Second Kings 17 summarizes the history of the kings of Israel, showing that none of them were godly. Jeroboam set the tone for the rest of the kings, introducing idolatry and leading the nation astray from the one true God. When the last king, Hoshea, reigned, the nation of Assyria was a world power, and the kings of Israel attempted to resist them. Hoshea, the King of Israel, refused to pay tribute to the King of Assyria, leading to a siege of Samaria. The King of Egypt could not help, and the Assyrians exiled many Israelites and transplanted people from other parts of the empire into Samaria. The writer of Kings then gives a post-mortem of the kingdom of Israel.
