2 Kings — Chapter 17

The king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Hala and Habor by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. Lapide: This was the final and complete captivity of the ten tribes, from which they never returned. Lapide notes with Cajetanus: henceforth the only hope for the dispersed tribes is the spiritual kingdom brought by Christ, not any restoration of a temporal kingdom. Their dispersion among the nations was providentially ordered to spread the knowledge of the true God.

The Lord had testified to Israel and to Juda by the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: Turn ye from your wicked ways, and keep my commandments. Lapide: Before every chastisement God warns and offers pardon through His prophets. The captivity of Israel was not arbitrary but the culmination of centuries of warning. This is the justice of God, who punishes only after long mercy. Lapide applies this to heretics of his own day — warned by the Church before they are cast off.

The Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from his sight; and there remained only the tribe of Juda. Lapide: The captivity of Israel is explained theologically: idolatry, which is the fundamental rejection of God, brings temporal and spiritual ruin. They followed the nations whom God had destroyed before them. Lapide warns his readers against the contagion of heresy spread by commerce and mixed marriages with heretics, just as Israel's idolatry was spread by contact with the surrounding nations.