Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Kings
Chapter 17: They Feared the LORD, and Served Their Own Gods
The northern kingdom comes to its tragic end. Samaria falls to Assyria and Israel is carried into exile, and the chapter pauses to explain why: not the strength of Assyria, but the sin of Israel, generations of idolatry against the God who redeemed them and warned them by all His prophets. Then foreign peoples resettle the land, and give us the birth of a divided, syncretistic religion that 'feared the LORD, and served their own gods.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Kings chapter 17. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:1-6)
After a three-year siege, Samaria falls and Israel is carried captive to Assyria.
Carried Israel Away Into Assyria
"In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. 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 he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 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 by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes."
Word Study
"carried Israel away," Hebrew galah (גָּלָה), to be carried into exile. The dreaded word that has hung over the northern kingdom now falls in full: Assyria "carried Israel away (galah) into Assyria." Hoshea, the last king of Israel, tried the same failed strategy as his predecessors, playing Egypt against Assyria, and when he withheld tribute and conspired with "So king of Egypt," Shalmaneser imprisoned him and besieged Samaria. After three years the city fell (722 B.C.), and the ten northern tribes were deported to the far reaches of the Assyrian empire, "Halah... Habor... the cities of the Medes." So ended the kingdom of Israel, roughly two centuries after it split from Judah, never to be restored as a nation. The scattered exiles largely lost their identity, becoming the "ten lost tribes." Behind the geopolitics, the narrator will insist, was the hand of God; Assyria was only the rod (Isaiah 10:5). The trust in Egypt, the arm of flesh, availed nothing, exactly as the prophets had warned. This is the mournful climax of the long decline the book has traced, and it stands as a solemn monument: a nation that God had redeemed, blessed, and warned for centuries at last reaped the exile its sin had earned. The very land promised to Abraham's seed now emptied of the northern tribes, "carried away." But the "why" is so important that the chapter now stops the narrative to explain it in full.
Explanation
Hoshea, the last king of Israel, reigned nine years and, though evil, was somewhat less so than his predecessors. He became a vassal of Shalmaneser of Assyria, but then rebelled, seeking help from Egypt and withholding tribute. Assyria imprisoned him, invaded the land, and besieged Samaria for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea (722 B.C.), the city fell, and Assyria deported the people of the northern kingdom to distant regions of its empire. So the kingdom of Israel came to its end, its people carried into an exile from which they would not return as a nation. The bare facts are stated; the chapter will now explain the deeper cause.
Gospel Focus
The fall of Samaria is the sober fulfillment of every warning God had sent. For two hundred years He had been patient, sending prophet after prophet, delaying judgment, giving mercy even to wicked kings, but the day of reckoning came at last. This is a solemn reminder that God's patience, though vast, is not endless, and that sin long persisted in will finally be judged. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11); men mistake God's patience for His absence, and presume upon it, until judgment falls. Israel trusted Egypt and its own schemes to the end, and the arm of flesh failed. There is a lesson here for every soul and every nation: the God who is slow to anger is also just, and "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). But the very existence of this warning is itself a mercy to us who read it: God records the fall of Israel so that we might not follow their unbelief. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Do not presume on God's patience. Today, while it is called today, turn to Him, before the long-delayed reckoning comes.
The Reasons for the Exile (2 Kings 17:7-23)
The narrator explains: Israel fell not by Assyria's strength but by its own long rebellion against God.
They Would Not Hear, but Hardened Their Necks
"For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD 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, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye 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. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. 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 were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 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 LORD, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the LORD 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. 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 LORD, and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the LORD 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."
Word Study
"they would not hear, but hardened their necks," Hebrew qashah oref (קָשָׁה עֹרֶף), to stiffen the neck, be stubborn. This is one of the most important passages in the historical books, for it stops to explain the theology behind the tragedy. The exile was not merely a military defeat; "so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God." The narrator lays out the indictment: they feared other gods, followed the abominations of the nations God had cast out, built high places everywhere, set up idols and groves, made the two calves, worshipped Baal and "all the host of heaven," passed their children through the fire, and used divination. And the aggravation of it all: it was against "the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt", they betrayed their Redeemer. Most crucial is verses 13-14: "Yet the LORD testified against Israel... by all the prophets... Turn ye from your evil ways... Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks." God did not judge without warning; for centuries He sent prophet after prophet pleading, "Turn ye." The exile came only after long, patient, repeated calls to repent were met with a stiffened neck. The phrase "hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe" traces the sin to its root, unbelief; they "did not believe in the LORD their God." Idolatry was the fruit; unbelief was the root. Note too the ominous parenthesis (verse 19): "Also Judah kept not the commandments", a warning that Judah was walking the same road and would meet the same end. The chapter is God's own explanation of exile: not the weakness of God, but the sin of His people, warned and unrepentant, at last brought the judgment down.
Explanation
Here the narrator halts to give the reason for Israel's fall. It was not Assyria's might but Israel's sin. Despite being redeemed from Egypt by the LORD, they had feared other gods, adopted the practices of the heathen, filled the land with high places and idols, made the golden calves, worshipped Baal and the stars, sacrificed their children, and practiced divination. Above all, though God had repeatedly warned them through all His prophets and seers to turn from their evil ways, they refused, stubbornly hardening their necks in unbelief like their fathers. So God, after long patience, removed them from His sight into exile. The passage also warns that Judah too was following Israel's sinful path. Israel's exile was the just consequence of generations of rebellion against the God who had saved and warned them.
Gospel Focus
This passage is God's own explanation of judgment, and its lessons are searching. First, the root of Israel's ruin was unbelief: they "hardened their necks... that did not believe in the LORD their God." All the idolatry flowed from a heart that would not trust God. So the deadliest sin is always unbelief, the refusal to trust and obey the God who saves; "take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12). Second, God judged only after long, patient warning: "Yet the LORD testified... by all the prophets... Turn ye." He never strikes without pleading first; His judgments are the last resort of rejected mercy. How this magnifies His grace, and how it deepens the guilt of those who spurn it! "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). Third, the warning to Judah, "Also Judah kept not the commandments," reminds us that we are quick to see others' sins and slow to see our own; the fall of Israel was meant to be Judah's mirror, and it is ours too, "written for our admonition." The gospel calls us to be the opposite of Israel: not to harden our necks but to soften our hearts, not to refuse the God who pleads but to turn at His call. "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). The God who wept over His people's obstinacy still says, "Turn ye, turn ye... for why will ye die?" (Ezekiel 33:11). Hear Him, and live.
The Resettlement of Samaria (2 Kings 17:24-41)
Foreign peoples resettle the land and blend the fear of the LORD with the worship of their own gods.
They Feared the LORD, and Served Their Own Gods
"And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them. 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. 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. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the LORD, 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. They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the LORD 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: But the LORD, 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. 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. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day."
Word Study
"They feared the LORD, and served their own gods," the definition of divided worship. Assyria repopulated Samaria with peoples from across its empire, and these settlers (whose mixture with the remaining Israelites produced the later Samaritans) illustrate a spiritual disease that is the chapter's final lesson. At first they "feared not the LORD," and God sent lions among them; recognizing this as the anger of "the God of the land," they got an Israelite priest to teach them "how they should fear the LORD." But they did not abandon their own gods; each nation kept its idols, "and the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth," and so on, even continuing child sacrifice. The result is summed up in the haunting refrain, repeated for emphasis: "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods." This is syncretism, the attempt to add the LORD to a shelf of other gods, to worship Him alongside idols, and it is condemned utterly. The covenant God quoted at length forbids exactly this: "Ye shall not fear other gods... But the LORD your God ye shall fear" (verses 35-39). You cannot fear the LORD and serve other gods; divided worship is no worship. Jesus said the same: "No man can serve two masters... Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). The double-minded religion of Samaria, "they feared the LORD, and served their graven images," is exactly the peril of every heart that would keep Jesus and its idols too. God will not be one god among many; He demands, and deserves, the whole heart. The chapter that began with Israel exiled for idolatry ends with a portrait of the half-hearted religion that is idolatry's subtler form, and both are under the same divine "No."
Explanation
Assyria brought settlers from various conquered lands to repopulate Samaria. At first they did not worship the LORD, and when lions attacked them, they concluded they must learn "the manner of the God of the land," so an exiled Israelite priest was sent to teach them to fear the LORD. But they did not give up their own gods; each group kept and worshipped its own idols alongside a nominal fear of the LORD, even sacrificing children. The chapter repeatedly sums up their condition: "they feared the LORD, and served their own gods." The narrator contrasts this with the covenant, which strictly forbade worshipping other gods and commanded exclusive devotion to the LORD who redeemed Israel from Egypt. But these peoples, like Israel before them, would not truly obey, and their divided worship continued down the generations.
Gospel Focus
"They feared the LORD, and served their own gods." No phrase better captures the peril of divided worship, and it is a mirror for every age, including our own. The settlers of Samaria added the LORD to their collection of gods, kept Him on a shelf beside their idols, and thought that enough. But God will not be one option among many; the covenant thunders, "the LORD your God ye shall fear," and Jesus insists, "no man can serve two masters." Many today do exactly what Samaria did: they add a little religion to a life still ruled by other gods, money, self, pleasure, security, and imagine they are right with God. But to fear the LORD and serve our own gods is not devotion; it is idolatry with a religious veneer. God demands the whole heart: "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" (Matthew 22:37); "my son, give me thine heart" (Proverbs 23:26). The gospel calls us to the undivided allegiance the Samaritans never gave, to turn from every idol "to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Examine your worship: is the LORD your only God, or one among several? Tear down the idols that share your heart with Him. He who redeemed us "with great power and a stretched out arm," and far more, with the precious blood of His Son, is worthy of all, not a share. Fear the LORD, and serve Him only.
Chapter in Review
Second Kings 17 records the tragic end of the northern kingdom and stops to explain it. Samaria falls to Assyria after a three-year siege, and Israel is carried into an exile from which it never returned as a nation. Then the narrator lays bare the reason: not Assyria's strength, but Israel's sin, generations of idolatry against the God who redeemed them from Egypt, with unbelief at the root, "they would not hear, but hardened their necks." God had pleaded through all His prophets, "Turn ye," but they refused, and judgment came at last, with a pointed warning that Judah was walking the same road. Finally, the foreign peoples resettled in Samaria give a portrait of divided worship, "they feared the LORD, and served their own gods", the syncretism God utterly condemns. The chapter warns that God's patience has an end, that unbelief is the root of ruin, and that God will not share the heart He demands wholly for Himself.
Key Takeaways
- God's patience is vast but not endless. After two centuries of warning, judgment fell; do not presume upon His long-suffering.
- Unbelief is the root of ruin. Israel "hardened their necks... that did not believe"; all their idolatry flowed from a heart that would not trust God.
- God judges only after pleading. "Yet the LORD testified... Turn ye"; His judgments are the last resort of rejected mercy.
- Others' falls are our mirror. "Also Judah kept not the commandments"; these things are "written for our admonition."
- God will not share the heart. "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods" is idolatry with a religious veneer; He demands the whole heart.
Questions for Reflection
- Are you presuming on God's patience, mistaking His delay for His absence?
- Is there an "evil heart of unbelief" at the root of any sin you tolerate?
- How does it move you that God pleads and warns long before He judges?
- Do you see the falls of others as a mirror for your own heart, or only condemn them?
- Do you "fear the LORD, and serve your own gods," or is He the undivided Lord of your heart?
References
- Scripture: 2 Kings 17:1-41, King James Version.
- Cross-references: Deuteronomy 6:14-15; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Isaiah 10:5; Ezekiel 33:11; Proverbs 23:26; Matthew 6:24; 22:37; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; Hebrews 2:3; 3:12, 15; 10:31.
- Hebrew word meanings: standard lexical sources (Strong's, BDB) for galah and qashah oref; historical background of the fall of Samaria (722 B.C.) and the origin of the Samaritans.