14 and they have not hearkened, and harden their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who did not remain stedfast in Jehovah their God,
for I -- I have known thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck; lo, in my being yet alive with you to-day, rebellious ye have been with Jehovah, and also surely after my death.
`Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers -- also ye;
`And in this thing ye are not stedfast in Jehovah your God,
and also, against king Nebuchadnezzar he hath rebelled, who had caused him to swear by God, and he hardeneth his neck, and strengtheneth his heart, against turning back unto Jehovah, God of Israel.
With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.
And they kick against the desirable land, They have not given credence to His word.
From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass,
And they have not hearkened unto Me, Nor inclined their ear, and harden their neck, They have done evil above their fathers.
or the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, dost thou despise? -- not knowing that the goodness of God doth lead thee to reformation! but, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou dost treasure up to thyself wrath, in a day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Wherefore, (as the Holy Spirit saith, `To-day, if His voice ye may hear -- ye may not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of the temptation in the wilderness,
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.