And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, [that] Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.
The verse dates the fall of the northern kingdom by two reigns at once: Hezekiah's fourth year in Judah, and Hoshea's seventh in Israel. The same Assyrian army that swallowed one kingdom would soon stand at the gates of the other.
Chapter 17 has already told the story of Samaria's fall. Dating it again by Hezekiah's reign sets Israel's end beside Judah's safety.
It was in the fourth year of Hezekiah that the king of Assyria began his siege of Samaria, taking the city captive in Hezekiah's sixth year. So the larger part of the nation Israel went into captivity. Judah and Benjamin came through safely, because the most faithful king was reigning over them at the time. Verse 12 repeats the reason for the captivity of the ten tribes. They did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant conveyed to them through Moses. Not only did they not do what was commanded them: they would not listen.
Judah escaped Samaria's fate, but not because Judah was innocent. Under Hezekiah's father Ahaz, Judah was as guilty as Israel.
Judah had transgressed as well as Israel. The Lord has now prepared the Assyrian rod in righteous anger, and He raises it against Jerusalem as well as Samaria. The day of Ahaz there had been as the day of Hoshea here. But Hezekiah, who came after Ahaz, did what was right in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord argued with His rod, and the Assyrian did not prevail over Judah, as he had over Israel.
Hoshea was dealing with Egypt and Assyria at the same time. The prophet had already described that habit of playing both sides.
The prophet mentions this two-faced, suspicious conduct of the king: "Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt" (Hosea 12:1). He says again, "Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria" (Hosea 7:11). So, discovering Hoshea's conspiracy, Shalmaneser "shut him up and bound him in prison."
This verse names Shalmaneser as the king who came up and laid siege. From the next verse on, the text uses only the title "the king of Assyria".
Notice that Shalmaneser's name appears only in these two passages. Afterwards the text uses the term "the king of Assyria". And in 2 Kings 18:10 it says, "at the end of three years they took it." This leaves room for Sargon, the next king of Assyria, to have finished the siege and to have carried away the captives. He came to the Assyrian throne in the year B.C. 722, and on his monuments he claims to have taken Samaria in his first year.
(Note: this argument rests on the older reading "they took it" in verse 10; the ESV renders it "he took it.")
Assyria's own inscriptions describe this siege.
From these inscriptions we learn that the siege of Samaria had lasted two years when Sargon succeeded Shalmaneser. Sargon took Samaria in the first year of his reign. The record here does not mention Sargon. Still, it is significant that it does not credit the capture of Samaria to Shalmaneser. These inscriptions say that Sargon captured Samaria, carried away 27,290 of its people, and appointed a governor over the city. What would these interesting ancient inscriptions mean if it were not for the Bible? Again we say they are proven true because the Word of God confirms them.
Israel's fall left its mark on Hezekiah himself.
God often allows things to happen to teach us to know our own hearts, so that we might have no confidence in them. Hezekiah's first false step comes in the very trust that marks his walk above all else. Israel's terrible disaster through Shalmaneser's invasion no doubt shook his confidence. But when Hezekiah saw all the cities of Judah fallen into the hands of the king of Assyria, his heart failed him.
- Dated twice — Hezekiah's fourth year and Hoshea's seventh mark the same siege, setting the two kingdoms side by side.
- Cause — Hoshea courted Egypt while under Assyria. The prophet had already named that double-dealing.
- Verdict — the ten tribes went into captivity because they did not obey the voice of the Lord and would not listen.
- Instrument — Shalmaneser begins the siege, but the text stops naming him. That leaves room for Sargon, whose monuments claim the city and count its captives.
- Contrast — Judah had sinned as Israel had, yet came through under a faithful king. Even so, Israel's collapse shook Hezekiah's own confidence.
And at the end of three years they took it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
This verse marks the fall of Samaria, the chief city of the northern kingdom, after a three-year siege. It dates that fall by the reign of Hezekiah, king in Jerusalem — so why is Israel's end measured by Judah's king?
The siege starts and ends inside Hezekiah's reign. That dating puts the two kingdoms side by side at the same hour.
Verses 9-11 refer to what we have already read in connection with Hoshea, king of Israel. It was in the fourth year of Hezekiah that the king of Assyria began his siege of Samaria, taking the city captive in Hezekiah's sixth year. So the larger part of the nation Israel went into captivity. Judah and Benjamin came through safely, because they had the most faithful king reigning over them at the time.
The book has already told this story in full. It comes up again here because of what happens next.
We get just a brief link back to the destruction of the other kingdom before we come to the attack on Jerusalem.
Some translations end this verse with "they took it" rather than "he took it." One writer reads that plural as a clue about who was actually leading Assyria when Samaria fell.
after-note: DELETE
Once the Assyrians had taken the king of Israel prisoner, "the king of Assyria overran the whole land, and went up against Samaria, and besieged it three years." Shalmaneser did not take the city himself. We are told, "And at the end of three years they took it." In the meantime Sargon had taken over from Shalmaneser, or was at least leading the army during a short gap between reigns.
Assyria's own records name that successor and supply the numbers the Bible does not give.
Shalmaneser besieged Samaria again about 723 B.C., but the city held out for three years, and Sargon finally took it. The people now went into captivity. One Assyrian inscription records Sargon's own words: "The city of Samaria I besieged, I captured; 27,280 of its inhabitants I carried away."
Those first six years of Hezekiah were not silent years for the north. Before Samaria fell, an appeal had already gone out to Israel.
This was a sweeping judgment of God against His people Israel, and the ten tribes have never returned to their land since that time. It seems this took place before the captivity. During the first six years of his reign in Judah, Hezekiah sent messengers to Israel to invite them to come to Jerusalem for his great Passover.
Judah was not innocent, and the same Assyrian power that swallowed Samaria came up against Jerusalem. The difference lay in the man on the throne.
Judah had sinned as well as Israel. The Lord has now prepared the Assyrian rod in righteous anger, and He raises it against Jerusalem as well as Samaria. The day of Ahaz in Judah had been like the day of Hoshea in Israel. But Hezekiah, who came after Ahaz, did right in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord contended with His rod, and the Assyrian did not overcome Judah as he had overcome Israel.
The people carried off that year disappeared from view. Commentators do not claim to trace them, but they do not treat them as finished.
When Israel was carried away, they were settled in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. So far as we know they never returned. No doubt some people found their way back in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in the four hundred years that followed before the Lord appeared. But as a whole nation they are still widely called 'the Lost Tribes.' God knows where to find them when His set time of blessing arrives. The twelve tribes do still exist, and remnants of them will come into the land again.
Commentators differ on how that return will come. One writer holds that nothing short of a miracle can undo a scattering this wide:
Now that God has allowed this great scattering of the ten tribes, only a miraculous act of God at the end of the Tribulation will bring His people Israel back to their land.
- Dated — The siege ran from Hezekiah's fourth year to his sixth, Hoshea's ninth. Judah's calendar dates Israel's last day.
- Deserved — The fall was a sweeping judgment of God on His people, not just an Assyrian win.
- Delayed — The Lord raised the same rod over Jerusalem too. Hezekiah did right, and that, not Judah's innocence, is why the city stood.
- Detailed — The older reading "they took it" points past Shalmaneser to Sargon. His own inscription records the capture and 27,280 captives.
- Deferred — Hezekiah's Passover invitation reached them before the fall. They never returned, but God knows where to find them when His time of blessing comes.
And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;
This verse closes the story of Israel, the northern kingdom. It stands inside the account of Hezekiah, a good king of Judah — which raises two questions: why repeat news the book has already given, and what happened to those tribes next?
The verse names several places. One of them lies in a very different direction from the rest.
2 Kings 18:10-11 gives a more definite date for the captivity of the rest of Israel. The Assyrians took Samaria after a three-year siege, in the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, and the sixth year of Hezekiah — so 722 B.C. The captives were carried to Halah and Habor by the river of Gozan. (1 Chr. 5:26 mentions these same names and adds Hara.) These places are thought to lie in the north of Assyria. But the passage in Kings adds the words "and in the cities of the Medes." That region is much farther east. There they would be far away from their own people in Assyria, and from Judah, who were carried later to Babylon.
Shalmaneser began the siege. One writer notices that the wording changes when the city falls, and reads it as a change of ruler mid-siege. (His point rests on the older wording "they took it.")
The king of Israel was now a prisoner. "Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it" (2 Kings 17:5; cf. 2 Kings 18:9). But Shalmaneser did not take the city himself, for we are told, "And at the end of three years they took it" (2 Kings 18:10). During this time Sargon (Isa. 20:1) had taken Shalmaneser's place, or at least was leading the army during a short gap between reigns.
The dates set the two kingdoms side by side at the same moment. One writer then names the reason Israel fell.
The king of Assyria began his siege of Samaria in the fourth year of Hezekiah, and took the city captive in Hezekiah's sixth year. So the larger part of the nation of Israel went into captivity, while Judah and Benjamin were kept safe by having the most faithful king reigning over them at the time. Verse 12 repeats the reason for the captivity of the ten tribes. They did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but broke His covenant given to them through Moses. They not only failed to do what they were commanded: they would not listen.
Judah's safety was not innocence. The same Assyrian power soon came south against Jerusalem.
Whatever the case, we now have Assyria connected not simply with Judah — the conqueror of Israel comes up against Jerusalem. God had allowed Assyria to sweep away the ten tribes. Was there not enough wickedness in Judah for God to deal with now? We shall see how God acts, and how He answers faithfulness of heart and trust in Himself.
God set out the reasons for all this in writing. One writer shows what we are meant to do with them.
As He closes the story of the ten-tribe kingdom, God gives us a detailed list of the charges in 2 Kings 17:7-23, showing why He brought this kingdom to an end. He has placed it in His Word to warn us and teach us. We do well to look at it. Romans 11:20-21 tells us: "Do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you."
The last king of the northern kingdom was named for deliverance, and delivered nothing.
Hoshea, whose name means deliverance, proved anything but that to his people. One alone will bring deliverance to the ten tribes. The ten tribes have never returned from their captivity, and they will not return until the Lord Himself brings them back in a day to come.
Yet being untraceable to us is not the same as being untraceable to God.
As far as we know they never returned. No doubt some people found their way back in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in the four hundred years that followed before the Lord appeared. Jews from those districts were there on the day of Pentecost. But as a body they are still called 'the Lost Tribes.' God knows where to find them when His set time of blessing comes. The twelve tribes do exist, and a remnant of them will come into the land again.
- Cause. Assyria's strength did not end Israel. Israel would not obey God's voice, and broke the covenant He gave through Moses.
- Carried. Samaria fell after a three-year siege, about 722 B.C., in Hezekiah's sixth year. Writers differ on whether Shalmaneser or Sargon took the city.
- Cut off. Assyria settled the captives in Halah, by the Habor, and in the cities of the Medes — a far eastern region, away from their own people.
- Contrast. Judah stayed safe under its most faithful king in the very years Israel fell — mercy, not merit, for the same enemy soon marched on Jerusalem.
- Coming back. The ten tribes never returned, and people still call them "lost." Yet God knows where they are, and He will bring them back into the land Himself.
because they hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded; and they would not hear nor do it.
Here, in the middle of the record of a godly king's reign, God says why the northern kingdom fell: the ten tribes would not listen to Him. Why spell out the reasons at all, and what are His people meant to do with them?
God does not owe anyone an account of His actions. Yet He often gives one, and He gave one for the fall of the ten tribes.
While God has no obligation to explain to us why He does what He does, in His Word He often does. As He concludes the story of the ten-tribe kingdom, God gives us a detailed list of particulars in 2 Kings 17:7-23 as to why He brought this kingdom to an end. God has placed it in His Word for our warning and instruction. We do well to examine it. Romans 11:20-21 tells us: "Do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you."
The same explanation already stood at the end of chapter 17. It comes back here because of the timing: Israel fell while Judah's most faithful king was on the throne.
In the fourth year of Hezekiah the king of Assyria began his siege of Samaria. He took the city captive in Hezekiah's sixth year. So the larger part of the nation Israel went into captivity. Judah and Benjamin were kept safe, because the most faithful king was reigning over them at the time. Verse 12 repeats the reason for the captivity of the ten tribes. They did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant conveyed to them through Moses. They not only failed to do what was commanded; they would not even listen.
"His covenant" was the law God gave through Moses. It was a deal Israel bound themselves to, not a gift handed down.
It is the covenant of law, not the ways of grace. By this Israel had bound themselves. But they forgot it, broke it and despised it — dishonouring Him, and hurting themselves just as much. They hardly felt how serious it was when they promised to obey. They took no account at all of their own self-will and rebellion. The sad and sure result was their ruin... Israel showed their fatal error from the start. They offered to take their stand, and to rest their hope of blessing, not on the promises made to the fathers, but on their own keeping of the law.
The verse ends with the heaviest charge: they would not even hear. They were not short of warning.
God had warned His people over and over again through prophets and seers to turn from their evil ways and keep His commandments and statutes. But the people refused to hear. They had rejected His statutes and covenant and testimonies. They had followed the ways of the nations round about them and had sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
A few verses earlier, the same commandments of Moses appear again — this time kept. Hezekiah trusted God, and that trust showed in what he did.
This trust is inseparable from obedience: "he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses" (v. 6). Let us beware of so-called trust in God which links itself to disobedience of His Word. If I trust in Him, I will hold fast to Him; if I hold fast to Him, I will keep His Word... Yes, trust, holding fast to the Lord, and obedience always go together. The result of Hezekiah's faith is soon apparent: "the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered" (v. 7).
God's judgment fell on Israel as a whole nation. What happened to them as individuals is another matter.
Finally He removed Israel out of His sight as a nation. Yet His full knowledge and His love know exactly where each individual is. Nor will He be frustrated in His purposes, which are secure in Christ.
- Heard. God spoke through Moses, and then through prophets for generations. Israel's fall began with a refusal to listen, not a shortage of warning.
- Bound. Israel bound themselves to the law. They rested their hope on their own obedience instead of on God's promises, and that choice ruined them.
- Broken. They did not just fail to obey. They would not even hear, and they lost the land.
- Held. In the same chapter, Hezekiah holds fast to those same commandments and prospers. Trust and obedience always go together.
- Written. God wrote the reasons down to warn us: do not become proud, but fear. No captivity defeats His purposes, which are secure in Christ.