And the covenant that I have made with you, ye shall not forget ,.... The law given at Mount Sinai; the first table of which chiefly concerned the worship of the one true and living God, and forbid the worship of any other, as follows: neither shall ye fear other gods ; or make them the object of worship. read more
But the Lord your God ye shall fear ,.... Or worship him, both internally and externally, according to his revealed will; for the fear of God includes both internal and external worship: and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies ; that is, provided they feared and served him as he required, and it became them to do. read more
Howbeit, they did not hearken, but did after their former manner. They did not repent of their idolatries, but persisted in them, and even when they were in captivity in Assyria, or such of them as were left in the land. read more
So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images ,.... Just in like manner as the Israelites had done, who served the Lord and the calves, and worshipped God and Baal: both their children, and their children's children ; that is, the children and children's children of the Samaritans: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day ; to the writing of this book, which some ascribe to Jeremiah, to whose times, and even longer, they continued this mixed and mongrel... read more
So do they unto this day - This must have been written before the Babylonish captivity; because, after that time, none of the Israelites ever lapsed into idolatry. But this may chiefly refer to the heathenish people who were sent to dwell among the remains of the ten tribes. On these nations and the objects of their worship, I present my readers with the following extracts from Dodd and Parkhurst. 2 Kings 17:30 . The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth. We have here an... read more
THE REIGN OF HOSHEA OVER ISRAEL . DESTRUCTION OF THE ISRAELITE KINGDOM , AND THE GROUNDS OF IT RE - PEOPLING OF THE KINGDOM BY ASSYRIAN COLONISTS . read more
Re-peopling of the kingdom of Israel by Assyrian colonists , and formation of a mixed religion . The writer, before dismissing the subject of the Israelite kingdom, proceeds to inform us of certain results of the conquest. Having removed the bulk of the native inhabitants, the Assyrians did not allow the country to lie waste, but proceeded to replace the population which they had carried off by settlers from other localities ( 2 Kings 17:24 ). These settlers were, after a short time,... read more
The absurdity and uselessness of a mixed religion. Syncretism has been at all times a form which religion is apt to assume in mixed communities. Theoretically, religions are antithetic, exclusive, mutually repulsive. Practically, where they coexist, they tend to give and take, to approximate one to the other, to drop differences, to blend together into an apparent, if not a real, union. Christianity had at first those who would sit in an idol-temple, and partake of idol-sacrifices ( 1... read more
Samaria and its religion. I. ITS EARLY GODLESSNESS . The land of Samaria was now deprived of its Israelitish inhabitants. The King of Assyria colonized it with heathen immigrants. "At the beginning of their dwelling there, they feared not the Lord." What a mistake to go anywhere without taking God's presence with us! How many journeys are undertaken, how many a business is entered on, without ever a word of prayer being offered to God! How many a home life is commenced without a... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 17:24-41
Never was land lost, we say, for want of an heir. When the children of Israel were dispossessed, and turned out of Canaan, the king of Assyria soon transplanted thither the supernumeraries of his own country, such as it could well spare, who should be servants to him and masters to the Israelites that remained; and here we have an account of these new inhabitants, whose story is related here that we may take our leave of Samaria, as also of the Israelites that were carried captive into... read more