mh_parser/vol_split/12 - 2Kings/Chapter 17.xml

<div2 id="iiKi.xviii" n="xviii" next="iiKi.xix" prev="iiKi.xvii" progress="69.04%" title="Chapter XVII">
<h2 id="iiKi.xviii-p0.1">S E C O N D   K I N G S</h2>
<h3 id="iiKi.xviii-p0.2">CHAP. XVII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiKi.xviii-p1">This chapter gives us an account of the captivity
of the ten tribes, and so finishes the history of that kingdom,
after it had continued about 265 years, from the setting up of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat. In it we have, I. A short narrative of
this destruction, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.1-2Kgs.17.6" parsed="|2Kgs|17|1|17|6" passage="2Ki 17:1-6">ver.
1-6</scripRef>. II. Remarks upon it, and the causes of it, for the
justifying of God in it and for warning to others, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.7-2Kgs.17.23" parsed="|2Kgs|17|7|17|23" passage="2Ki 17:7-23">ver. 7-23</scripRef>. III. An account of the
nations which succeeded them in the possession of their land, and
the mongrel religion set up among them, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.24-2Kgs.17.41" parsed="|2Kgs|17|24|17|41" passage="2Ki 17:24-41">ver. 24-41</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iiKi.xviii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17" parsed="|2Kgs|17|0|0|0" passage="2Ki 17" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiKi.xviii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.1-2Kgs.17.6" parsed="|2Kgs|17|1|17|6" passage="2Ki 17:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.17.1-2Kgs.17.6">
<h4 id="iiKi.xviii-p1.6">Samaria Besieged by the Assyrians; Israel
Subdued by Assyria. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p1.7">b. c.</span> 730.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xviii-p2">1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah
began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine
years.   2 And he did <i>that which was</i> evil in the sight
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p2.1">Lord</span>, but not as the kings of
Israel that were before him.   3 Against him came up
Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and
gave him presents.   4 And the king of Assyria found
conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of
Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as <i>he had
done</i> year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up,
and bound him in prison.   5 Then the king of Assyria came up
throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it
three years.   6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of
Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and
placed them in Halah and in Habor <i>by</i> the river of Gozan, and
in the cities of the Medes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p3">We have here the reign and ruin of Hoshea,
the last of the kings of Israel, concerning whom observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p4">I. That, though he forced his way to the
crown by treason and murder (as we read <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.30" parsed="|2Kgs|15|30|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:30"><i>ch.</i> xv. 30</scripRef>), yet he gained not the
possession of it till seven or eight years after; for it was in the
fourth year of Ahaz that he slew Pekah, but did not himself begin
to reign till the twelfth year of Ahaz, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.1" parsed="|2Kgs|17|1|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Whether by the king of Assyria,
or by the king of Judah, or by some of his own people, does not
appear, but it seems so long he was kept out of the throne he aimed
at. Justly were his bad practices thus chastised, and the word of
the prophet was thus fulfilled (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.3" parsed="|Hos|10|3|0|0" passage="Ho 10:3">Hos. x.
3</scripRef>), <i>Now they shall say We have no king, because we
feared not the Lord.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p5">II. That, though he was bad, yet not so bad
as the kings of Israel had been before him (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.2" parsed="|2Kgs|17|2|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), not so devoted to the calves as
they had been. One of them (that at Dan), the Jews say, had been,
before this, carried away by the king of Assyria in the expedition
recorded <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.29" parsed="|2Kgs|15|29|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:29"><i>ch.</i> xv.
29</scripRef>, (to which perhaps the prophet refers, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.8.5" parsed="|Hos|8|5|0|0" passage="Ho 8:5">Hos. viii. 5</scripRef>, <i>Thy calf, O Samaria!
has cast thee off</i>), which made him put the less confidence in
the other. And some say that this Hoshea took off the embargo which
the former kings had put their subjects under, forbidding them to
go up to Jerusalem to worship, which he permitted those to do that
had a mind to it. But what shall we think of this dispensation of
providence, that the destruction of the kingdom of Israel should
come in the reign of one of the best of its kings? <i>Thy
judgments,</i> O God! <i>are a great deep.</i> God would hereby
show that in bringing this ruin upon them he designed to punish, 1.
Not only the sins of that generation, but of the foregoing ages,
and to reckon for the iniquities of their fathers, who had been
long in filing the measure and treasuring up wrath against this day
of wrath. 2. Not only the sins of their kings, but the sins of the
people. If Hoshea was not so bad as the former kings, yet the
people were as bad as those that went before them, and it was an
aggravation of their badness, and brought ruin the sooner, that
their king did not set them so bad an example as the former kings
had done, nor hinder them from reforming; he gave them leave to do
better, but they did as bad as ever, which laid the blame of their
sin and ruin wholly upon themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p6">III. That the destruction came gradually.
They were for some time made tributaries before they were made
captives to the king of Assyria (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.3" parsed="|2Kgs|17|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and, if that less judgment had
prevailed to humble and reform them, the greater would have been
prevented.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p7">IV. That they brought it upon themselves by
the indirect course they took to shake off the yoke of the king of
Assyria, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.4" parsed="|2Kgs|17|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. Had
the king and people of Israel applied to God, made their peace with
him and their prayers to him, they might have recovered their
liberty, ease, and honour; but they withheld their tribute, and
trusted to the king of Egypt to assist them in their revolt, which,
if it had taken effect, would have been but to change their
oppressors. But Egypt became to them the staff of a broken reed.
This provoked the king of Assyria to proceed against them with the
more severity. Men get nothing by struggling with the net, but
entangle themselves the more.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p8">V. That it was an utter destruction that
came upon them. 1. The king of Israel was made a prisoner; he was
shut up and bound, being, it is probable, taken by surprise, before
Samaria was besieged. 2. The land of Israel was made a prey. The
army of the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, made
themselves master of it (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.5" parsed="|2Kgs|17|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>), and treated the people as traitors to be punished
with the sword of justice rather than as fair enemies. 3. The royal
city of Israel was besieged, and at length taken. Three years it
held out after the country was conquered, and no doubt a great deal
of misery was endured at that time which is not particularly
recorded; but the brevity of the story, and the passing of this
matter over lightly, methinks, intimate that they were abandoned of
God and he did not now regard the affliction of Israel, as
sometimes as he had done. 4. The people of Israel were carried
captives into Assyria, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.6" parsed="|2Kgs|17|6|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. The generality of the people, those that were of any
note, were forced away into the conqueror's country, to be slaves
and beggars there. (1.) Thus he was pleased to exercise a dominion
over them, and to show that they were entirely at his disposal.
(2.) By depriving them of their possessions and estates, real and
personal, and exposing them to all the hardships and reproaches of
a removal to a strange country, under the power of an imperious
army, he chastised them for their rebellion and their endeavour to
shake off his yoke. (3.) Thus he effectually prevented all such
attempts for the future and secured their country to himself. (4.)
Thus he got the benefit of their service in his own country, as
Pharaoh did that of their fathers; and so this unworthy people were
lost as they were found, and ended as they began, in servitude and
under oppression. (5.) Thus he made room for those of his own
country that had little, and little to do, at home, to settle in a
good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. In all these several
ways he served himself by this captivity of the ten tribes. We are
here told in what places of his kingdom he disposed of them—in
<i>Halah</i> and <i>Habor,</i> in places, we may suppose, far
distant from each other, lest they should keep up a correspondence,
incorporate again, and become formidable. There, we have reason to
think, after some time they were so mingled with the nations that
they were lost, and <i>the name of Israel was no more in
remembrance.</i> Those that forgot God were themselves forgotten;
those that studied to be like the nations were buried among them;
and those that would not serve God in their own land were made to
serve their enemies in a strange land. It is probable that they
were the men of honour and estates who were carried captive, and
that many of the meaner sort of people were left behind, many of
every tribe, who either went over to Judah or became subject to the
Assyrian colonies, and their posterity were <i>Galileans</i> or
<i>Samaritans.</i> But thus ended Israel as a nation; now they
became <i>Lo-ammi—not a people,</i> and
<i>Lo-ruhamah—unpitied.</i> Now Canaan spued them out. When we
read of their entry under Hoshea the son of Nun who would have
thought that such as this should be their exit under Hoshea the son
of Elah? Thus Rome's glory in Augustus sunk, many ages after, in
Augustulus. Providence so ordered the eclipsing of the honour of
the ten tribes that the honour of Judah (the royal tribe) and Levi
(the holy tribe), which yet remained, might shine the brighter. Yet
we find a number sealed of every one of the twelve tribes
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.7.1-Rev.7.8" parsed="|Rev|7|1|7|8" passage="Re 7:1-8">Rev. vii.</scripRef>) except Dan.
James writes to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.1" parsed="|Jas|1|1|0|0" passage="Jam 1:1">Jam. i. 1</scripRef>) and Paul speaks of the
twelve tribes which <i>instantly served God day and night</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.26.7" parsed="|Acts|26|7|0|0" passage="Ac 26:7">Acts xxvi. 7</scripRef>); so that
though we never read of those that were carried captive, nor have
any reason to credit the conjecture of some (that they yet remain a
distinct body in some remote corner of the world), yet a remnant of
them did escape, to keep up the name of Israel, till it came to be
worn by the gospel church, the spiritual Israel, in which it will
ever remain, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.16" parsed="|Gal|6|16|0|0" passage="Ga 6:16">Gal. vi.
16</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiKi.xviii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.7-2Kgs.17.23" parsed="|2Kgs|17|7|17|23" passage="2Ki 17:7-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.17.7-2Kgs.17.23">
<h4 id="iiKi.xviii-p8.8">The Wickedness of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p8.9">b. c.</span> 730.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xviii-p9">7 For <i>so</i> it was, that the children of
Israel had sinned against the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.1">Lord</span>
their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from
under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
  8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.2">Lord</span> cast out from before the children of
Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.   9
And the children of Israel did secretly <i>those</i> things that
<i>were</i> not right against the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.3">Lord</span> their God, and they built them high places
in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced
city.   10 And they set them up images and groves in every
high hill, and under every green tree:   11 And there they
burnt incense in all the high places, as <i>did</i> the heathen
whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.4">Lord</span> carried away before
them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.5">Lord</span> to anger:   12 For they served idols,
whereof the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.6">Lord</span> had said unto them,
Ye shall not do this thing.   13 Yet the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.7">Lord</span> testified against Israel, and against
Judah, by all the prophets, <i>and by</i> all the seers, saying,
Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments <i>and</i> my
statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers,
and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.   14
Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like
to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.8">Lord</span> their God.   15 And they
rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their
fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and
they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen
that <i>were</i> round about them, <i>concerning</i> whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.9">Lord</span> had charged them, that they should
not do like them.   16 And they left all the commandments of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.10">Lord</span> their God, and made them
molten images, <i>even</i> two calves, and made a grove, and
worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.   17 And
they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the
fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to
do evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.11">Lord</span>, to
provoke him to anger.   18 Therefore the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.12">Lord</span> was very angry with Israel, and removed
them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah
only.   19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.13">Lord</span> their God, but walked in the statutes
of Israel which they made.   20 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.14">Lord</span> rejected all the seed of Israel, and
afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until
he had cast them out of his sight.   21 For he rent Israel
from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat
king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.15">Lord</span>, and made them sin a great sin.   22
For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which
he did; they departed not from them;   23 Until the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p9.16">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p10">Though the destruction of the kingdom of
the ten tribes was but briefly related, it is in these verses
largely commented upon by our historian, and the reasons of it
assigned, not taken from the second causes—the weakness of Israel,
their impolitic management, and the strength and growing greatness
of the Assyrian monarch (these things are overlooked)—but only
from the First Cause. Observe, 1. It was <i>the Lord that removed
Israel out of his sight;</i> whoever were the instruments, he was
the author of this calamity. It was <i>destruction from the
Almighty;</i> the Assyrian was but the <i>rod of his anger,</i>
<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.5" parsed="|Isa|10|5|0|0" passage="Isa 10:5">Isa. x. 5</scripRef>. It was <i>the
Lord that rejected the seed of Israel,</i> else their enemies could
not have seized upon them, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.20" parsed="|2Kgs|17|20|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. <i>Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the
robbers? Did not the Lord?</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.43.24" parsed="|Isa|43|24|0|0" passage="Isa 43:24">Isa.
xliii. 24</scripRef>. We lose the benefit of national judgments if
we do not eye the hand of God in them, and the fulfilling of the
scripture, for that also is taken notice of here (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.23" parsed="|2Kgs|17|23|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>The Lord removed
Israel</i> out of his favour, and out of their own land, <i>as he
had said by all his servants the prophets.</i> Rather shall heaven
and earth pass than one tittle of God's word fall to the ground.
When God's word and his works are compared, it will be found not
only that they agree, but that they illustrate each other. But why
would God ruin a people that were raised and incorporated, as
Israel was, by miracles and oracles? Why would he undo that which
he himself had done at so vast an expense? Was it purely an act of
sovereignty? No, it was an act of necessary justice. For, 2. They
provoked him to do this by their wickedness. Was it God's doing?
Nay, it was their own; by their <i>way and their doings</i> they
<i>procured all this to themselves,</i> and it was their own
wickedness that did correct them. This the sacred historian shows
here at large, that it might appear that God did them no wrong and
that others might hear and fear. Come and see what it was that did
all this mischief, that broke their power and laid their honour in
the dust; it was sin; that, and nothing else, separated between
them and God. This is here very movingly laid open as the cause of
all the desolations of Israel. He here shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p11">I. What God had done for Israel, to engage
them to serve him. 1. He gave them their liberty (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.7" parsed="|2Kgs|17|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): He <i>brought them from
under the hand of Pharaoh</i> who oppressed them, asserted their
freedom (<i>Israel is my son</i>), and effected their freedom with
a high hand. Thus they were bound in duty and gratitude to be his
servants, for he had loosed their bonds; nor would he that rescued
them out of the hand of the king of Egypt have contradicted himself
so far as to deliver them into the hand of the king of Assyria, as
he did, if they had not, by their iniquity, betrayed their liberty
and sold themselves. 2. He gave them their law, and was himself
their king. They were immediately under a divine regimen. They
could not plead ignorance of good and evil, sin and duty, for God
had particularly charged them against those very things which here
he charges them with (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.15" parsed="|2Kgs|17|15|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>), <i>That they should not do like the heathen.</i>
Nor could they be in any doubt concerning their obligation to
observe the laws which they are here charged with rejecting, for
they were <i>the commandments and statutes</i> of the Lord their
God (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.13" parsed="|2Kgs|17|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), so
that no room was left to dispute whether they should keep them or
no. He had not <i>dealt so with other nations,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.19-Ps.147.20" parsed="|Ps|147|19|147|20" passage="Ps 147:19,20">Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20</scripRef>. 3. He gave
them <i>their land,</i> for he <i>cast out the heathen from before
them</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.8" parsed="|2Kgs|17|8|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), to
make room for them; and the casting out of them for their
idolatries was as fair a warning as could be given to Israel not to
do like them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p12">II. What they had done against God,
notwithstanding these engagements which he had laid upon them. 1.
In general. They <i>sinned against the Lord their God</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.7" parsed="|2Kgs|17|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), they <i>did
those things that were not right</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.9" parsed="|2Kgs|17|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), but <i>secretly.</i> So wedded
were they to their evil practices that when they could not do them
publicly, could not for shame or could not for fear, they would do
them secretly—an evidence of their atheism, that they thought what
was done in secret was from under the eye of God himself and would
not be required. Again, they wrought wicked things in such a direct
contradiction to the divine law that they seemed as if they were
done on purpose to <i>provoke the Lord to anger</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.11" parsed="|2Kgs|17|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), in contempt of his
authority and defiance of his justice. They <i>rejected God's
statutes and his covenant</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.15" parsed="|2Kgs|17|15|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), would not be bound up either
by his command or the consent they themselves had given to the
covenant, but threw off the obligations of both, and therefore God
justly rejected them, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.20" parsed="|2Kgs|17|20|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.6" parsed="|Hos|4|6|0|0" passage="Ho 4:6">Hos. iv.
6</scripRef>. They <i>left all the commandments of the Lord their
God</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.16" parsed="|2Kgs|17|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>),
left the way, left the work, which those commandments prescribed
them and directed them in. Nay, lastly, they <i>sold themselves to
do evil in the sight of the Lord,</i> that is, they wholly addicted
themselves to sin, as slaves to the service of those to whom they
are sold, and, by their obstinately persisting in sin, so hardened
their own hearts that at length it had become morally impossible
for them to recover themselves, as one that has sold himself has
put his liberty past recall. 2. In particular. Though they were
guilty (no doubt) of many immoralities, and violated all the
commands of the second table, yet nothing is here specified, but
their idolatry. <i>This</i> was the sin that did most easily beset
them; this was, of all sins, most provoking to God: it was the
spiritual adultery that broke the marriage-covenant, and was the
inlet of all other wickedness. Hence it is again and again
mentioned here as the sin that ruined them. (1.) They feared other
gods (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.7" parsed="|2Kgs|17|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), that
is, worshipped them and paid their homage to them, as if they
feared their displeasure. (2.) They <i>walked in the statutes of
the heathen,</i> which were contrary to God's statutes (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.9" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.8" parsed="|2Kgs|17|8|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), did <i>as did the
heathen</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.10" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.11" parsed="|2Kgs|17|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), <i>went after the heathen that were round about
them</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.11" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.15" parsed="|2Kgs|17|15|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>),
so prostituting the honour of their peculiarity, and defeating
God's design concerning them, which was that they should be
distinguished from the heathen. Must those that were taught of God
go to school to the heathen—those that were appropriated to God
take their measures from the nations that were abandoned by him?
(3.) They <i>walked in the statutes of the</i> idolatrous <i>kings
of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.12" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.8" parsed="|2Kgs|17|8|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), <i>in all the sins of Jeroboam,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.13" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.22" parsed="|2Kgs|17|22|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. When their kings
assumed a power to alter and add to the divine institutions they
submitted to them, and thought the command of their kings would
bear them out in disobedience to the command of their God. (4.)
They <i>built themselves high places in all their cities,</i>
<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.14" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.9" parsed="|2Kgs|17|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. If in any
place there was but the tower of the watchmen (a country tower that
had no walls, but only a tower to shelter the watch in time of
danger), or but a lodge for shepherds, it must be honoured with a
high place, and that with an altar. If there was a fenced city, it
must be further fortified with a high place. Having forsaken God's
only place, they knew no end of high places, in which every man
followed his own fancy and directed his devotion to what god he
pleased. Sacred things were hereby profaned and laid common, when
their altars were <i>as heaps in the furrows of the field,</i>
<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.15" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.11" parsed="|Hos|12|11|0|0" passage="Ho 12:11">Hos. xii. 11</scripRef>. (5.) They
<i>set them up images and groves—Asherim</i> (even <i>wooden
images,</i> so some think the term, which we translate
<i>groves,</i> should be rendered) or <i>Ashtaroth</i> (so
others)—directed contrary to the second commandment, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.16" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.10" parsed="|2Kgs|17|10|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. They served idols
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.17" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.12" parsed="|2Kgs|17|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), the works
of their own hands and creatures of their own fancy, though God had
warned them particularly not to do this thing. (6.) They <i>burnt
incense in all the high places,</i> to the honour of strange gods,
for it was to the dishonour of the true God, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.18" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.11" parsed="|2Kgs|17|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. (7.) They followed vanity.
Idols are called so, because they could do neither good nor evil,
but were the most insignificant things that could be; those that
worshipped them were like unto them, and so they became vain and
good for nothing (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.19" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.16" parsed="|2Kgs|17|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), vain in their devotions, which were brutish and
ridiculous, and so became vain in their whole conversation. (8.)
Besides the molten images, even the two calves, they <i>worshipped
all the host of heaven</i>—the sun, moon, and stars: for it is not
meant of the heavenly host of angels; they could not rise so far
above sensible things as to think of them. And, withal, they served
Baal, the deified heroes of the Gentiles, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p12.20" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.16" parsed="|2Kgs|17|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. (9.) <i>They caused their
children to pass through the fire,</i> in token of their dedicating
them to their idols. (10.) They used divinations and enchantments,
that they might receive directions from the gods to whom they paid
their devotions.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p13">III. What means God used with them, to
bring them off from their idolatries, and to how little purpose. He
testified against them, showed them their sins and warned them of
the fatal consequences of them by all the prophets and all the
<i>seers</i> (for so the prophets had been formerly called), and
pressed them to <i>turn from their evil ways,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.13" parsed="|2Kgs|17|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. We have read of
prophets, more or less, in every reign. Though they had forsaken
God's family of priests, he did not leave them without a succession
of prophets, who made it their business to teach them the good
knowledge of the Lord, but all in vain (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.14" parsed="|2Kgs|17|14|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>); they would not hear, but
hardened their necks, persisted in their idolatries, and were like
their fathers, that would not bow their necks to God's yoke,
because they <i>did not believe in him,</i> did not receive his
truths, nor would venture upon his promises: it seems to refer to
their fathers in the wilderness; the same sin that kept them out of
Canaan turned these out, and that was unbelief.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p14">IV. How God punished them for their sins.
He <i>was very angry with them</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.18" parsed="|2Kgs|17|18|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>); for, in the matter of his
worship, he is a jealous God, and resents nothing more deeply than
giving that honour to any creature which is due to himself only. He
afflicted them (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.20" parsed="|2Kgs|17|20|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>) and <i>delivered them into the hand of spoilers,</i>
in the days of the judges and of Saul, and afterwards in the days
of most of their kings, to see if they would be awakened by the
judgments of God to consider and amend their ways; but, when all
these corrections did not prevail to drive out the folly, God first
<i>rent Israel from the house of David,</i> under which they might
have been happy. As Judah was hereby weakened, so Israel was hereby
corrupted; for they made a man king who <i>drove them from
following the Lord and caused them to sin a great sin,</i>
<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.21" parsed="|2Kgs|17|21|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. This was a
national judgment, and the punishment of their former idolatries;
and, at length, he <i>removed them quite out of his sight</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.18 Bible:2Kgs.17.23" parsed="|2Kgs|17|18|0|0;|2Kgs|17|23|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:18,23"><i>v.</i> 18, 23</scripRef>),
without giving them any hopes of a return out of their
captivity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p15"><i>Lastly,</i> Here is a complaint against
Judah in the midst of all (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.19" parsed="|2Kgs|17|19|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>Also Judah kept not the commandments of God;</i>
though they were not as yet quite so bad as Israel, yet they
<i>walked in the statutes of Israel;</i> and this aggravated the
sin of Israel, that they communicated the infection of it to Judah;
see <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.11" parsed="|Ezek|23|11|0|0" passage="Eze 23:11">Ezek. xxiii. 11</scripRef>. Those
that bring sin into a country or family bring a plague into it and
will have to answer for all the mischief that follows.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiKi.xviii-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.24-2Kgs.17.41" parsed="|2Kgs|17|24|17|41" passage="2Ki 17:24-41" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.17.24-2Kgs.17.41">
<h4 id="iiKi.xviii-p15.4">The Samaritans' Idolatry. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p15.5">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xviii-p16">24 And the king of Assyria brought <i>men</i>
from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and
from Sepharvaim, and placed <i>them</i> in the cities of Samaria
instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and
dwelt in the cities thereof.   25 And <i>so</i> it was at the
beginning of their dwelling there, <i>that</i> they feared not the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.1">Lord</span>: therefore the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.2">Lord</span> sent lions among them, which slew
<i>some</i> of them.   26 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.
  27 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 them the manner of the God of the
land.   28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away
from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they
should fear the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.3">Lord</span>.   29
Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put <i>them</i> in
the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every
nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.   30 And the men of
Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and
the men of Hamath made Ashima,   31 And the Avites made Nibhaz
and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to
Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.   32 So
they feared the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.4">Lord</span>, 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.   33
They feared the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.5">Lord</span>, and served
their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried
away from thence.   34 Unto this day they do after the former
manners: they fear not the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.6">Lord</span>,
neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or
after the law and commandment which the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.7">Lord</span> commanded the children of Jacob, whom he
named Israel;   35 With whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.8">Lord</span> 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:   36 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.9">Lord</span>, 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.
  37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and
the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for
evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.   38 And the
covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither
shall ye fear other gods.   39 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.10">Lord</span> your God ye shall fear; and he shall
deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.   40 Howbeit
they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
  41 So these nations feared the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xviii-p16.11">Lord</span>, and served their graven images, both their
children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so
do they unto this day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p17">Never was land lost, we say, for want of an
heir. When the children of Israel were dispossessed, and turned out
of Canaan, the king of Assyria soon transplanted thither the
supernumeraries of his own country, such as it could well spare,
who should be servants to him and masters to the Israelites that
remained; and here we have an account of these new inhabitants,
whose story is related here that we may take our leave of Samaria,
as also of the Israelites that were carried captive into
Assyria.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p18">I. Concerning the Assyrians that were
brought into the land of Israel we are here told, 1. That they
possessed Samaria and <i>dwelt in the cities thereof,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.24" parsed="|2Kgs|17|24|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. It is common for lands
to change their owners, but sad that the holy land should become a
heathen land again. See what work sin makes. 2. That at their first
coming God <i>sent lions among them.</i> They were probably
insufficient to people the country, which occasioned <i>the beasts
of the field to multiply against them</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.29" parsed="|Exod|23|29|0|0" passage="Ex 23:29">Exod. xxiii. 29</scripRef>); yet, besides the natural
cause, there was a manifest hand of God in it, who is Lord of
hosts, of all the creatures, and can serve his own purposes by
which he pleases, small or great, lice or lions. God ordered them
this rough welcome to check their pride and insolence, and to let
them know that though they had conquered Israel the God of Israel
had power enough to deal with them—that he could have prevented
their settling here, by ordering lions into the service of Israel,
and that he permitted it, not for their righteousness, but the
wickedness of his own people—and that they were now under his
visitation. They had lived without God in their own land, and were
not plagued with lions; but, if they do so in this land, it is at
their peril. 3. That they sent a remonstrance of this grievance to
the king their master, setting forth, it is likely, the loss their
infant colony had sustained by the lions and the continual fear
they were in of them, and stating that they looked upon it to be a
judgment upon them for not worshipping the God of the land, which
they could not, because they knew not how, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.26" parsed="|2Kgs|17|26|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. The God of Israel was the God
of the whole world, but they ignorantly call him the <i>God of the
land,</i> apprehending themselves therefore within his reach, and
concerned to be upon good terms with him. Herein they shamed the
Israelites, who were not so ready to hear the voice of God's
judgments as they were, and who had not served the <i>God of that
land,</i> though he was the God of their fathers and their great
benefactor, and though they were well instructed in the manner of
his worship. Assyrians begged to be taught that which Israelites
hated to be taught. 4. That the king of Assyria took care to have
them taught <i>the manner of the God of the land</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.27-2Kgs.17.28" parsed="|2Kgs|17|27|17|28" passage="2Ki 17:27,28"><i>v.</i> 27, 28</scripRef>), not out of any
affection to that God, but to save his subjects from the lions. On
this errand he sent back one of the priests whom he had carried
away captive. A prophet would have done them more good, for this
was but one of the priests of the calves, and therefore chose to
dwell at Bethel for old acquaintance' sake, and, though he might
teach them to do better than they did, he was not likely to teach
them to do well, unless he had taught his own people better.
However, he came and dwelt among them, to teach them how they
should <i>fear the Lord.</i> Whether he taught them out of the book
of the law, or only by word of mouth, is uncertain. 5. That, being
thus taught, they made a mongrel religion of it, worshipped the God
of Israel for fear and their own idols for love (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.33" parsed="|2Kgs|17|33|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>): <i>They feared the Lord,</i>
but they <i>served their own gods.</i> They all agreed to worship
the God of the land according to the manner, to serve the Jewish
festivals and rites of sacrificing, but every nation made gods of
their own besides, not only for their private use in their own
families, but to be put <i>in the houses of their high places,</i>
<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.9" parsed="|2Kgs|17|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. The idols of
each country are here named, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.30-2Kgs.17.31" parsed="|2Kgs|17|30|17|31" passage="2Ki 17:30,31"><i>v.</i> 30, 31</scripRef>. The learned are at a
loss for the signification of several of these names, and cannot
agree by what representations these gods were worshipped. If we may
credit the traditions of the Jewish doctors, they tell us that
Succoth-Benoth was worshipped in a hen and chickens, Nergal in a
cock, Ashima in a smooth goat, Nibhaz in a dog, Tartak in an ass,
Adrammelech in a peacock, Anammelech in a pheasant. Our own tell
us, more probably, that Succoth-Benoth (signifying <i>the tents of
the daughters</i>) was Venus. Nergal, being worshipped by the
Cuthites, or Persians, was <i>the fire,</i> Adrammelech and
Anammelech were only distinctions of Moloch. See how vain idolaters
were in their imaginations, and wonder at their sottishness. Our
very ignorance concerning these idols teaches us the accomplishment
of that word which God has spoken, that these false gods should all
perish (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.11" parsed="|Jer|10|11|0|0" passage="Jer 10:11">Jer. x. 11</scripRef>); they
are all buried in oblivion, while the name of the true God shall
continue for ever. 6. This medley superstition is here said to
<i>continue unto this day</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.41" parsed="|2Kgs|17|41|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>), till the time when this book
was written and long after, above 300 years in all, till the time
of Alexander the Great, when Manasse, brother to Jaddus the high
priest of the Jews, having married the daughter of Sanballat,
governor of the Samaritans, went over to them, got leave of
Alexander to build a temple in Mount Gerizim, drew over many of the
Jews to him, and prevailed with the Samaritans to cast away all
their idols and to worship the God of Israel only; yet their
worship was mixed with so much superstition that our Saviour told
them they knew not what they worshipped, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:John.4.22" parsed="|John|4|22|0|0" passage="Joh 4:22">John iv. 22</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xviii-p19">II. Concerning the Israelites that were
carried into the land of Assyria. This historian has occasion to
speak of them (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.22" parsed="|2Kgs|17|22|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>), showing that their successors in the land did as
they had done (<i>after the manner of the nations whom they carried
away</i>), they worshipped both the God of Israel and those other
gods; but what did the captives do in the land of their affliction?
Were they reformed, and brought to repentance, by their troubles?
No, they did after the former manner, <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.34" parsed="|2Kgs|17|34|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>. When the two tribes were
afterwards carried into Babylon, they were cured by it of their
idolatry, and therefore, after seventy years, they were brought
back with joy; but the ten tribes were hardened in the furnace, and
therefore were justly lost in it and left to perish. This obstinacy
of theirs is here aggravated by the consideration, 1. Of the honour
God had put upon them, as the seed of Jacob, <i>whom he named
Israel,</i> and from him they were so named, but were a reproach to
<i>that worthy name by which they were called.</i> 2. Of the
covenant he made with them, and the charge he gave them upon that
covenant, which is here very fully recited, that they should
<i>fear and serve the Lord Jehovah</i> only, who had <i>brought
them up out of Egypt</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.36" parsed="|2Kgs|17|36|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:36"><i>v.</i>
36</scripRef>), that, having received his statutes and ordinances
in writing, they should <i>observe to do them for evermore</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.37" parsed="|2Kgs|17|37|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>), and never
forget that covenant which God had made with them, the promises and
conditions of that covenant, especially that great article of it
which is here thrice repeated, because it had been so often
inculcated and so much insisted on, that they <i>should not fear
other gods.</i> He had told them that, if they kept close to him,
he would <i>deliver them out of the hand of all their enemies</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.39" parsed="|2Kgs|17|39|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:39"><i>v.</i> 39</scripRef>); yet when
they were in the hand of their enemies, and stood in need of
deliverance, they were so stupid, and had so little sense of their
own interest, that they did after the former manner (<scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.40" parsed="|2Kgs|17|40|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>), they served both the
true God and false gods, as if they knew no difference. <i>Ephraim
is joined to idols, let him alone.</i> So they did, and so did the
nations that succeeded them. Well might the apostle ask, <i>What
then, Are we better than they? No, in no wise, for both Jews and
Gentiles are all under sin,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xviii-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.3.9" parsed="|Rom|3|9|0|0" passage="Ro 3:9">Rom.
iii. 9</scripRef>.</p>
</div></div2>