2 Kings 17:7

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria

5 Now ^athe king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years.

6 ^aIn the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and ^bcarried Israel away to Assyria, ^cand placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 For ^aso it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had ^bfeared other gods,

8 and ^ahad walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

9 Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves¹ high places in all their cities, ^afrom watchtower to fortified city.

10 ^aThey set up for themselves sacred pillars and ^bwooden images ^con every high hill and under every green tree.

11 There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger,

12 for they served idols, ^aof which the Lord had said to them, ^b“You shall not do this thing.”

13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His ^aprophets, ^bevery seer, saying, ^c“Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.”

14 Nevertheless they would not hear, but ^astiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who ^bdid not believe in the Lord their God.

15 And they ^arejected His statutes ^band His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed ^cidols, ^dbecame idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should ^enot do like them.

16 So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, ^amade for themselves a molded image and two calves, ^bmade a wooden image and worshiped all the ^chost of heaven, ^dand served Baal.

17 ^aAnd they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, ^bpracticed witchcraft and soothsaying, and ^csold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.

18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left ^abut the tribe of Judah alone.

19 Also ^aJudah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

20 And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and ^adelivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His ^bsight.

21 For ^aHe tore Israel from the house of David, and ^bthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them commit a great sin.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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2 Kings 17:8 >>

What Does 2 Kings 17:7 Mean?

2 Kings 17:5-17

II Kings 17:7-17 catalogs the sins of Israel:

» Widespread idolatry. Israel "feared other gods" (verse 7). "They built for themselves high places in all their cities . . . . They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree; and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations had done whom the LORD had carried away before them." (verses 9-11). Further, they "followed idols, became idolaters, and . . . made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal" (verses 15-16).

» Pagan Religious Practices. The Israelites "caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger" (verse 17).

» Rejection of God's Law. Israel "walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel." (verse 8). Verse 15 points out that the people "rejected [God's] statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them." The prophet Amos particularizes the epidemic of social injustice in the Kingdom of Israel. As an example, notice Amos 2:6-7, where Amos chides the Israelites: ". . . because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble." The Israelites displayed a pandemic failure to love their fellow man.

II Kings 17:5-6 relates the ultimate consequence.

Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. . . . The king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Assyria, a kingdom known as much for its innovative weapons as for their brutal implementation, conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 718 BC. So it was that, about 250 years after it was established, the ten-tribed northern kingdom became extinct as a sovereign nation. The Assyrians deported the population en masse from its homeland in Canaan, transplanting it virtually in toto to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The Kingdom of Israel fell below the historian's radar.

Charles Whitaker
Searching for Israel (Part Six): Israel Is Fallen, Is Fallen

2 Kings 17:5-8

God was thorough. He just wiped them all out of the land of Canaan and sent them into the cities of the Medes and into Assyria—exiled. And in a way, they are still in exile. God has led them to the lands that He was holding for them.

The descendants of Israel who went into exile do not know that their homeland is back in Canaan. They have never gone back. That is a detail of how thorough God's exile of Israel was—they forgot everything. Just as He prophesied in Deuteronomy 28, the Israelites went into other lands and took gods of wood and stone and completely forgot their past.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
How to Survive Exile

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 2 Kings 17:7:

Genesis 12:1-3
Genesis 12:7
Genesis 13:14-16
Genesis 15:18-21
Genesis 17:6-8
Genesis 22:16-18
Genesis 26:3-5
Genesis 28:13-14
Genesis 35:11-12
2 Kings 17:5-17
Ecclesiastes 3:5
Isaiah 10:27-34
Amos 4:6-12

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2 Kings 17:8 >>

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Israel Carried Captive to Assyria

What Does 2 Kings 17:7 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
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