Chapter 17

1 Hoshea’s wicked reign. 3 Being subdued by Shalmaneser, he conspireth against him with So king of Egypt. 5 Samaria for their sins is captivated. 24 The strange nations, which were transplanted in Samaria, being plagued with lions, make a mixture of religions.

1. Began Hoshea. For the chronology of Hoshea’s reign see p. 150. Tigleth-pileser III claimed to have placed Hoshea on the throne after Pekah had been overthrown by the people of Israel, and to have received from him 10 talents of gold and 1,000 talents of silver as tribute. This evidently means that Hoshea, after having overthrown Pekah, made his peace with the Assyrian king and acknowledged his authority. Tiglath-pileser was then engaged in a series of wars in the west—in 734 b.c. against Philistia and in 733 and 732 against Damascus. Ahaz of Judah had recently sent a delegation to Tiglath-pileser to purchase his aid against Pekah and Rezin (ch. 16:7–9), and Hoshea would thus also be forced to recognize the overlordship of Assyria before taking the throne in Israel. His revolt against Pekah may have been made with the connivance and support of the Assyrian king.

2. Not as the kings. Hoshea did not distinguish himself for wickedness as had some of the kings before him. If he had engaged in active measures of reform, the nation might have been saved even at that late hour. God is merciful and long-suffering, but after iniquity has reached a certain limit and divine warnings have been repeatedly spurned, judgments fall. Hoshea apparently did nothing to stay the coming of judgment.

3. Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser V began to reign in 727 b.c. Little is known of his reign because of the mutilated condition of the records.

Became his servant. Hoshea had acknowledged Tiglath-pileser as an overlord and rendered tribute to him. He continued this course when Shalmaneser came to the throne.

4. Found conspiracy. The contemporary prophet Hosea derided the fickleness of Israel in its foreign policies at this time, its leaning now to Assyria and then to Egypt (Hosea 5:13; 7:8, 11, 16; 8:9; 11:5; 12:1; 14:3).

So king of Egypt. This was during the time of the Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt, a period when the nation was weak and when a number of monarchs were ruling simultaneously in various parts of the land. The Egyptian ruler “So” may be a certain SibХu, referred to by Sargon as “the tartan of Egypt.” An Egyptian object (ushebti) in the Berlin Museum contains a royal cartouche with the name sЊbХu, revealing that there must have been an ephemeral king by that name in Egypt (see p. 52).

Brought no present. Hoshea seems to have sadly misjudged the trend of international politics. Assyria at this time was the great power of the world and was destined to become even stronger. Egypt was little more than a name, and was in the period of its final decline. In stopping his payment of tribute to Assyria, Hoshea provoked the grievous chastisement that was to follow.

5. Besieged it. Shalmaneser began a three-year siege (see on ch. 18:9, 10).

6. Took Samaria. The Bible mentions Shalmaneser as beginning the siege, but does not name the king who took the city. The Babylonian Chronicle states that the city Shamarain (probably Samaria) fell during the reign of Shalmaneser, but his successor, Sargon II, made the claim, in documents written toward the close of his reign, that he himself captured the city of Samaria at the beginning of his reign. If this claim is true, then it could have been in the capacity of commanding general of the Assyrian armies and not as king that he effected the capture of the city. Historians differ, but there seems to be reasonable evidence for its fall in the latter part of Shalmaneser’s reign (see pp. 62, 85, 160).

Habor. The region of the river Khabur, the great tributary of the Euphrates about 130 mi. west of Nineveh. Both Habor and Halah are mentioned in 1 Chron. 5:26 as localities where Tiglath-pileser settled the captives taken by him. Gozan is identified with Guzanu, a site on the northern Khabur. This site, now called Tell Halaf, has been excavated by the Germans and has yielded many objects of great importance. Halah’s site is unknown.

Medes. Media lay to the northeast of Assyria. For some time before this Assyria had been engaged in conflicts with the Medes. The campaign of the year 737 b.c. was against Media.

7. For so it was, that. Literally, “and it was because,” or “and it came to pass because.” The writer proceeds to set forth the various reasons for which God permitted Israel to be smitten by their enemies and to be carried into captivity.

Israel had sinned. This was the primary reason for Israel’s downfall. Sin was responsible for our first parents’ expulsion from Eden, and it is the reason for all the woe that has since come upon the human race. Man has no greater enemy than sin. It destroys what it touches, be it a man, a nation, or a world.

Brought them up. Common courtesy would demand that the Israelites show respect for Him who had shown so great kindness to them. They could hardly display baser ingratitude than to forget God’s mercy and goodness. Idolatry involved infinitely more guilt among the Hebrews than among other peoples, for the heathen had only a limited degree of enlightenment and had not experienced the wonderful blessings that God had bestowed on His chosen people. The Israelites knew by their own personal experience that God was kind and beneficent, and yet in spite of all this they turned away from Him to the worship of false gods.

Conquest of Israel by Assyria

8. The Lord cast out. The native peoples of Canaan were cast out before Israel because of their abominable customs and gross immoralities. The Israelites could hardly have displayed greater stupidity than to follow the same practices. As the native inhabitants of Palestine were doomed because of their evil ways, so likewise was Israel.

Of the kings of Israel. The rulers of Israel were responsible for leading their people into sin. They introduced and encouraged the worship of such false gods as Baal, and turned the people from the worship of Jehovah to the most corrupt forms of worship. Nevertheless, the people were not thereby without excuse. Men are held responsible individually for their acts. The wrongdoing of the leader provides no excuse for the followers to adopt the same sinful course.

However, the Israelites were largely dependent upon oral instruction. Copies of the Law were rare, and few, if any, were privileged to have the Holy Scriptures in their homes. The people received their knowledge of the will of God through the priests and other religious leaders. If these spiritual instructors were themselves teaching and practicing evil, the natural result would be for those under their charge to follow the same course. The majority of the Israelites lacked a personal religious experience. The religion of the masses consisted largely of following a system of worship imposed by superior authority.

The situation is entirely altered today. Copies of the Bible are universally available. Men are no longer dependent, as formerly, upon instruction from others to ascertain the will of God. They are now urged to study the truth for themselves and counseled not to accept any teaching unless they themselves have verified it by their own research and found it supported by inspiration. Despite the new situation, many still determine their course of conduct by the beliefs and practices of those whom they regard their religious superiors. Such a course is fraught with grave danger. Those who follow a human criterion do so at their own risk. If they are lost they will be without excuse.

On the other hand, those who are responsible for leading them astray are also guilty before God. It is their responsibility, in view of the tendency of others to imitate them, to make their lives exemplary in every way, and at the same time urge all to seek an experience for themselves and to follow only the one perfect pattern, Jesus Christ.

9. Did secretly. The Israelites were perfidious and deceitful in carrying on their iniquities. Often there was an outward show of religion and respectability, covering their base and immoral practices with a cloak of dissimulation. Pretending to serve Jehovah, they were actually engaging in practices that were directly contrary to the principles of His kingdom.

High places. At these centers gross forms of immorality often accompanied idolatrous worship (see Deut. 12:2, 3; Isa. 57:5–7; Jer. 2:20; 3:2). The native fertility cults of the land involved the worshipers in most shameful practices.

From the tower. The expression thus introduced signifies extent from one end of the country to the other (see ch. 18:8). There were towers for watchmen in the most remote sections, out in the fields, for purposes of protection; and there were large walled cities. The meaning is that the high places were established everywhere, in remote rural areas as well as in the great centers of population.

10. Images. Heb. masseboth (see on Deut. 16:22).

Groves. Heb. Хasherim (see on Judges 3:7). “Groves” is a misleading translation, for “groves” were placed “under every green tree” (1 Kings 14:23). They were poles, cultic symbols of the goddess Asherah.

11. Provoke the Lord. God is not provoked as man is provoked (see on ch. 13:3). He hates sin, but He loves the sinner (SC 59). The judgments, terrible as they were, had a wise and merciful purpose (PK 292).

12. Idols. Heb. gillulim, “logs,” “blocks,” “shapeless things.” There are 12 Hebrew words translated “idol” in the OT. Each considers the false god from a different aspect, such as being a thing of vanity, or nought, a cause of trembling or grief, etc. Gillulim describes idols with respect to their shape (see Deut. 29:17; 1 Kings 15:12; 21:26; 2 Kings 23:24; Eze. 6:9; 16:36).

13. Testified. Heb. Фud. This word may also be translated “to exhort solemnly,” “to reiterate,” “to charge.” The warnings were often severe, but their purpose was to help the people sense the danger of their evil ways and turn them from their iniquities. If they did not turn, they at least would not be able justly to blame God for their fate. None of the captives could say, If only I had known that this would be the outcome of my sinful course, I would have reformed. Thus God’s justice would be fully vindicated, an important element in God’s dealings with men. Testimonies from heaven perform a similar function today. Never has God more earnestly instructed His people and more solemnly warned them (see Rev. 3:14–22). Those who fail will be without excuse.

Turn ye. This was something God could not do for His people. God invites, pleads, presents inducements, and urges, but He never coerces. If men do not yield the will, there is nothing that God can do for them to effect their salvation. God had done all He could for Israel. “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” (Isa. 5:4). The next step must be taken by the people.

14. Hardened their necks. This was a common Hebrew expression denoting unbending obstinacy and stubborn self-will (Deut. 10:16; 2 Chron. 30:8; 36:13; Neh. 9:16, 17, 29; Prov. 29:1; Jer. 7:26; 17:23; 19:15). The Israelites were often termed a “stiffnecked people” (Ex. 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut. 9:6, 13). This perverseness and obstinacy proved to be their ruin.

Did not believe. This is an interesting statement in the midst of a discussion that seems to lay such great emphasis on conduct. Many claim that faith was not required in the religion of the OT. It is true that this grace was almost wholly lacking in the experience of the majority, but this was not because God designed it to be so. Faith was as essential to a true religious experience in pre-Christian times as now. Many fail to understand the true relationship between faith and works. It is impossible to divorce faith from works.

The objective of God’s plan is to restore fully men’s characters to the original perfection of Adam in Eden. This can be accomplished only through a combination of faith and works. Any religion that lays stress on faith to the exclusion of works thereby denies the objective of faith and offers to men a substitute experience. Works cannot save, but the saved man will perform good works.

It takes time to develop mature faith. If Israel had been willing, God would have led them on to the heights of faith found in NT times. The people failed because they “did not believe.” “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2).

15. Followed vanity. When a man rejects the law and admonition of the Lord, he shows himself to be not wise but foolish; for he exchanges heaven’s greatest treasures for vanity and nothingness. Little did the Israelites realize the depths of their folly in rejecting God and His statutes and in walking in the ways of evil. They were throwing away their kingdom and all their prospects for happiness and peace for a mere puff of wind. Seeking after things of nought, they became nought.

16. All the commandments. Sin grows like a cancer. When a person begins to disobey one of the commands of the Lord, he soon will find himself venturing farther into pathways of disobedience. When the Israelites turned from God and began serving idols, they soon found themselves breaking all the commandments of the Lord. A contemporary prophet decried their defections, “There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood” (Hosea 4:1, 2).

Molten images. This verse enumerates the various types of idolatry to which Israel had fallen a prey. There were few gods then worshiped in Palestine which did not also have some worshipers among the people of Israel. On the golden calves of Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel see 1 Kings 12:28–30; on the “grove,” Heb. Хasherah, made by Ahab see 1 Kings 16:33.

17. Pass through the fire. These were sacrifices in which children were consumed by the flames (see on Deut. 18:10; 32:17; 2 Kings 16:3). The indictment of Judah was similar (Jer. 19:5).

Divination. This refers to the various methods by which men endeavored to ascertain the will of the gods or to secure from them secret information.

Enchantments. These consisted of various types of necromancy and witchcraft.

Sold themselves. Those who engaged in these iniquitous practices became the servants of the demoniacal powers back of the occult and mysterious rites. Instead of being servants of God they were henceforth slaves of Satan. They found the evil one to be anything but a kind master (see 1 Kings 21:20).

18. Very angry. See on ch. 13:3.

19. Also Judah. The fate of Israel should have served as a warning to Judah. Though now spared, the national transgression of the southern kingdom, unless checked, would result in the same national ruin that had come to Israel.

Which they made. The customs that the Israelites introduced and that were followed by Judah (see ch. 16:3).

20. All the seed. This ultimately included Judah as well as Israel.

Delivered them. This was a national judgment and must not be confused with a sentence sealing the individual destinies of those who comprised the nation of Israel at the time of the removal into captivity. The personal relationship of each citizen to God remained as it had been prior to the visitation of the judgment. God deals with individuals and with nations in two spheres of relationship, each largely independent of the other. The judgment upon Israel was the loss of her status as a nation. It is true that many suffered personally because of the national catastrophe, but piety often thrives under conditions of adversity, so that in the end the calamity actually worked for the good of the individual. On God’s controlling the destiny of nations see Ed 173–179; Isa. 10:5–12; Hab. 1:6–11.

21. Drave Israel. Rulers wield a strong influence over their subjects. The evils of Israel began with the evils of their first wicked king, Jeroboam. Open religious persecution is implied in 2 Chron. 11:13–16.

22. Sins of Jeroboam. Jeroboam opened the floodgates of iniquity. The inundation finally enveloped the nation in total ruin. If the people had had a strong experience of their own, they might have withstood the pernicious influence of their king (see on v. 8).

23. Removed Israel. The Lord used Assyria as His tool for the accomplishment of His purpose (see Isa. 10:5–12).

By all his servants. See Hosea 1:6; 9:16; Amos 3:11, 12; Amos 5:27; Isa. 28:1–4.

Carried away. A small remnant remained (see 2 Chron. 34:9). These intermarried with the heathen, adopted their ways, and so far forgot the customs of their fathers that the people of Judah refused to regard them as brethren. After some years they established a temple of their own on Mt. Gerizim, where they worshiped and carried on their ritual as a rival to that of the Temple at Jerusalem. The people who were carried away never returned. Some of their descendants joined the remnant of Judah who returned under the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–4). Others intermarried with the peoples where they lived, accepted their religion and their ways, and lost their identity. A few, no doubt, remained true to their religious convictions, letting their light shine in the lands to which they were carried, and influencing some there to accept the worship of the only true God.

24. From Babylon. The Assyrian policy of deportation applied not only to Israel but to all subject peoples. Babylon was at this time under Assyrian domination, but the nation was in a state of unrest. To prevent revolts, many Babylonians were transferred to the country of Israel. Sargon reports the suppression of an uprising in Babylon at the beginning of his reign and of transporting numbers of their people to the land of Hatti (Syria and Palestine). The “king of Assyria” here referred to is probably Sargon, who took the throne of Assyria inb.c. 722.

Cuthah. This city has been identified with Tell IbrчahйЖm, northeast of Babylon.

Ava. Identified by some with Tell Kafr ФAyaµ on the Orontes River, southwest of Homs; but other sites have been suggested, leaving the location uncertain.

Hamath. A city on the Orontes 118 mi. (189 km.) north of Damascus and 28 mi. (45 km.) north of the modern Homs. Sargon reports its conquest (see ch. 18:34; 19:13). The city of Hamath is now known as Hama.

Sepharvaim. Formerly identified with Sippar on the Euphrates, but now thought by some to be the Syrian city of Sibraim, “between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath” (Eze. 47:16). However the site cannot be positively identified today.

25. Lions. These animals were common in Palestine in ancient times (Judges 14:5; 1 Sam. 17:34; 2 Sam. 23:20; Prov. 22:13; 26:13). They probably had grown rare during the period of the kingdoms, although at times they are mentioned (1 Kings 13:24; 20:36). During the disordered times after the fall of Samaria they doubtless increased in numbers and boldness. Lions were still present in Palestine and Syria in the Middle Ages.

26. The manner of the God. The gods of the Orient were for the most part local gods, each possessing his own peculiarities (see 1 Kings 20:23). The peoples transported to Israel thought that they must in some way have offended the local gods and that for this reason the lions had been sent upon them as a scourge.

27. One of the priests. The priest returned was probably from one of the shrines at Dan or Bethel.

28. Dwelt in Beth-el. This was where one of the national sanctuaries had been located, and it was likely one of the priests who had previously officiated there who now returned. He did teach the people concerning Jehovah; nevertheless idolatry continued.

29. The Samaritans. This is the only place in the OT where these people are given this name.

30. Succoth-benoth. Some believe that this may have been Sarpanitu, the consort of the Babylonian god Marduk. It probably was some title of Marduk himself.

Nergal. The famous Babylonian god of war and patron god of Cuthah.

Ashima. A goddess of Syria, well known in Syrian mythology. Ashim seems to have been one of the gods worshiped by the Elephantine Jews during the 5th century b.c.

31. Nibhaz. This is probably an idol worshiped by the Avites, but its identity is not positively known. By some it has been identified with an Elamite divinity, IbnaРHaza, by others with the Mandaic Nebaz, the lord of darkness.

Tartak. A Syrian god.

Burnt their children. Similar to the local worship of Molech.

Adrammelech. A god worshiped in northwestern Mesopotamia under the name of AdadРmilki, “Hadad is king,” a form of the Syrian god Hadad.

Anammelech. Possibly, “Anu is king.” Anu was the famous sky god of early Mesopotamia.

32. Feared the Lord. Earlier (v. 25), “they feared not the Lord.” The influence of the priest of Bethel did not make these people true worshipers of the God of heaven. The thought is that the people, along with the worship of other gods, also gave a certain recognition to the national God of Israel.

Lowest of them. They made priests for themselves of all classes of the people, giving little heed to the qualifications that should characterize men devoted to the service of religion.

34. Fear not the Lord. This statement does not contradict the statement of v. 33. That verse states that the worship of Jehovah was combined with the worship of many other gods and goddesses. This verse emphasizes that this was in no sense a true recognition of the Lord. If it had been, there would have been an inquiry into His laws and an effort to conform to them. No man can serve both God and idols. There is only one true God, and those who in any way recognize other deities, do not truly fear the Lord despite pretending to do so.

After their statutes. The new mixed worship of Samaria could not and did not recognize the statutes given by the Lord to His people. The law of the Lord and the ordinances of the Mosaic law were largely ignored. The Israelites who had been left in the land amalgamated with the new settlers and united with them in their worship (see 2 Kings 23:19; 2 Chron. 34:3–7, 33; John 4:22).

35. A covenant. See Ex. 19:5, 6.

Not fear other gods. God’s ten-commandment law was the basis of the covenant He made with His people (Ex. 20:1–17; 34:27, 28). The first two commandments of the law prohibited the recognition of other gods and the worship of idols (Ex. 20:3–5).

36. Brought you up. Compare the preamble to the ten-commandment law given at Sinai (Ex. 20:2).

37. Wrote for you. Written so there might be no misunderstanding of the divine requirements (see Ex. 24:3, 4).

40. After their former manner. Almost immediately after God had made His covenant with Israel and the people had promised to be obedient (Ex. 24:3, 7), they showed their wayward tendency by worshiping the golden calf (Ex. 32:8).

41. Unto this day. It is evident from these words that the writer was not a contemporary of the events he has been describing, but that he lived some time after, perhaps after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah (see p. 716). The Elephantine papyri (see Vol. I, p. 108) bear witness to the fact that in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah “the Jews,” as the writers of these papyri term themselves, had a religion in which they worshiped a number of heathen deities besides Jehovah. These Jews had settled in Egypt, but maintained contact with both the high priest at Jerusalem and the sons of Sanballat, governor of Samaria.

Thus ends the history of Israel—a people who should have been a “peculiar treasure” to the Lord and “above all people” (Ex. 19:5). Never had a people started out with greater promise, never did a nation meet with greater ignominy and reproach. Israel discovered by sad experience that “righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34).

Little is known of the northern tribes subsequent to their being taken into captivity. Many probably merged with the peoples among whom they lived, and lost their identity. Others continued the worship of Jehovah and united with the Jews of the Babylonian captivity (see Jer. 50:4, 20, 33). Some returned with the exiles from Judah under Zerubbabel and Ezra (Ezra 8:35; 1 Chron. 9:3). In NT times Jews and their proselytes were found in Media, Parthia, Elam, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Crete, Arabia, and throughout the East (Acts 2:9–11). How many of these were descendants of the Israelites taken captive by Assyria cannot be known.

Ellen G. White comments

1    PK 287

7, 11, 14–16PK 291

20, 23  PK 292