Bible Strands
2 Kings 17:26
So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The relocated nations of Samaria address the Assyrian king to report that their ignorance of the local deity has provoked lion attacks.
The words — הִגְלִ֙יתָ֙ (hig.Li.ta) translates literally as "you took into exile," and וַ/תּ֙וֹשֶׁב֙ (va./To.o.shev) means "you caused to dwell," naming the administrative actions that produced the crisis.
The thread — This report directly prompts the king’s order in 2 Kings 17:27 to return a captured priest to teach the people, echoing the pattern of formally explaining royal or divine mandates found in 1 Samuel 8:9 and 1 Samuel 10:25.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that forced demographic changes create a structural need for religious instruction, which the text treats as a practical necessity rather than a spiritual choice.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 8:9 Now listen to their voice; but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.”
- 1 Samuel 10:25 Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.
- 2 Kings 17:27 Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”
- Amos 8:14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”