¹map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
²tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
³tn Heb “went up against.”
⁴tn Heb “and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy.”
⁵sn For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 s.v. aos and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 196.
⁶tn Heb “and bound him in the house of confinement.”
⁷tn Heb “went up against.”
⁸tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
⁹tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
¹⁰tn Heb “feared.”
¹¹tn Heb “walked in the customs.”
¹²tn Heb “and [the practices of] the kings of Israel which they did.”
¹³tn The meaning of the verb WaP=j^y+w~ (vay^ekhapp^e’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root hp^j* (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. ap*j*). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. apj). In this case Israel claims that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.
¹⁴sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.
¹⁵tn Heb “and they did evil things, angering the Lord.”
¹⁶tn Or “served.”
¹⁷sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
¹⁸tn Heb “about which the Lord had said to them, ‘You must not do this thing.’”
¹⁹tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”
²⁰tn Heb and they stiffened their neck like the neck of their fathers.”
²¹tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”
²²tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the Lord was the true God or Baal was. The idiom is often found followed by “to serve and to worship” or “they served and worshiped” such and such a god or entity (Jer 8:2; 11:10; 13:10; 16:11; 25:6; 35:15).
²³tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the Lord” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing”, which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.
²⁴tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them.”
²⁵tn The phrase <y]m^V*h^ ab*x= lk* (khol ts^eva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
²⁶tn Or “served.”
²⁷sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
²⁸tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”
²⁹tn Heb “very angry.”
³⁰tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”
³¹tn Heb “they walked in the practices of Israel which they did.”
³²tn Or “afflicted.”
³³tn Heb “until he had thrown them from his presence.”
³⁴tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”
³⁵tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is ad*n` (nada’), an alternate form of hd*n` (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb jd*n` (nadakh), “drive away.”
³⁶tn Heb “a great sin.”
³⁷tn Heb “turn away from.”
³⁸tn Heb “until.”
³⁹tn Heb “the Lord turned Israel away from his face.”
⁴⁰tn Heb “just as he said.”
⁴¹tn The object is supplied in the translation.
⁴²sn In vv. 24-29 Samaria stands for the entire northern kingdom of Israel.
⁴³tn Heb “in the beginning of their living there.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “fear.”
⁴⁵tn Heb “and they said to the king of Assyria, saying.” The plural subject of the verb is indefinite.
⁴⁶tn Heb “Look they are killing them.”
⁴⁷tc The second plural subject may refer to the leaders of the Assyrian army. However, some prefer to read “whom I deported,” changing the verb to a first person singular form with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix. This reading has some support from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic witnesses.
⁴⁸tc Heb “and let them go and let them live there, and let him teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” The two plural verbs seem inconsistent with the preceding and following contexts, where only one priest is sent back to Samaria. The singular has the support of Greek, Syriac, and Latin witnesses.
⁴⁹map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
⁵⁰tn Heb “fear.”
⁵¹sn The verb “make” refers to the production of idols. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 210-11.
⁵²tn Heb “Samaritans.” This refers to the Israelites who had been deported from the land.
⁵³sn No deity is known by the name Succoth Benoth in extant Mesopotamian literature. For speculation as to the identity of this deity, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211.
⁵⁴sn Nergal was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld.
⁵⁵sn This deity is unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 211-12.
⁵⁶sn Nibhaz and Tartak were two Elamite deities. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.
⁵⁷sn Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim are unknown in extra-biblical literature. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 212.
⁵⁸tn Heb “feared.”
⁵⁹tn Heb “and they appointed for themselves from their whole people priests for the high places and they were serving for them in the house[s] of the high places.”
⁶⁰tn Heb “fearing.”
⁶¹tn Heb “fear.”
⁶²tn Heb “commanded.”
⁶³tn Or “covenant.”
⁶⁴sn That is, the descendants of Jacob/Israel (see v. 35b).
⁶⁵tn Heb “and outstretched arm.”
⁶⁶sn This refers to the foreigners whom the king of Assyria settled in the land (see v. 35a).