teach_, &c. Nor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then one of the priests whom they had carried away came_, &c. A prophet would have done them more good, especially as it appears this was but one of the priests of the calves, who therefore chose to dwell at Beth-el. _And taught them how they should fear the Lord_ That is, the manner of God's worsh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit, every nation made gods of their own_ Or, _worshipped_, as the Hebrew word here used sometimes means; of which see Exodus 32:35. That is, they worshipped the gods which they had served in the places from whence they came. _And put them in the high places which the Samaritans_ That is, which... [ Continue Reading ]
_The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth_, &c. In this and the following verse are the names of the gods or goddesses which each nation of these new-comers to Samaria and its vicinity set up. The learned are not agreed as to the signification of several of these names, nor is it worth while to spend... [ Continue Reading ]
_So they feared the Lord_ Worshipped him externally in that way which the Israelites had used: having and serving gods of their own besides. _And made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests_, &c. See note on 1 Kings 12:31. _Which sacrificed in the high places_ Unto the true God; for as to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto this day_, &c. That is, till the time when this book was written, and long after, about three hundred years in all, till the time of Alexander the Great, when Manasseh, brother to Jaddus the high-priest of the Jews, having married the daughter of Sanballat, governor of the Samaritans, went ove... [ Continue Reading ]
_So these nations feared the Lord_, &c. Namely, the nations that came in the place of the Israelites. They followed their example, and acted as they had done, endeavouring to unite things perfectly irreconcilable, the worship of the true God and the worship of idols.... [ Continue Reading ]