18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight ; none was left except e the tribe of Judah . 19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God , but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced . 20 The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers , until e He had cast them out of His sight . 21 When He had torn Israel from the house of David , they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king . Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin . 22 The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did ; they did not depart from them 23 until e the Lord removed Israel from His sight , as He spoke through all His servants the prophets . So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 17:18-23
Commentary on 2 Kings 17:7-23
(Read 2 Kings 17:7-23)
Though the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes was but briefly related, it is in these verses largely commented upon, and the reasons of it given. It was destruction from the Almighty: the Assyrian was but the rod of his anger, Isaiah 10:5. Those that bring sin into a country or family, bring a plague into it, and will have to answer for all the mischief that follows. And vast as the outward wickedness of the world is, the secret sins, evil thoughts, desires, and purposes of mankind are much greater. There are outward sins which are marked by infamy; but ingratitude, neglect, and enmity to God, and the idolatry and impiety which proceed therefrom, are far more malignant. Without turning from every evil way, and keeping God's statutes, there can be no true godliness; but this must spring from belief of his testimony, as to wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, and his mercy in Christ Jesus.