! Either Shalmanezer, or rather his Son and Succeſſor, Eſarkaddon, Ezra 4+ 2. becauſe this was a work of ſome time ; and as his Father had projeCted, & poſſibly began this; ſo he execured or finiſhed it: whence it is aſcribed to him rather than to his Farther. 2 Which then was ſubje& to the 4ſjrian Monarch ; but a few years after revolred from him, & ſct up another King; as appears both from Sa- cred & Prophane Hiſtories. n Several places then in his Dominion. 25 And ſo it was at the beginning of their dwelling chere,zhat they feared not the LORD ||; therefore o the LORD ſent lions among them, which ſlew /ome of them. || They did nor acknowledge,nor worſhip God in any ſort. «For this groſs Negle&,& contempt of God, which was contrary to the Principles & Prattices of theHearhens, who uſed to worſhip theGods , of the Nations where they lived, and gave that honour to their falſe gods, which here they denied ro the true. Hereby alſo G04 aflerted his own Right and Soveraignty over thatLand, and made them to underſrand,that neither the [raelites were caſt out,nor they brought into thar Land by their Valour,or Strength, but by God's | Providence,who as he had caſt rhe[/-aelives out for their negle& of Gods ſervice ; ſo both could,and would in his due time,turn them out alſo,if they were guilty of the ſame 1ins. |
26 Wherefore they ſpake p to the king of Aſlyria, ſaying, The nations which thou haſt removed, and pla- ced in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of. the God of the land 9 : therefore he hath fent lions a- 'mong them, and behold, they ſlay them, becauſe they know not the manner of the God of the land.
p /.e. They wrote, or ſent Moſſengers to him ſor relief. q They ſuppolcd the true God to be like one of their Topical Deities, who had their particular Countries and Provinces allotted to them.
27 Then the king of Affyria commanded, ſaying, Carry thicher one of the prieſts r, whom ye brought from thence, and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
7 7. e. One of the chief of the Prieſts,with others,to be under his Inſpection and Direction, as may be gathered from the following words 3 where it is ſaid of the ſame Perſon,or Perſons,le: them go, &c. and then, let him teach, &c. Nor is it probable, that one Prieſc
could ſuffice for the inſtruction of the Inhabitants of ſo many and diſtant parts.
| 28 Chen one of the Prieſts whom they had carried away from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and
and gracious Prelcnce ; or, out of his Church. c And the greatclt|
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caught them how they ſhould fear the LORD /.,
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ſ i, e- The manner of Gods Worſhip, as it was praCtiſed in Iſrael; as may be garhered both from the Quality of this Perſon, who was an [ſraclitih Prieſt;and from the place of his Refidence,Bethel,a place infamons for the Worſhip of the Calves, and from the manner of their mukiag Prictts by tits man's DireQion, ver: 32:
29 Howbeir,cvery nation made gods of their own t, and put them in the houſes of the high places, which the Samaritans « had made, every nation in their <iti2s wherein they dwelt.
: Or, worſ>iped ( as that Y-rb 1s ſometimes uſed ; of which, ſee Exod: 32:35.) i.e. thoſe whom they worſhipped in the places from whence they came, whoſe names here follow, « 7. e. The forrnyer People, or Inhabitants, nor of the City, but of the Kingdom of Samarigas
20 And the men of Babylon made Succosh-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Aſhima.
31 And the Avites ma@ Nibhaz,and Tartak,and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire toAdrammelech, and Anammelech, che gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So they feared the LORD,and made unto them- ſzlves of the loweſt of them prielts of the high places x, which ſacrificed for them y in the houſes of the high places. |
x Se the Notes on 1 Kings 12:31. 3 To wit,unto the true God: For as to thz Worſhip of their ownGods, they needed no Inſtruti- on, and would not permit a Perſon of another Religion to mint- ſer therein,
ln 33 * They feared che LORD =, and {ſerved their .; own gods,after the manner of the nations|| whom they: I; carried away from thence s.
" z Thcy worſhipped God externally in that way whick the 1rac- a#* lites uſed. a Theſe words belong, either, 1. To both the foregoing
$”/” granches, and to the 1ſraelites ; and then the ſenſe is, They trode in
bs,
the ſteps of their Predeceſſors,the Iſraelites ( whoyin regard of their ſeveral Tribes,are both here,and elſewhere,called Nattons) who did, many of them, worſhip both God in their Calves, and Baal too. Or, 2. To the laſt Branch only ; but then the Words muſt be otherwiſe rendred ; they ſerved their own Gods, after the manner of the Nations from which thiy brought,or carried them,or from whence they ( theſe new Inhabirants ) were brought ; z#. e. each of them ſerved the god of the Country or Place whence he was brought, as is related above, v2r:30,31. But theſe Nations could not ſo properly be ſaid to be carricd away,or to be carried away captive (as this Hebrew word ſigni- fies) as the [/razlites ;and therefore the former Interpretation ſeems more proper.
34 Unto this day they b do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD c, neither do they after their ſtatutes d,or after their ordinances,or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the chil-
32. dren of Jacob e, * whom he named Iſrael f.