2 Reis 17:23

By all his servants the prophets. — Comp. Oséias 1:6; Oséias 9:16; Amós 3:11; Amós 5:27; Isaías 28:1.

So was Israel carried away. — That the land was not entirely depopulated appears from such passages as 2 Crônicas 30:1; 2 Crônicas 34:9. But henceforth “the distinctive character of the nation was lost; such Hebrews as remained in their old land became mixed with their heathen neighbours. When Josiah destroyed the ancient high places of the northern kingdom he slew their priests, whereas the priests of Judæan sanctuaries were provided for at Jerusalem. It is plain from this that he regarded the worship of the northern sanctuaries as purely heathenish (comp. 2 Reis 23:20 with 2 Reis 17:5), and it was only in much later times that the mixed population of Samaria became possessed of the Pentateuch, and set up a worship on Mount Gerizim, in imitation of the ritual of the second Temple. We have no reason to think that the captive Ephraimites were more able to retain their distinctive character than their brethren who remained in Palestine. The problem of the lost tribes, which has so much attraction for some speculators, is a purely fanciful one. The people whom Hosea and Amos describe were not fitted to maintain themselves apart from the heathen among whom they dwelt. Scattered among strange nations, they accepted the service of strange gods (Deuteronômio 28:64), and, losing their distinctive religion, lost also their distinctive existence.” (Robertson Smith.)