# 2 Kings 17 đź“–: The Fall of Samaria
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Hoshea’s Reign over Israel
[[#Verse 01.]] In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria for nine years.Â
[[#Verse 02.]] He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him.Â
[[#Verse 03.]] King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up to attack him; so Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. Hoshea had sent messengers to King So of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him.
[[#Verse 05.]] The king of Assyria marched through the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.
### A Summary of Israel’s Sinful History
[[#Verse 07.]] This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods;Â
[[#Verse 08.]] they observed the practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before them, and followed the example of the kings of Israel.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.Â
[[#Verse 10.]]Â They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.Â
[[#Verse 11.]] They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away before them did. Their evil practices made the Lord angry.Â
[[#Verse 12.]] They worshiped the disgusting idols in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command.
[[#Verse 13.]] The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.”Â
[[#Verse 14.]] But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, who had not trusted the Lord their God.Â
[[#Verse 15.]] They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command.Â
[[#Verse 16.]] They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, and worshiped Baal.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry.
[[#Verse 18.]] So the Lord was furious with Israel and rejected them; only the tribe of Judah was left.Â
[[#Verse 19.]] Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example.Â
[[#Verse 20.]] So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin.
[[#Verse 22.]] The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam and did not repudiate them.Â
[[#Verse 23.]] Finally the Lord rejected Israel just as he had warned he would do through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.
### The King of Assyria Populates Israel with Foreigners
[[#Verse 24.]] The king of Assyria brought foreigners from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.Â
[[#Verse 25.]] When they first moved in, they did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.Â
[[#Verse 26.]] The king of Assyria was told, “The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land.”Â
[[#Verse 27.]] So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.”Â
[[#Verse 28.]] So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. He taught them how to worship the Lord.
[[#Verse 29.]] But each of these nations made its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived.Â
[[#Verse 30.]] The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, the people from Cuth made Nergal, the people from Hamath made Ashima,
[[#Verse 31.]] the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire as an offering to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.Â
[[#Verse 32.]] At the same time they worshiped the Lord. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places.Â
[[#Verse 33.]] They were worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.
[[#Verse 34.]] To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship the Lord; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel.Â
[[#Verse 35.]] The Lord made a covenant with them and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them.
[[#Verse 36.]] Instead you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability; bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him.Â
[[#Verse 37.]]Â You must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law, and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods.Â
[[#Verse 38.]]Â You must never forget the covenant I made with you, and you must not worship other gods.Â
[[#Verse 39.]] Instead you must worship the Lord your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.”Â
[[#Verse 40.]] But they paid no attention; instead they observed their earlier practices.Â
[[#Verse 41.]] These nations were worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons are doing just as their fathers have done, to this very day.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
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###### Verse 41.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Samaria fell after a three-year siege (17:5-6), usually dated to 722 BC.
2. Shalmaneser V began the siege, but his successor Sargon II later claimed credit for capturing Samaria.
3. Sargon's inscriptions claim he deported about 27,000 people from Samaria.
4. "So king of Egypt" (17:4) has not been clearly identified. Some think it refers to a pharaoh, and others to the Egyptian city of Sais.
5. The exiles were sent to Halah, the Habor River of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes (17:6), in what is now northern Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
6. Verses 7-23 are a sermon explaining why Israel fell: they rejected the Lord and His covenant.
7. The northern kingdom lasted about two centuries and had nineteen kings from nine different ruling families.
8. Assyria resettled conquered peoples in new lands (17:24) to break national identity and prevent rebellion.
9. The Lord sent lions among the settlers (17:25-26), and they asked for a priest to teach them the ways of the God of the land.
10. The settlers brought gods such as Nergal, Ashima, and Adrammelech (17:30-31), and the Sepharvites burned their children in sacrifice.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Savior who restores true worship. The people settled in Samaria feared the Lord but served their own gods (17:33), yet Jesus told a Samaritan woman that the Father seeks those who worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. The writer explains that Israel fell because they feared other gods and ignored God's warnings (17:7-15). What warning signs does God give us before sin brings its consequences?
2. Israel became worthless because they followed worthless idols (17:15). How do the things we worship shape who we become?
3. The new settlers worshiped the Lord and their own gods at the same time (17:33). Why is divided worship not true worship at all (Matthew 6:24)?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 6: Samaria falls, and Israel is deported to Assyria.
- đź“– verses 13-14: The Lord warned Israel through every prophet, but they stubbornly refused to listen.
- đź“– verse 33: The people worship the Lord while also serving their own gods.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[John 04#Verse 09.|John 4:9]] - Jews and Samaritans did not associate.
- đź”— [[John 04#Verse 23.|John 4:23-24]] - True worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
- đź”— [[Matthew 06#Verse 24.|Matthew 6:24]] - No one can serve two masters.
- đź”— [[Deuteronomy 28#Verse 64.|Deuteronomy 28:64]] - The Lord will scatter you among the nations.
- đź”— [[Galatians 06#Verse 07.|Galatians 6:7]] - A person reaps what he sows.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[2 Kings 17 - SOAP|The Brutal Result of Continual Sin]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes