11 The king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
The God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.
In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shall you be delivered?
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;
All the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone; the sycamores are cut down, but we will put cedars in their place. Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies, the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Hosts. Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day. The elder and the honorable man, he is the head; and the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For those who lead this people cause them to err; and those who are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns as the fire; it devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts is the land burnt up; and the people are as the fuel of fire: no man spares his brother. One shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!
Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing. For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.
They won't dwell in Yahweh's land; But Ephraim will return to Egypt, And they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel. "The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; There is no one to raise her up." For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, And that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
Seek Yahweh, and you will live; Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
"Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel? Yes, you have borne the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus," says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 18
Commentary on 2 Kings 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
When the prophet had condemned Ephriam for lies and deceit he comforted himself with this, that Judah yet "ruled with God, and was faithful with the Most Holy,' Hos. 11:12. It was a very melancholy view which the last chapter gave us of the desolations of Israel; but this chapter shows us the affairs of Judah in a good posture at the same time, that it may appear God has not quite cast off the seed of Abraham, Rom. 11:1. Hezekiah is here upon the throne,
But how well it ended, and how much to the honour and comfort of our great reformer, we shall find in the next chapter.
2Ki 18:1-8
We have here a general account of the reign of Hezekiah. It appears, by comparing his age with his father's, that he was born when his father was about eleven or twelve years old, divine Providence so ordering that he might be of full age, and fit for business, when the measure of his father's iniquity should be full. Here is,
2Ki 18:9-16
The kingdom of Assyria had now grown considerable, though we never read of it till the last reign. Such changes there are in the affairs of nations and families: those that have been despicable become formidable, and those, on the contrary, are brought low that have made a great noise and figure. We have here an account,
2Ki 18:17-37
Here is,