Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 17:23
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.
23. as he had said by all his servants the prophets ] R.V. as he spake by the hand of all his servants the prophets. These were probably more numerous, in connexion with the northern kingdom than with the kingdom of Judah, and conspicuous among them were the great figures of Elijah and Elisha. The other prophets of Israel were Ahijah the Shilonite of the land of Ephraim (1Ki 14:4), an anonymous prophet in Beth-el (1Ki 13:11), Micaiah the son of Imlah in Samaria (1Ki 22:10). Elijah was a Gileadite (1Ki 17:1), and Abel-meholah, Elisha’s birthplace, was in the tribe of Issachar (1Ki 19:16), Jonah was born at Gath-hepher in Galilee in the tribe of Zebulon (2Ki 14:25), Nahum the Elkoshite was of Israel (Nah 1:1), and probably Hosea also. The prophecy of Amos is concerning Israel, but he was born at Tekoah in Judah.
to Assyria unto this day ] See above on 2Ki 2:22. The R.V. begins this last clause ‘So Israel was’ &c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As he had said by all his servants the prophets – The writer refers not only to the extant prophecies of Moses (Lev 26:33; Deu 4:26-27; Deu 28:36, etc.), Ahijah the Shilohite (marginal reference), Hosea Hos 9:3, Hos 9:17, and Amos Amo 7:17, but also to the entire series of warnings and predictions which prophet after prophet in a long unbroken succession had addressed to the disobedient Israelites 2Ki 17:13 on their apostasy, and so leaving them wholly without excuse (see the 2Ki 17:13 note).
Unto this day – The words, taken in combination with the rest of the chapter, distinctly show that the Israelites had not returned to their land by the time of the composition of the Books of Kings. They show nothing as to their ultimate fate. But, on the whole, it would seem probable:
(1) that the ten tribes never formed a community in their exile, but were scattered from the first; and
(2) that their descendants either blended with the pagan and were absorbed, or returned to Palestine with Zerubbabel and Ezra, or became inseparable united with the dispersed Jews in Mesopotamia and the adjacent countries.
No discovery, therefore, of the ten tribes is to be expected, nor can works written to prove their identity with any existing race or body of persons be regarded as anything more than ingenious exercitations.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The Lord removed Israel out of his sight: they continued to the last obstinate and incorrigible under all the instructions and corrections which God sent to them; and therefore were most justly given up by God into this dreadful captivity; which all this foregoing discourse was designed to prove.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight,…. Suffered them to be carried captive into the land of Assyria:
as he had said by all his servants the prophets; by Hosea, Amos, Micah, and others; see their prophecies, and also 1Ki 13:32,
so was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day; the time of the writing this book; nor have they returned unto our days, nearly 2,800 years later.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) By all his servants the prophets.Comp. Hos. 1:6; Hos. 9:16; Amo. 3:11-12; Amo. 5:27; Isa. 28:1-4.
So was Israel carried away.That the land was not entirely depopulated appears from such passages as 2Ch. 30:1; 2Ch. 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 Judan sanctuaries were provided for at Jerusalem. It is plain from this that he regarded the worship of the northern sanctuaries as purely heathenish (comp. 2Ki. 23:20 with 2Ki. 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 (Deu. 28:64), and, losing their distinctive religion, lost also their distinctive existence. (Robertson Smith.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. To Assyria unto this day Thus the Assyrian captivity lasted until our historian’s day, and how much longer is not said. The subsequent history of “the ten tribes” has been the subject of endless speculation and inquiry. In the time of Josephus there seems to have been a notion prevailing that the ten tribes abode together in a body of innumerable multitude beyond the Euphrates. Antiquities, 2Ki 11:5 ; 2Ki 11:2. Also Esdras has a vision of the ten tribes separating themselves from the heathen, and migrating to a distant land never before inhabited by men. English Apocrypha, 2Es 13:40-47 . Perhaps this vision of Esdras was the starting-point of all the speculations about the “Lost Tribes,” for they have been “lost” and “found” in nearly every part of Asia, Europe, and North America. But vague traditional tales and ingenious speculations are of little weight to counterbalance the abundant testimony of Scripture on the subject, which may be stated as follows:
1 . ) A considerable portion of the Israelitish population never went into the Assyrian exile. The first deportations were by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, (2Ki 15:19; 2Ki 15:29; 1Ch 5:26,) and in all probability were composed of fewer captives than Shalmaneser (or Sargon, see note on 2Ki 17:6) carried away after the capture of Samaria and the fall of the northern kingdom. Sargon’s inscription, which would not be likely to make too low an estimate, mentions twenty-seven thousand two hundred and eighty captives, (see note on 2Ki 17:6,) but the northern kingdom must surely have had a population far exceeding these numbers. Multitudes were, of course, slain in the siege of Samaria, and in previous wars; but supposing them to have been ten times the number of the captives, (two hundred and seventy-two thousand eight hundred a liberal estimate,) what became of all the rest of Israel, which in David’s time numbered eight hundred thousand warriors, which, of course, implies a population of many millions. 2Sa 24:9. Doubtless the captives, like those from Jerusalem, (2Ki 24:14-15; 2Ki 25:12,) were composed chiefly of “the princes and mighty men of valour, and craftsmen, and smiths, and the king’s mother, and wives, and officers, and the mighty of the land” the flower and strength of the nation, while “the poor of the land, vinedressers and husbandmen,” (numerically, perhaps, the majority of the population,) were left in the land, or else fled to other parts. Only “the cities of Samaria” (2Ki 17:24) seem to have been depopulated, so that in other and remoter districts of the kingdom a large majority of the population seem to have been left to care for the land. Thus the kingdom of the ten tribes ceased to exist; but numerically the mass of the people were left in their ancient homes. Certain it is that they were not all carried into exile.
2 . ) The captives were not allowed to settle in one district. 2Ki 17:6, compared with 1Ch 5:26, may perhaps indicate that a majority of the exiles, both under Tiglath-pileser and Sargon, were placed in Halah and along the Habor, but others (and how large a proportion does not appear) were scattered abroad in various cities of Media. This fact of their being scattered throughout various parts of the vast Assyrian empire argues against the notion of their continuing their tribe distinctions, and especially of their perpetuating the ten tribes as an organized community.
3 . ) There is reason to believe that after the fall of Samaria the old enmity between Judah and Israel began to cease. In the reign of Hezekiah arrangements were made to proclaim “throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem;” and letters were sent “to Ephraim and Manasseh,” accompanied by an exhortation for them “to turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.” Many scorned the invitation, but “divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem,” so that there appeared at the passover “many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun.” And on that proud occasion “all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced,” for it was the first occasion of the kind “since the time of Solomon the son of David.” and it betokened a reunion of the divided kingdom. See 2 Chronicles 30. At the close of the passover it is also said that “all Israel that were present went out,” and utterly destroyed all the signs of idolatry “out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh.” 2Ch 31:1. The like thing was done by Josiah, (2Ki 23:19; 2Ch 34:7 ; 2Ch 35:18,) who also collected money for repairing the temple “of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin.” 2Ch 34:9. Such a coming together in their now oppressed land would rapidly efface from Judah and Israel their ancient bitterness and jealousy. The better portion of all the people would see and obey the manifest will of Jehovah, and the rest, having no bond of union, would gradually, like all foolish factions, die and fade away.
4 . ) The prophets with one voice represent both Judah and Israel as returning together from their exile. More than a century after the fall of Samaria, Judah also was led into exile, and Jeremiah, who flourished at that time, began at once to comfort them with prophecies of a restoration. He says, “The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” Jer 3:18; comp. Jer 30:3, Jer 33:7. “The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God.” Jer 50:4. So we may believe that the chastisement of the exile not only cleansed all Israel from idolatry, but also utterly crushed out the old tribal feuds and jealousies. Ezekiel also prophesies: “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” Eze 37:21-22; compare also 2Ki 17:16-20. Other similar prophecies may be found in these same prophets, and also in Isa 11:11-13; Isa 14:1; Hos 1:11; Mic 2:12. Some of these prophecies are doubtless Messianic; but all have more or less to show that in their exile Judah and Israel became united in all their higher sympathies and hopes, and were thus prepared, whenever opportunity offered, to return together to the land of their fathers.
5 . ) Finally, all we know of the subsequent history of Israel tends to confirm these prophecies, and to show that in the lands of their exile, and elsewhere, Judah and Israel became largely intermingled. Three successive deportations of Jews seem to have been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, (2Ki 24:11-16; 2Ki 25:11; Jer 52:30,) and yet it is probable that all these captives were not, numerically, a majority of the population of Judah. The vast multitude of the poorer classes were left in the land, ( 2Ki 24:14 ; 2Ki 25:12,) and some fled to other countries. We have no record of all the localities in which these captives were placed, but as the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar comprised a large portion of the ancient Assyrian, it is very likely that many of the Jewish exiles were settled in cities and districts already occupied by descendants of those Israelites from the cities of Samaria who had been carried off by the Assyrian kings more than a century before. Ezekiel, a prophet of the Jewish exiles, is made “a watchman unto the house of Israel.” 2Ki 3:17. When Cyrus issued his proclamation for the Jews to return and rebuild the temple, he had dominion over all the lands into which either Jews or Israelites had been exiled, but he seems to know of no such distinction as “Judah and Israel.” He proclaims, “Who is there among you of all his people,” (Ezr 1:3🙂 and subsequently Artaxerxes decrees “that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem,” may return from exile; and Keil well asks, “Who could maintain, with any show of reason, that no one belonging to the ten tribes availed himself of this permission?” In Ezr 2:64-65, the whole number of those who first returned from the captivity is said to have been forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, “besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven;” but the previous list of families, which seems to be “of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites,” (2Ki 1:5,) amounts to only twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and eighteen. Hence it has been plausibly inferred that the gross number, forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, includes many representatives of the ten tribes. Then in the offerings that were made by the returned exiles at the feast of dedication, “twelve he goats” were offered “for a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.” Ezr 6:17. Compare, also, 2 Kings 8:35. “There is no doubt,” says Keil, “that the majority of those who returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra belonged to the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi; which may be explained very simply from the fact, that as they had been a much shorter time in exile, they had retained a much stronger longing for the home given by the Lord to their fathers than the tribes that were carried away one hundred and eighty years before.” Hence, too, it is, that since the captivity, the common name for all Israelites, wherever scattered abroad, is Jews. We must also remember that, with the fall of Samaria, Jehovah “caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel,” (Hos 1:4😉 it had no longer an existence, but was largely absorbed by Judah; and therefore it is not to be wondered at that no express mention is made of descendants of the ten tribes returning along with Judah from exile.
But there were vast multitudes of Judah and Israel that never accepted the offer to return to the fatherland. They chose to remain in their new homes; and subsequently, under Ahasuerus, the Jews are spoken of as “scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces” of the Persian empire. Est 3:8. On the day of Pentecost there were at Jerusalem devout Jews “out of every nation under heaven,” who had been born among, and spoke as their vernacular the languages of, the “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome.” Act 2:5-10. Josephus also speaks of the great numbers of Jews who in his time dwelt in Babylon, Mesopotamia, and beyond the Euphrates. Antiquities, 2Ki 15:2 ; 2Ki 15:2, 2Ki 3:1; 2Ki 18:9 ; 2Ki 18:1. Paul speaks of “our twelve tribes,” (Act 26:7,) and James addresses his epistle “to the twelve tribes scattered abroad;” (Jas 1:1😉 from all which we infer that after the Babylonish exile the old division of “Judah and Israel” became lost, all the scattered tribes became intermixed, no one region held any one tribe or any definite number of tribes, the name of Jews was applied to them all, the ten tribes as a distinct nation had long ceased to exist, and the whole body of Israelites throughout the world became amalgamated into one people, recognising themselves as the descendants and representatives of the twelve ancient tribes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 17:23 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.
Ver. 23. Until the Lord removed. ] See on 2Ki 17:18 .
Unto this day.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as = according as.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ki 17:23-24. 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.
2Ki 17:25-27. 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. 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. 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 in the manner of the God of the land.
He did not care one single farthing himself what religion they were of: but if they did not happen to have a religion to suit the country, Well, then, send one of the priests who used to live there who can teach them what it is. According to his notions, they could take it up just when they liked.
2Ki 17:28-31. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. 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. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
It would answer no practical purpose if I were to explain the meaning of the names of these various gods. They were some of them of brute forms. Their worship was generally attended with the most lascivious rites, and especially the worship of Molech or Moloch, who is mentioned under two different forms here. He was a god whose worship was consummated with the most dreadful cruelties, for children were passed through the fires and burnt in his honour.
2Ki 17:32-38. 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. They feared the LORD, and served their own gods after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. 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; 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; 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. And the statues, and the ordinances, and the laws and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
How this warning comes over and over and over again! Hear, O Israel. The Lord thy God is one God. The worship of anything else under any pretext whatsoever, besides the one ever-blessed trinity in unity is for ever forbidden to us.
2Ki 17:39-41. But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did their former manner. So these nations feared the LORD and served their graven images, both their children, and their childrens children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
Trying, as far us ever they could, to link the old idolatries with the worship of the true God, which thing is the most loathsome in the sight of Most High.
This exposition consisted of readings from Exo 20:1-17; and 2Ki 17:23-41.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
the Lord: 2Ki 17:18, 2Ki 17:20
as he had said: 2Ki 17:13, 1Ki 13:2, 1Ki 14:16, Hos 1:4-9, Amo 5:27, Mic 1:6
So was Israel: 2Ki 17:6, 2Ki 18:11, 2Ki 18:12
Reciprocal: Deu 28:43 – General Deu 29:28 – rooted them Jos 23:13 – until ye perish 1Ki 8:46 – unto the land 1Ki 14:15 – shall scatter 2Ki 15:29 – carried them 2Ki 18:32 – I come 2Ki 18:34 – have they delivered 2Ch 6:36 – thou be angry Isa 26:15 – thou hadst Jer 3:12 – toward the north Jer 7:15 – I will Jer 26:5 – my Jer 52:27 – Thus Eze 23:9 – General Hos 1:6 – for Hos 9:12 – woe Mic 2:4 – he hath changed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
O ISRAEL, THOU HAST DESTROYED THYSELF!
The Lord removed Israel out of His sight.
2Ki 17:23
Why did this disaster befall the Northern kingdom? How was it Israel came by its overthrow? It is possible to answer thusbecause Assyria was a conquering nation, and Israel lay in the path of its conquering advance, and as the weaker power it naturally succumbed. But that is to read history superficially. The Bible states plainly and emphatically that the reasons for Israels overthrow were moral reasons. It was so, the historian writes, i.e. this overthrow came about, because the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God. The secret of their ruin was their sin. The wages of sin is death, says Holy Writ. The broad road ends in destruction.
I. This is true of nations.National sin is followed by national ruin. Israels case can be paralleled by the case of Persia, and Greece, and Rome. It is a law no nation can evadesin brings ruin as its penalty. We need to realise it in England, for we have our gross and shameful sinsour drunkenness, our gambling habits, our impurity, our greed. Unless we repent, these sins of ours will bring their penalty along with them, and the name of England shall perish.
II. This is true of individuals.Sin brings its penalty. With this sad story before us, we must think of its parallel in the history of every soul that persists in unbelief and rejection of Christ. Sin makes chains for men, binds them hand and foot, and carries them into hopeless captivity. This lesson should come home to young people who are perhaps trifling with sin, or who are at least disregarding Gods calls and commands. The fatal end of such neglect and sinning should be looked at very honestly as it is illustrated in this carrying away of Israel.
Illustrations
(1) God does not easily give people up. He tried in many ways to save Israel. He sent prophets to warn them and call them back. He sent judgmentsfamines, wars. He was loath to see them perish, He loved them so. At last He could do nothing more, and sent them out of His presence. It is always so. God is marvellously patient with his erring children. The Gospel is full of the story of the patience of Christ.
(2) What a warning there is in an incident like this! Men still mock and laugh at warnings against sin! That is the tragedy of so many liveslike those young men of whom J. B. Gough used to speak, who set sail on Niagara River, and who despised all voices from the shore that warned them of the furious rapids just below, and who only awoke to their peril when it was too late, and the doom of their folly stared them in the face.
(3) Read carefully the bill of divorce which their true Husband gave Israel when He put them away. It is a pathetic document, but surely none can say that Jehovah had not good cause for doing as He did. The wonder is that He bore so long with His apostate people. And we should read the three first chapters of Hosea to know how bitterly the Divine heart was rent when the hour of separation came. Nor should we forget to read the assurances, given so clearly and emphatically by the Apostle, that all the true Israel shall ultimately be saved.