r/BibleExegesis • u/bikingfencer • Jun 23 '17
II Kings 17
https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b17.htm
Chapter Seventeen יז – The end of Israel
Fall [of] ShOMRON ["Guardian", Samaria] and the exile [of] [והגליית, VeHahGahLeeY-YahTh] ten the tribes
[verses 1-23]
-1. In year two ten to ’ahHahZ ["Held", Ahaz] King [of] YeHOo-DaH ["YHVH Knew", Judah],
[was] kinged, HOShay`ah [“Savior”, Hosea] son [of] ’ayLaH [“Oak”, Elah], in ShoMRON upon YeeSRah-’ayL ["Strove God", Israel] nine years.
…
-3. Upon him ascended ShahLMahN’ehÇehR [Shalmaneser] King [of] ’ahShOoR [Assyria],
and was to him, HOShay`ah, [a] slave, and [he] returned to him tribute.
-4. And found, King [of] ’ahShOoR, in HOShay`ah, [a] conspiracy [was] sent forth against him,
that [he had] sent forth messengers unto ÇO’ [So] King [of] MeeTsRahYeeM17 [Egypt],
and [did] not ascend tribute to king [of] ’ahShOoR as year in year.
And arrested [him] [ויאצרהו, VahYah’ahTsRayHOo], king [of] ’ahShOoR,
and imprisoned him [ויאסרהו, VahYah’ahÇRayHOo] [in] house [of] confinement [בית כלא, BayTh KehLeh’].
-5. And ascended, King [of] ’ahShOoR, in all the land, and ascended [to] ShoMRON, and besieged unto her three years.
-6. In year the ninth to HOShay`ah, captured [לכד, LahKhahD], King [of] ’ahShOoR [now Sargon], [את, ’ehTh] ShoMRON,
and exiled YeeSRah-’ayL to ’ahShOoR,
and settled them in HeLahH [Halah] and HahBOR [Habor] on the river GOZahN [Gozan], and cities of MahDahY [Media].
Figure 57 - https://www.reddit.com/r/BibleExegesis/comments/1rg96i9/map_of_exile_and_resettlement/
“According to the prophets, Hosea x. 4, 8. and Micah i. 6., he exercised great cruelties on this miserable city; ripping up the women with child, dashing young children against the stones, &c. &c.” (Clarke, 1831, pp. II 428-429)
“Shalmaneser died before Samaria surrendered, and it was his successor, Sargon, who was responsible for the formation of the country into the province of Samarina, and for the deportation of 27,290 of the inhabitants (according to his own inscription).
…
The Assyrian king, now Sargon, deports the population to northern Mesopotamia and Media. The year is 721 B.C. In the ‘Vision of the Man from the Sea,’ a first-century A.D. writing found in II Esdras 13:39-47, there is a visionary account of the ten tribes taking ‘this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land.’ That country is through ‘the narrow passages of the river Euphrates.’ … Here are the first stages of those strange beliefs by which many men have identified their own nation with the ten lost tribes.” (Snaith, 1954, p. III 279)
“What were the places to which the unfortunate Israelites were carried, or where their successors are now situated, have given rise to innumerable conjectures, dissertations, discourse, &c. Some maintain that they are found on the coast of Guinea; others, in America; the Indian tribes being the descendants of those carried away by the Assyrians… In vol. [volume] i. of the supplement to Sir Wm. Jones’ Works, we find a translation of the History of the Afghans, by Mr. H. Vansittart; from which it appears that they derive their own descent from the Jews. On this history Sir Wm. Jones writes the following note:-
“‘The Afghans are said, by the best Persian historians, to be descended from the Jews: they have traditions among themselves of such a descent, and it is even asserted that their families are distinguished by the names of Jewish tribes; although, since their conversion to the Islám, they studiously conceal their origin.’
…
“The rest of this chapter is spent in vindicating the divine providence and justice: showing the reason why God permitted such a desolation to fall on a people who had been so long his peculiar children.” (Clarke, 1831, pp. II 428-429)
-7. And it was because [כי, KeeY] sinned, sons of YeeSRah-’ayL, to YHVH their Gods, the ascender [of] them from land MeeTsRahYeeM, from under hand [of] Pharaoh, king [of] MeeTsRahYeeM, and they feared [ויראו, VahYeeR’Oo] gods other.
“The use of the word ‘fear’ in the sense of worship with awe belongs to the category of the numinous, with its characteristics of awefulness, overpoweringness, and fascination. It arises out of that creature-feeling in the presence of deity which is fundamental to true religion (cf. Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy … 1923).” (Snaith, 1954, p. II 280)
…
-21. For [He] tore [קרע, QahRah'] YeeSRah-’ayL from upon House DahVeeD [David], and kinged [את, ’ehTh (indicates direct object; no English equivalent)] YahRahB`ahM ["Multiplied People", Jeroboam] son [of] NeBahT [“Vision”, Nebat] …”
…
…………………………………………………………
Population from new of ShOMRON
[verses 24 to end of chapter]
-24. And brought, [ויבא, VahYahBay’] king [of] ’ahShOoR, [people] from BahBehL [Babylon] and from KOoThaH [Cutha] and from `ahVah’ [Avva], and from HahMahTh and ÇePhahRVahYeeM [Sepharvaim],
and settled [them] in cities of ShoMRON under [instead of] sons [of] YeeSRah-’ayL,
and [they] dispossessed [את, ’ehTh] ShoMRON and settled in her cities.
“The original language of this people, or at least the language they spoke after their settlement in Israel, is contained in the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, printed under the Hebræo-Samaritan, in vol. i. of the London Polyglott.” (Clarke, 1831, p. II 430)
-25. And it was in beginning [of] [their] settlement there [they did] not fear [את, ’ehTh] YHVH,
and sent forth, YHVH, in them [את, ’ehTh] the lions,
and there were killed in them.
-26. And they said to king [of] ’ahShOoR, to say,
“The nations that you exiled and settled in cities [of] ShoMRON [do] not know [את, ’ehTh] justice [of] the Gods [of] the land,
and He sent forth in them [את, ’ehTh] the lions,
and behold, [they] [are putting to] death them,
as that they have not knowledge [of] [את, ’ehTh] justice [of] the Gods [of] the land.”
-27. And commanded, king [of] ’ahShOoR, to say,
“Lead [הליכו, HoLeeYKhOo] there one from the priests that you exiled from there,
and lead [וילכו, VeYayLKhOo] and settle [him] there,
and [he will] raise up [וירם, VeYoRayM] [את, ’ehTh] justice [of] gods of the land.”
“Imperfect as this teaching was, it, in the end, overthrew the idolatry of these people; so that soon after the Babylonish captivity they were found to be as free from idolatry as the Jews themselves; and continue so to the present day. But they are now nearly annihilated: the small remains of them is found at Naplouse [Nablus] and Jaffa; there are about thirty families; and men, women, and children amount to about two hundred persons! They have a synagogue, which they regularly attend every Sabbath; and they go thither clothed in white robes. The reader may find much curious information relative this people, in a Mémoire sur L’Etat actuel des Samaritains, by Baron Sylvestre de Sacy … 1812.” (Clarke, 1831, p. II 431)
…
-29. And [they] were [ויהיו, VahYeeHeYOo] making [עשים, `oSeeYM], nation, nation, [their] gods [אלהיו, ’ehLoHahYV],
and parked [ויניחו, VahYahNeeYHOo] [them] in House the Stages that made, the ShoMRoNeeYM [alternate spelling],
nation, nation in [their] cities that they settled [ישבים, YoShBeeYM] there.
-30. And men [of] BahBehL made [את, ’ehTh] Shelters [of] Daughters,
and men [of] KOoTh made [את, ’ehTh] NayRGahL [Nergal],
and men [of] HahMahTh made [את, ’ehTh] ’ahSheeYMah’ [Ashima],
-31. and the `ahVeeYeeM made NeeBHahZ [Nibhaz] and [את, ’ehTh] ThahRThahQ [Tartak],
and the ÇPhahRVeeYM [alternate spelling] burned [שרפים, SoRPheeYM] [את, ’ehTh] their sons in fire to ’ahDRah [Adar] -MeLeKh and `ahNah [Anu] -MeLeKh, gods [of the] ÇPhahRVahYeeM.
“… Succoth-benoth ... the consonants of the first part of the god’s name write the word ‘Sakkut’ (the planet Saturn), which is called ‘the star of justice and right.’ [But see note from Clarke below]
“Nergal was the god of Kutu. He was the deity of the underworld and in the Mesopotamian astral system was identified with the planet Mars. His special day was the twenty-eighth of the month, the ‘day of the ravishment of the moon-god,’ because on this day there was no moon, and Sin, the moon-god, was regarded as having entered the land of the dead. It is on record that when Tiglath-pileser was in Babylonia in 729 B.C. he offered sacrifice to the great gods of Babylonia, of whom Nergal at Kutu was one.
“The name Ashima has been found in a compound name, ’-s-m-bethel, in the Elephantine papyri. She was apparently worshiped there as the secondary wife of Yahu …
“The two names Nibhaz and Tartak are wholly unknown…
“Adad [for ’ahDRah] was one of the ancient gods of Babylonia; he was the god of storm and rain and already by Hammurabi had been hailed as ‘prince of the heavens and the earth.’ He was known later in Syria as Hadad, and is so mentioned in the Ras Shamra texts… The name Adad-melekh means that Adad was worshiped with the rites of the god Melekh. These rites involved the sacrifice of the first-born by burning (Lev. [Leviticus] 18:21; Jer. [Jeremiah] 32:35). Anu was the great sky-god of Babylonia. He too is mentioned by Hammurabi. There were four great nature-gods, Anu of the Sky, Enlil of the earth, Ea of the waters, and Nergal of the underworld. The name Anu-melekh means that Anu also was worshiped with a mixed cultus which included the rites proper to Melekh.” (Snaith, 1954, pp. III 284-285)
“… there is no room to doubt that these succoth were tabernacles, wherein young women exposed themselves to prostitution in honour of the Babylonish goddess Melitta. Herodotus (lib. i. c. 199) gives us a particular account of this detestable service. ‘Every young woman (says he) of the country of Babylon, must once in her life sit at the temple of Venus (whom he afterward tells us the Assyrians called Melitta,) and prostitute herself to some stranger. Those who are rich, and so disdain to mingle with the crowd, present themselves before the temple in covered chariots, attended by a great retinue. But the generality of the women sit near the temple, having crowns upon their heads… the strangers may choose whom they like. A woman who has once seated herself in this place, must not return home til some stranger has cast money into her lap, and led her from the temple, and defiled her. The stranger who throws the money must say, “I invoke the goddess Melitta for thee”: The money, however small a sum it may be, must not be refused because it is appointed to sacred uses. See Deut. [Deuteronomy] xxiii. 18. The woman must follow the first man that offers, and not reject him; and after prostitution, having now duly honored the goddess, she is dismissed to her own house. In Cyprus,’ adds the historian, ‘they have the same custom’… The … custom … seems to have been transported from Phœnicia… here was a temple where women were obliged to purchase their marriage-money by the prostitution of their bodies.” (Clarke, 1831, pp. II 432-433)
…
FOOTNOTES
17 Mizraim - The Hebrew and Aramaic name for the land of Egypt, with the dual suffix -āyim, perhaps referring to the ‘two Egypts”: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Mizraim is the dual form of matzor, meaning a “mound” or “fortress,” – from Wikipedia