Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Kings 17

In the twelfth year - Compare 2 Kings 15:30. The history of the kingdom of Israel is in this chapter brought to a close.

Not as the kings of Israel who were before him—The repentance of a nation, like that of an individual, may be “too late.” God is long-suffering; but after national sins have reached a certain height, after admonitions and warnings have been repeatedly rejected, and after lesser punishments have failed—judgment begins to fall. Forces have been set in motion that nothing but a miracle could stop, and God does not see fit to work a miracle in such a case. (Compare to Butler's Analogy, Part 1, Chapter 2, end).

We know little about Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath-pileser in the Assyrian Canon, from Assyrian sources. This is because his records were mutilated by his successors, the Sargonids, who were from an entirely different family. The archives of Tyre mention him as a contemporary of a Tyrian king named Elulaeus, against whom he waged war.

The expedition mentioned here likely took place in Shalmaneser’s first year (727 B.C.). Its main objective was to subdue Phoenicia, which had reasserted its independence; however, all of Phoenicia, except for Tyre, was once again completely conquered. From there, Shalmaneser probably continued into Galilee, where he attacked and captured Beth-arbel (the Arbela of Josephus, now Irbid), treating it with great severity (Hosea 10:14). This was done to intimidate Hoshea, who immediately submitted and became tributary (see the marginal rendering and the note on 1 Kings 4:21). Shalmaneser then returned to Assyria.

The "So, king of Egypt," mentioned here is generally identified with Shebek (c. 730 B.C.), who is the same figure Herodotus calls Sabaco. King Hoshea’s appeal to him was a return to a policy that had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:20) but had not been used by any other Israelite monarch since.

For many years, Egypt had been weak. Sabaco, however, was a conqueror who, leading Ethiopian armies, had invaded and taken control of the country. In his own inscriptions, Shebek boasts of receiving tribute from “the king of Shara” (Syria), which is likely his way of noting Hoshea’s appeal for an alliance.

References to Israel's leanings toward Egypt are frequent in the prophecies of Hosea (Hosea 7:11; 11:1, 5; Hosea 12:4). At the same time he was accepted as a vassal by Sabaco, King Hoshea stopped paying tribute to Shalmaneser. This act of open rebellion provoked the punishment that followed.

All the land - This refers to Shalmaneser's second invasion (723 B.C., his fifth year), which is contrasted with the first. While the first invasion had afflicted only part of the country, this one extended to the whole land.

Three years - This period was from the fourth to the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign and from the seventh to the ninth of Hoshea’s. This is two years by our reckoning, but three years according to the Hebrew method.

This was a long time for such a small place to resist the Assyrians, but several factors contributed to the delay. Samaria was favorably situated on a steep hill, and it is probable that Sabaco, the Egyptian king, made some attempts to relieve his vassal. The war with Tyre must have also distracted Shalmaneser. Furthermore, there is reason to believe that before the capture was complete, a revolt had broken out in Nineveh. This would have demanded Shalmaneser’s chief attention, though it did not cause him to abandon his enterprise.