Lux Domini
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

What does 2 Kings 17:1 mean?

When the measure of sin is filled up, the Lord will forbear no longer. The inhabitants of Samaria must have endured great affliction.

Key themes

HopeSuffering and trialsJustice and mercyTruthProphetic witness

Read with

Keep this verse inside 2 Kings 17:1-2 and alongside a few nearby related passages.

Commentary on 2 Kings 17:1

In the twelfth year - Compare 2 Kings 15:30 note. The history of the kingdom of Israel is in this chapter brought to a close.

Key words

twelfth

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

Judah

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

began

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

Context in 2 Kings 17

Show chapter context

2 Kings 17 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as decline of Judah. Second Kings follows the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, recounts the decline of both kingdoms, and ends with Jerusalem’s fall and a faint glimmer of Davidic continuity. Read this chapter with the wider themes of prophetic witness, judgment, and exile in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

prophetic witnessjudgmentexileidolatry

Explore by topic

Bible verses about hope

A collection of passages on hope under pressure, future inheritance, resurrection expectation, and confidence in God’s final faithfulness.

Bible verses about suffering and trials

Key passages on grief, endurance, lament, divine mystery, and the Christian claim that suffering is neither final nor meaningless.

Bible verses about justice and mercy

Key texts on public righteousness, neighbor-love, social ethics, compassion, and the prophetic refusal to separate worship from justice.

Bible verses about truth

Passages on the nature of truth, honesty, deception, the word of God as truth, and Jesus' claim to be the truth.

Glossary

Samaria Place

Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Samaria.