2 Kings 17:24

ORIGIN OF THE SAMARITANS, 2 Kings 17:24-41.

24. The king of Assyria brought This king was Sargon, who tells us in his inscription that he “took and occupied the city of Samaria, and… changed the former government of the country, and placed over it lieutenants of his own.” See the note on 2 Kings 17:6. It appears from Ezra 4:2, that subsequently Esar-haddon also transported colonists to the cities of Samaria.

From Babylon Either from the city or province, for the whole of Babylonia belonged at this time to the Assyrian empire.

Cuthah Called, in 2 Kings 17:30, Cuth. Its site has been the subject of dispute and uncertainty, but G. Rawlinson is confident that it was a city near Babylon whose ruins are now called Ibrahim. He says, ( Herodotus, vol. i, p. 515,) “The city was called Digona by Ptolemy, Digba by Pliny, Digubis in the Peutingerian map. The ruins of Cuthah, distant about twelve miles from Babylon, were first discovered by Sir H. Rawlinson in 1846, and have since been repeatedly visited by travellers.” In the Chaldee and the Talmud the Samaritans are called Cuthites, and hence some have thought that the main portion of these colonists came from Cuthah. Compare also Josephus, 2 Kings 9:14 ; 2 Kings 9:3. “With almost equal confidence,” adds Rawlinson, ( Historical Evidences, p. 341,) “may we pronounce on the position of Ava, of which Winer says, that it is most probably a Mesopotamian town, ‘of which no trace remains in ancient authors, or in modern Oriental topography.’ Ava, or Ivah, (2 Kings 18:34,) is a city dedicated to the god Hea, (Neptune,) which was on the Euphrates, at the extreme northern limit of Babylonia. It is called by the Talmudical writers Ihi, or with an epithet, Ihi-dakira, by Herodotus Is, by the Egyptians Ist, by the Turks and Arabs of the present day Hit. The first corruption of the name may be traced in the Ahava of Ezra, (Ezra 8:15; Ezra 8:21,) where the Jews encamped on their way from Babylon to Jerusalem.”

Hamath On the Orontes. See on Joshua 13:5; 1 Kings 8:65. This city had probably been subjected to Assyria during the reign of Tiglath-pileser.

Sepharvaim Doubtless identical with the Sippara of Ptolemy, which was situated on the Euphrates above Babylon, near the modern Mosaib. The dual form of the name is explained from the fact, noted in the inscriptions, that the city was built on each side of the river. Berosus calls it a city of the sun, and, according to Rawlinson, the inscriptions give it the same name. Hence a reason why “the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire.” 2 Kings 17:31.

They possessed Samaria And hence their descendants are called, even to this day, Samaritans.