Page 69 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

Layard began uncovering it in the nineteenth century. Thus, as the Babylonian Empire ascended, Assyria
dropped off the pages of history.

Fall of Samaria

Israel had broken the statutes and commandments of the Lord (2 Kings 17:15, 16). Ultimately it was
Israel’s rejection of God that brought about her all (17:18.20,23).

The identity of the Assyrian king who captured Samaria in 722 B.C. is not clear. Shalmaneser V died
sometime during or after the 3-year siege. His brother and successor, Sargon II (721-705 B.C.) was
probably the king who actually entered the city and led the conquered Israelites into exile.

In an inscription, Sargon claims credit for the deporting of 27,290 captives. 102 The custom of many
Assyrian kings was to replace the deported captives with inhabitants from other conquered areas. The
mixture of faces broke rebellious tendencies and blended religious practices. The ethnic and religious
blending in Samaria is the reason for the Jewish prejudice against the Samaritans that is so evident in
the New Testament. The Samaritans established a temple on top of Mt. Gerizim, located south of
Nablus, near the site of biblical Shechem, about 30 miles north of Jerusalem.

Assyria, a Tool in God’s Hand

The prophet Isaiah had declared that Assyria was unknowingly serving God’s purposes in punishing
Israel. When that punishment was complete, however, Isaiah had a new message: a message of
judgment for Assyria and of possible hope for the remnant of Israel and Judah.

The Assyrians had made people submit to their yoke (Is. 10:27) and boasted of their own strength
(10:13, 14). God would now punish His arrogant tool, Assyria. He would reveal a ruler, “from the stem
of Jesse,” that is, from the line of David, to rule in peace (11:1-9), and would gather His people from
every place to which they may have been scattered by His judgment (11:10-16). Such deliverance
prompts a hymn of praise to God (12:1-6). 103

The Assyrian Empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT57dnlo-Tw

Let’s Practice…

1. What was the capital of the Assyrian empire?

102 So That’s Why Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, p. 740.
103 Ibid, p. 743-744.

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