2 Kings 17:1-6

2 Kings 17:1-6

[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  that which was evil  in the sight  of the LORD,  but not as the kings  of Israel  that were before  [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 he had done 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,  Israel  away  into Assyria,  and placed  them in Halah  and in Habor  by the river  of Gozan,  and in the cities  of the Medes. 

What does 2 Kings 17:1-6 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Hoshea was the Northern Kingdom"s last king. He reigned in Samaria for9 years (732-722 B.C.). He was a bad king, but he was not as bad as his predecessors. A seal of Abdi, an official of Hoshea, has been discovered that bears the name of this Israelite king, who was heretofore unmentioned outside the Bible. [1]
Shalmaneser V (727-722 B.C.) had succeeded his father Tiglath-Pileser III on Assyria"s throne. Hoshea became the servant of Assyria rather than of Yahweh ( 2 Kings 17:3). However, he was not a faithful servant even of Shalmaneser ( 2 Kings 17:4). This led to the end of his freedom and the siege of his capital ( 2 Kings 17:4-5). Samaria fell to Assyria in722 B.C, and a second deportation of the population to various parts of the Assyrian empire followed in harmony with Assyria"s policy toward conquered peoples (cf. 2 Kings 15:29). [2]
"So" ( 2 Kings 17:4) may be the Hebrew pronunciation of the Egyptian capital, Sais, rather than the name of a pharaoh. [3] The verse so translated would read "... who had sent messengers to So [3] king of Egypt," as in the NIV margin. Alternatively "So" may have been Pharaoh Tefnakht [5] or Pharaoh Piankhy. [6]
As God had promised, the Israelites" apostasy had resulted in their scattering among other peoples ( Deuteronomy 28:64). According to1Chronicles7 , some members of the ten northern tribes returned to the Promised Land at the end of the70-year Babylonian Captivity. Apparently most of the Northern Kingdom exiles intermarried and lost their identity among the other Semitic people among whom they went to live. There is no evidence that the "ten lost tribes" became the American Indians, the Afghans, the Armenians, the Nestorians, or the English, as various modern cults claim. [2]4
Israel had suffered for209 years under20 different kings from9 different families, sometimes called dynasties. The heads of these ruling families were Jeroboam I (two kings), Baasha (two kings), Zimri (two kings), Omri (four kings), Jehu (five kings), Shallum (one king), Menahem (two kings), Pekah (one king), and Hoshea (one king). Seven of these kings died at the hands of assassins: Nadab, Elah, Jehoram, Zechariah , Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah. All of them were evil. They did not comply with the will of Yahweh as contained in the Mosaic Law and the revelations of His prophets.