39 And you are to give worship to the Lord your God; for it is he who will give you salvation from the hands of all who are against you.
But the Lord, who took you out of the land of Egypt with his great power and his outstretched arm, he is your God, to whom you are to give worship and make offerings:
Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you.
And so you gave them up into the hands of their haters who were cruel to them: and in the time of their trouble, when they made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; and in your great mercy gave them saviours, who made them free from the hands of their haters.
Do not say, It is holy, about everything of which this people says, It is holy; and do not be in fear of what they go in fear of. But let the Lord of armies be holy to you, and go in fear of him, giving honour to him. And he will be for a holy place: but for a stone of falling and a rock of trouble to the two houses of Israel, and to the men of Jerusalem, for a net in which they may be taken.
Who would not have fear of you, O King of the nations? for it is your right: for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 17
Commentary on 2 Kings 17 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 17
This chapter gives us an account of the captivity of the ten tribes, and so finishes the history of that kingdom, after it had continued about 265 years, from the setting up of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. In it we have,
2Ki 17:1-6
We have here the reign and ruin of Hoshea, the last of the kings of Israel, concerning whom observe,
2Ki 17:7-23
Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes was but briefly related, it is in these verses largely commented upon by our historian, and the reasons of it assigned, not taken from the second causes-the weakness of Israel, their impolitic management, and the strength and growing greatness of the Assyrian monarch (these things are overlooked)-but only from the First Cause. Observe,
Lastly, Here is a complaint against Judah in the midst of all (v. 19): Also Judah kept not the commandments of God; though they were not as yet quite so bad as Israel, yet they walked in the statutes of Israel; and this aggravated the sin of Israel, that they communicated the infection of it to Judah; see Eze. 23:11. Those that bring sin into a country or family bring a plague into it and will have to answer for all the mischief that follows.
2Ki 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 Assyria.