Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 17:1-6
We have here the reign and ruin of Hoshea, the last of the kings of Israel, concerning whom observe,
I. That, though he forced his way to the crown by treason and murder (as we read Kg2 15:30), yet he gained not the possession of it till seven or eight years after; for it was in the fourth year of Ahaz that he slew Pekah, but did not himself begin to reign till the twelfth year of Ahaz, Kg2 17:1. Whether by the king of Assyria, or by the king of Judah, or by some of his own people, does not appear, but it seems so long he was kept out of the throne he aimed at. Justly were his bad practices thus chastised, and the word of the prophet was thus fulfilled (Hos 10:3), Now they shall say We have…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on 2 Kings 17:1
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. In this account there is some difficulty, since it was in the twentieth of Jotham, that is, the fourth of Ahaz, that Hosea conspired against Pekah king of Israel, and slew him, when it might be reasonably thought he began his reign: now either there was an interregnum until the twelfth of Ahaz, or Hoshea however was not generally received and acknowledged as king till then, as others think; he being a tributary to the king of Assyria, and a kind of viceroy, is not said to reign until he rebelled against him; after which he reigned nine years, four in the times of Ahaz, and five…
Read the whole note in the consoleTyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Kings 17:1-23
The report of the northern kingdom’s fall proceeds in two major sections: (1) events in the reign of Israel’s final king, Hoshea, and the circumstances that brought about the capture of Samaria and the deportation of Israel’s citizens (17:1-6); (2) the reasons for Israel’s collapse and conquest by Assyria—Israel’s many sins (17:7-17) that merited God’s judgment (17:18-20) and the great sin of Jeroboam I, who laid the foundation for Israel’s rampant apostasy (17:21-23).
17:1 Hoshea . . . began to rule over Israel in 732 BC. • Hoshea’s reign is listed as beginning in “the twentieth year of Jotham” (15:30) and in the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign in Judah. Ahaz apparently co-reigned with J…
