2 Kings 17:24

24 The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

2 Kings 17:24 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:24

And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon
Which was at this time under the dominion of the king of Assyria; though in a little time after this it revolted, and had a king of its own, ( 2 Kings 20:12 ) , this king of Assyria was either Shalmaneser, who carried Israel captive, or it may be rather his son Esarhaddon, see ( Ezra 4:2 ) ,

and from Cuthah;
which, according to Josephus ^F11, was a city in Persia, where was a river of the same name; but it was rather a place in Erech, in the country of Babylon, (See Gill on Genesis 10:10),

and from Ava;
the same with Ivah, ( Isaiah 37:13 ) , where perhaps a colony of the Avim had settled, ( Deuteronomy 2:23 )

and from Hamath;
a city of Syria, which lay on the northern borders of the land of Canaan, ( Numbers 34:8 )

and from Sepharvaim;
thought by some to be the Sippara of Ptolemy, or the Sippareni of Abydenus, in Mesopotamia; though Vitringa takes it to be a city in Syro-Phoenicia, (See Gill on Isaiah 36:19),

and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of
Israel;
not in Samaria, which was now destroyed, according to the prophecy in ( Micah 1:6 ) as Abarbinel and other Jewish writers note:

and they possessed Samaria;
as an inheritance; sowed it with corn, and planted vineyards there:

and dwelt in the cities thereof;
in the several parts of the kingdom.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 1.

2 Kings 17:24 In-Context

22 And the people of Israel persisted in all the evil ways of Jeroboam. They did not turn from these sins

23 until the LORD finally swept them away from his presence, just as all his prophets had warned. So Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria, where they remain to this day.

24 The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

25 But since these foreign settlers did not worship the LORD when they first arrived, the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

26 So a message was sent to the king of Assyria: “The people you have sent to live in the towns of Samaria do not know the religious customs of the God of the land. He has sent lions among them to destroy them because they have not worshiped him correctly.”