2 Kings 17:24-41

The results of the captivity 17:24-41

The immediate result of the captivity (2 Kings 17:24-33) was twofold. The Assyrians deported many Israelites to other places in the Assyrian Empire, and they imported other people from the empire into the newly formed Assyrian province that they called Samaria (2 Kings 17:24). The king who did this was probably Sargon II (722-705 B.C.). Shalmaneser died either during or shortly after the siege of Samaria. These imported foreigners eventually intermarried with the Jews who remained in the land and probably were the ancestors of the Samaritans of Jesus’ day (cf. John 4:9). As polytheists the Assyrians did not hesitate to worship Yahweh as well as their other gods (cf. Exodus 20:3). They had no priestly caste but appointed anyone as a priest (2 Kings 17:32). The syncretistic worship of Yahweh and false gods prevailed (2 Kings 17:32-33). The writer again emphasized the judgment of God that came on the Israelites who remained in the land for their apostasy.

The continuing result of the captivity (2 Kings 17:34-41) was the same. In this section of verses the theme of Israel’s disobedience reaches a climax. In 2 Kings 17:35-39 there are several loose quotations of passages from the Mosaic Law: Exodus 6:6; Exodus 9:15; Exodus 14:15-30; Exodus 20:4-5; Exodus 20:23; Leviticus 19:32; Deuteronomy 4:23; Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:6; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 5:32; Deuteronomy 6:12-13; and Deuteronomy 7:11; Deuteronomy 7:25.

This chapter concludes the second major section of Kings: the history of the Divided Kingdom (1 Kings 12 -2 Kings 17). The lessons of the history of this period that the writer emphasized could not be clearer.

"God’s people had become disloyal to their Suzerain who had brought them redemptively out of Egyptian servitude. They had expressed disloyalty by worshipping other gods (2 Kings 17:15-17). And they did all this despite his persistent reminders to them through his spokesmen, the prophets, that what they were doing constituted high treason. The inevitable result was the judgment of God, a judgment which took the form of exile from the land of promise." [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., p. 399. See also Pauline Viviano, "2 Kings 17 : A Rhetorical and Form Critical Analysis," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49 (October 1987):548-49.]