2 Kings 17

KJV · Chapter 17/25

¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

³Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

⁴And 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.

⁵Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

⁶In 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.

⁷For 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,

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:

¹¹And 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:

¹²For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

¹³Yet 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.

¹⁴Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

¹⁹Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

²⁰And 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.

²¹For 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.

²²For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;

²³Until 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶Wherefore 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.

²⁷Then 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.

²⁸Then 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 Lord.

²⁹Howbeit 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.

³⁰And the men of Babylon made Succoth–benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

³¹And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

³²So 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.

³³They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

³⁴Unto 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;

³⁵With 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:

³⁶But 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.

³⁷And 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.

³⁸And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.

³⁹But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

⁴⁰Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.

⁴¹So 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Hoshea, the last king of Israel, is conquered by Assyria after trying a secret alliance with Egypt. Samaria falls after a three-year siege, and the people are deported, permanently ending the Northern Kingdom. The chapter gives an extensive theological summary of the sins that caused this destruction, and describes how foreigners brought into the region mixed worship of God with their own idols.

Explanation

This is one of the most theologically important chapters in the entire book, functioning as a kind of national obituary: a detailed explanation of why the Northern Kingdom ceased to exist after only about 200 years, always attributing the cause to persistent spiritual unfaithfulness, not merely to Assyrian military might. The religious mixture of Samaria's new inhabitants (fearing God but also serving idols) gave rise to the Samaritan people, whose religious tension with the Jews persisted all the way to the time of Jesus in the New Testament.

Fun facts

The fall of Samaria in 722 BC is confirmed by independent Assyrian records, including inscriptions of King Sargon II, who claims the city's final conquest — one of the clearest intersections between biblical history and external archaeological records.
The mixed religious origin of the Samaritans described here (worshiping both God and foreign idols) helps explain why, centuries later, Jews of Jesus's time considered Samaritans religiously suspect, making the parable of the 'good Samaritan' even more radical in its original context.

Verse-by-verse explanation

2 Kings 17:1Hoshea, son of Elah, begins to reign over Israel (the north) in Samaria in the twelfth year of Ahaz of Judah (the south), and reigns nine years — he will be the last king of the northern kingdom.
2 Kings 17:2Hoshea does what is evil, but the text notes not as much as the kings before him — a detail that does not change the chapter’s final outcome.
2 Kings 17:3Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacks Hoshea, who becomes his vassal, paying regular tribute.
2 Kings 17:4Assyria discovers that Hoshea has been secretly negotiating with the king of Egypt and has stopped paying tribute — as punishment for the betrayal, he is arrested.
2 Kings 17:5The Assyrian king invades the whole land and besieges Samaria, capital of Israel (the north), for three straight years.
2 Kings 17:6This is the end of the northern kingdom as a political entity: the population is carried off to distant regions of the Assyrian empire. It is the beginning of what later became known as the ten lost tribes, since most of them never returned or kept a separate identity.
2 Kings 17:7The author interrupts the historical narrative to give an extended religious assessment, listing Israel’s accumulated sins — idolatry, high places, divination, child sacrifice. It is one of the longest sermons inserted into the book of Kings, explaining the fall as an accumulated consequence, not chance.
2 Kings 17:8Israel followed the customs of the very nations the Lord had driven out before them, plus customs invented by Israel’s own kings.
2 Kings 17:9Idolatry was not confined to official shrines: the people secretly built high places in every town, from the smallest to the fortified ones.
2 Kings 17:10They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree — idolatry spread everywhere, not confined to one place.
2 Kings 17:11They burned incense at all the high places, copying exactly the nations the Lord had driven out, provoking divine anger on purpose.
2 Kings 17:12They served idols despite the Lord’s explicit and repeated command not to do exactly that.
2 Kings 17:13Even so, the Lord warned Israel and Judah again and again through all His prophets, calling them to turn from their evil ways.
2 Kings 17:14They would not listen, hardening their hearts just like their ancestors who had not trusted the Lord.
2 Kings 17:15They rejected His statutes and the covenant made with their fathers, went after worthless things and became worthless themselves, imitating the very nations they had been warned not to imitate.
2 Kings 17:16They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord, made two metal calves, an Asherah pole, bowed down to the stars, and served Baal.
2 Kings 17:17They even burned their own sons and daughters in the fire, practiced divination and sought omens, selling themselves to do evil again and again.
2 Kings 17:18Because of this the Lord is deeply angered and removes Israel from His presence, leaving standing only the tribe of Judah (the south).
2 Kings 17:19But not even Judah kept the commandments of the Lord — they too followed the customs invented by Israel, a warning that Judah was not safe from the same fate.
2 Kings 17:20The Lord rejects the whole line of Israel, afflicts them, hands them over to raiders, until He finally casts them out of His presence for good.
2 Kings 17:21The text recalls the root of the problem: when the kingdom split and Jeroboam became king of the north, he himself drove Israel away from the Lord and led them into great sin.
2 Kings 17:22The Israelites persisted in all the sins Jeroboam had committed, never turning away from them for generations.
2 Kings 17:23In the end, the Lord removes Israel from His presence exactly as He had warned through all His prophets, and the people are exiled to Assyria — an exile still going on when the book was written.
2 Kings 17:24The Assyrian practice of deporting one population and bringing in another to occupy the territory — in this case people from Babylon and other cities — is what gives rise, over time, to the Samaritan people. This mixed group will keep a tense relationship with the Jews of the south for centuries.
2 Kings 17:25At the start of the new occupation, the foreign peoples brought to Samaria did not fear the Lord, and He sends lions that kill some of them.
2 Kings 17:26The new residents tell the Assyrian king they do not know “the manner of the God of the land,” and that is why the lions are attacking.
2 Kings 17:27The king of Assyria sends back one of the exiled Israelite priests specifically to teach the new residents the custom of the god of that land.
2 Kings 17:28A priest returns, settles in Bethel, and teaches the foreign people how to fear the Lord — but in an incomplete way, mixed in with their own gods.
2 Kings 17:29An Israelite priest is sent back to teach the new residents the custom of the God of the land, but each ethnic group keeps worshiping its own gods as well. It is a picture of religious syncretism that the text treats as a problem, not a solution.
2 Kings 17:30Each people brought to Samaria keeps its own god: those from Babylon make Succoth-benoth, those from Cuthah make Nergal, those from Hamath make Ashima.
2 Kings 17:31The Avites make Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites go so far as to burn their own children in honor of Adrammelech and Anammelech, gods of Sepharvaim.
2 Kings 17:32At the same time, these peoples also feared the Lord, choosing priests from among themselves to serve at the shrines of the high places.
2 Kings 17:33This is how Samaria’s mixed religion is born: they feared the Lord and at the same time served their own gods, in the way each people had brought from their homeland.
2 Kings 17:34Down to the time the book was written, this people still followed the old customs, without fully fearing the Lord according to the Law given to the descendants of Jacob, who was named Israel.
2 Kings 17:35The Lord had made a clear covenant with Israel: do not fear other gods, do not bow down to them, do not serve them or sacrifice to them.
2 Kings 17:36Instead, they were to fear only the Lord who brought them out of Egypt with great power, bowing down and sacrificing to Him alone.
2 Kings 17:37They were to take care to keep, every day, the statutes, ordinances, law, and commandment written for them, never fearing other gods.
2 Kings 17:38They were not to forget the covenant made with them, nor to fear other gods under any circumstance.
2 Kings 17:39By fearing only the Lord, God Himself promised to deliver them from the hands of all their enemies.
2 Kings 17:40Even with all this, they did not listen and kept up their same old customs.
2 Kings 17:41In the end, these mixed nations feared the Lord and at the same time served their own carved images — and their children and grandchildren kept doing the same down to the time the book was written. This is where the Samaritans who appear later in the Gospels come from.

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