In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, and reigned nine years as the last king of the ten-tribed kingdom before its captivity. God removed Israel out of His sight because the sin that began when the ten tribes revolted from the house of David was never repented of, when Jeroboam feared the people would return to Rehoboam if they went up to sacrifice at Jerusalem and made two calves of gold at Bethel and Dan, made a house of high places, and made priests who were not of Levi. In Hoshea's time Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Ephraim, overran and captured Samaria, and in 721-722 B.C. carried the larger part of the ten northern tribes into captivity and scattered them among its provinces, so that the ten-tribe kingdom ceased to exist. The casting off was of the ten tribes as a nation and not of every individual Israelite, for those who turned from idolatry to seek the Lord had joined Judah and the true Israel then consisted of Judah and those joined to it, and the Israel to be finally gathered and saved is the Israel of God by faith with Christ the Son of David as King. The Assyrian king settled people from other nations in their former territory, and their descendants became the Samaritans, whose religion combined worship of the true God with idolatry upon accepting the five books of Moses, and who were treated as heathen with no part in Israel, producing centuries of religious enmity.
Hoshea's Reign and Setting
The verse fixes the start of Hoshea son of Elah's rule over Israel in Samaria to the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah and gives its length as nine years. It belongs to the period when the northern ten tribes were carried away captive, a captivity that came after repeated rejection of prophetic appeals to return to God, when God ruled by permitting the captivity rather than by compelling service.
His accession is dated to 730 B.C., when Tiglath-pileser of Assyria set him as a vassal ruler in place of Pekah. Hoshea was Israel's last king, and his nine years were the final reign over the ten-tribed kingdom in Samaria before the tribes were carried away captive. That reign ended with the fall of the kingdom of Israel to Assyria and the captivity and scattering of its tribes, after the ten tribes very quickly went into the deepest idolatry following the division and continued in it until captivity came, even though God sent fire from heaven on Mount Carmel over the second commandment to show He was the true God and that images, teraphim, and ashera were nothing.
The Israel here is Ephraim, the ten tribes that separated from Judah and Benjamin and ruled from Samaria. They carried copies of the books of Moses with them when they separated. Their breaking as a people meant their government was uprooted, Israel was delivered to its enemies and removed from the land with Judah alone remaining, marking the beginning of the period of indignation and scattering described in Leviticus 26 and Daniel 12 and fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy that Ephraim would cease to be a people within sixty-five years.
The reign falls in the time of the prophets Hosea, Jonah, and Amos, and it ended with the complete overthrow of the ten-tribe kingdom by Assyria in 721-722 B.C., when many Israelites were taken captive while a remnant remained in the land. Amos prophesied about B.C. 787 just after the wicked reign of Jeroboam II, and Israel was carried captive a little while afterward. It was a time of great apostasy, oppression, and corruption in both Israel and Judah, when religion was only a form and the grinding of the poor was general, upon which the judgments pronounced in Amos were visited. The account of Hoshea's reign and Samaria's capture is a historical record confirmed by archaeological evidence.
Sin and Assyrian Captivity
God removed Israel out of His sight in Hoshea's time because Israel never repented of its sins. The sin began after the ten tribes revolted from the house of David, when Jeroboam feared the kingdom would return to the house of David and the people would turn again to Rehoboam king of Judah and kill him if they went up to sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem. To prevent this he made two calves of gold and set one in Bethel and the other in Dan, declaring them the gods that brought Israel up out of Egypt. He made a house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people who were not of the house of Levi, and this became a sin as the people went to worship before the calf even unto Dan.
After the division the ten tribes in a very short time went into the deepest idolatry and continued in it until captivity came. Though God sent fire down from heaven on Mount Carmel over the second commandment to show that He was the true God and that images and teraphim and ashera were nothing, they persisted in idolatry. They mocked God's messengers and persisted in sin until punishment came, repeatedly rejecting prophetic appeals and warnings to return to God. God ruled by allowing the captivity rather than by compelling them to serve Him.
The reign stands in the setting of Assyria's attack on the northern kingdom, when Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Ephraim, overran it, and captured Samaria. His reign ended with the complete overthrow of the ten-tribe kingdom by Assyria in 721-722 B.C., when the northern ten tribes were carried away captive. Assyria took the leaders and principal people and scattered them among its provinces. The larger part of the ten northern tribes was carried into captivity, with many Israelites taken captive while a remnant remained in the land. People from other lands were settled in their former territory, and the ten-tribe kingdom ceased to exist as the northern kingdom of Samaria was utterly broken up.
After continued rebellion the ten tribes ceased to be the subjects of God's special care as His covenant people. Their failure to learn the lessons of Sinai brought exile, captivity, and bondage as punishment.
Prophecy, Remnant, and Samaritans
The chapter records Ephraim being broken as a people and as a nation. Its government was uprooted, Israel was delivered to its enemies and removed from the land, with Judah alone remaining. This breaking marks the starting point for the 2,520 years of captivity.
This breaking marks the beginning of the appointed period of treading down, indignation, and scattering described in Leviticus 26 and Daniel 12. That period is reckoned as 2,520 years from Ephraim's loss of national standing. It fulfills Isaiah's prediction that Assyria would tread down Israel and that Ephraim would cease to be a people within sixty-five years.
The casting off was of the ten tribes as a nation, not of every individual Israelite. Those from the tribes who turned from idolatry to seek the Lord had joined Judah, and some from the tribes later returned to Judah, so the remnant there represents God's people. The true Israel then consisted of Judah and those who joined themselves to Judah. The Israel that will ultimately be gathered and saved is the Israel of God by faith, not a nation defined by descent, with Christ the Son of David as King, including others who accepted the Lord through the apostles' preaching.
The Assyrian king brought people from other nations into Palestine, and the descendants of those peoples became the Samaritans. Their religion combined worship of the true God with idolatry. They were of heathen origin, with an adulterated Judaism grafted on their native religion. They accepted the five books of Moses and looked for a Messiah. They were treated as heathen who had no part in the religion of Israel, and this produced centuries of implacable religious enmity that showed itself in petty annoyances and, when occasion offered, more serious injuries.
Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, and reigned nine years as the last king of the ten-tribed kingdom before its captivity.
God removed Israel out of His sight because the sin that began when the ten tribes revolted from the house of David was never repented of, when Jeroboam feared the people would return to Rehoboam if they went up to sacrifice at Jerusalem and made two calves of gold at Bethel and Dan, made a house of high places, and made priests who were not of Levi.
In Hoshea's time Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Ephraim, overran and captured Samaria, and in 721-722 B.C. carried the larger part of the ten northern tribes into captivity and scattered them among its provinces, so that the ten-tribe kingdom ceased to exist.
The casting off was of the ten tribes as a nation and not of every individual Israelite, for those who turned from idolatry to seek the Lord had joined Judah and the true Israel then consisted of Judah and those joined to it, and the Israel to be finally gathered and saved is the Israel of God by faith with Christ the Son of David as King.
The Assyrian king settled people from other nations in their former territory, and their descendants became the Samaritans, whose religion combined worship of the true God with idolatry upon accepting the five books of Moses, and who were treated as heathen with no part in Israel, producing centuries of religious enmity.
Hoshea's Reign and Setting
The verse fixes the start of Hoshea son of Elah's rule over Israel in Samaria to the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah and gives its length as nine years. It belongs to the period when the northern ten tribes were carried away captive, a captivity that came after repeated rejection of prophetic appeals to return to God, when God ruled by permitting the captivity rather than by compelling service.
His accession is dated to 730 B.C., when Tiglath-pileser of Assyria set him as a vassal ruler in place of Pekah. Hoshea was Israel's last king, and his nine years were the final reign over the ten-tribed kingdom in Samaria before the tribes were carried away captive. That reign ended with the fall of the kingdom of Israel to Assyria and the captivity and scattering of its tribes, after the ten tribes very quickly went into the deepest idolatry following the division and continued in it until captivity came, even though God sent fire from heaven on Mount Carmel over the second commandment to show He was the true God and that images, teraphim, and ashera were nothing.
The Israel here is Ephraim, the ten tribes that separated from Judah and Benjamin and ruled from Samaria. They carried copies of the books of Moses with them when they separated. Their breaking as a people meant their government was uprooted, Israel was delivered to its enemies and removed from the land with Judah alone remaining, marking the beginning of the period of indignation and scattering described in Leviticus 26 and Daniel 12 and fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy that Ephraim would cease to be a people within sixty-five years.
The reign falls in the time of the prophets Hosea, Jonah, and Amos, and it ended with the complete overthrow of the ten-tribe kingdom by Assyria in 721-722 B.C., when many Israelites were taken captive while a remnant remained in the land. Amos prophesied about B.C. 787 just after the wicked reign of Jeroboam II, and Israel was carried captive a little while afterward. It was a time of great apostasy, oppression, and corruption in both Israel and Judah, when religion was only a form and the grinding of the poor was general, upon which the judgments pronounced in Amos were visited. The account of Hoshea's reign and Samaria's capture is a historical record confirmed by archaeological evidence.
Sin and Assyrian Captivity
God removed Israel out of His sight in Hoshea's time because Israel never repented of its sins. The sin began after the ten tribes revolted from the house of David, when Jeroboam feared the kingdom would return to the house of David and the people would turn again to Rehoboam king of Judah and kill him if they went up to sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem. To prevent this he made two calves of gold and set one in Bethel and the other in Dan, declaring them the gods that brought Israel up out of Egypt. He made a house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people who were not of the house of Levi, and this became a sin as the people went to worship before the calf even unto Dan.
After the division the ten tribes in a very short time went into the deepest idolatry and continued in it until captivity came. Though God sent fire down from heaven on Mount Carmel over the second commandment to show that He was the true God and that images and teraphim and ashera were nothing, they persisted in idolatry. They mocked God's messengers and persisted in sin until punishment came, repeatedly rejecting prophetic appeals and warnings to return to God. God ruled by allowing the captivity rather than by compelling them to serve Him.
The reign stands in the setting of Assyria's attack on the northern kingdom, when Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Ephraim, overran it, and captured Samaria. His reign ended with the complete overthrow of the ten-tribe kingdom by Assyria in 721-722 B.C., when the northern ten tribes were carried away captive. Assyria took the leaders and principal people and scattered them among its provinces. The larger part of the ten northern tribes was carried into captivity, with many Israelites taken captive while a remnant remained in the land. People from other lands were settled in their former territory, and the ten-tribe kingdom ceased to exist as the northern kingdom of Samaria was utterly broken up.
After continued rebellion the ten tribes ceased to be the subjects of God's special care as His covenant people. Their failure to learn the lessons of Sinai brought exile, captivity, and bondage as punishment.
Prophecy, Remnant, and Samaritans
The chapter records Ephraim being broken as a people and as a nation. Its government was uprooted, Israel was delivered to its enemies and removed from the land, with Judah alone remaining. This breaking marks the starting point for the 2,520 years of captivity.
This breaking marks the beginning of the appointed period of treading down, indignation, and scattering described in Leviticus 26 and Daniel 12. That period is reckoned as 2,520 years from Ephraim's loss of national standing. It fulfills Isaiah's prediction that Assyria would tread down Israel and that Ephraim would cease to be a people within sixty-five years.
The casting off was of the ten tribes as a nation, not of every individual Israelite. Those from the tribes who turned from idolatry to seek the Lord had joined Judah, and some from the tribes later returned to Judah, so the remnant there represents God's people. The true Israel then consisted of Judah and those who joined themselves to Judah. The Israel that will ultimately be gathered and saved is the Israel of God by faith, not a nation defined by descent, with Christ the Son of David as King, including others who accepted the Lord through the apostles' preaching.
The Assyrian king brought people from other nations into Palestine, and the descendants of those peoples became the Samaritans. Their religion combined worship of the true God with idolatry. They were of heathen origin, with an adulterated Judaism grafted on their native religion. They accepted the five books of Moses and looked for a Messiah. They were treated as heathen who had no part in the religion of Israel, and this produced centuries of implacable religious enmity that showed itself in petty annoyances and, when occasion offered, more serious injuries.