Bible Timeline · 722 BC

Assyria Conquers Israel and the Northern Kingdom Falls

In 722 BC Assyria captured Samaria after a three year siege and carried the people of the northern kingdom away. Foreigners were moved in, and their mixed worship gave rise to the Samaritans of Jesus' day.

Read it in the Bible: 2 Kings 17 Hosea 13:16 2 Kings 15:29 2 Chronicles 30:11 John 4:9 Luke 2:36

In 722 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel came to an end. The Assyrian army captured its capital, Samaria, after a siege of about three years. Thousands of Israelites were marched off to faraway parts of the Assyrian empire, and people from other lands were moved in to take their place. The Bible says it happened because Israel ignored God's prophets for two hundred years. This is the beginning of the story of the so called lost tribes, and of the Samaritans.

What Happened When Samaria Fell?

After the kingdom split around 930 BC, the ten northern tribes formed the kingdom of Israel. Nineteen kings ruled it, and the Bible says none of them truly followed God. They worshiped golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and many served Baal.

Meanwhile Assyria grew into a monster of an empire. Tiglath Pileser III took parts of Galilee and carried people away about 732 BC, which you can read in 2 Kings 15:29. Then Israel's last king, Hoshea, stopped paying tribute and made a deal with Egypt. That was a bad idea. Shalmaneser V marched in and surrounded Samaria.

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. 2 Kings 17:6

Assyrian records add details. King Sargon II, who came to the throne during the siege, bragged in his inscriptions that he carried off 27,290 people from Samaria. That is a large number, but it was not every single person. The poorest farmers were often left behind to work the land.

Why Did God Let Israel Fall?

The writer of 2 Kings stops the story and preaches a short sermon in chapter 17. It is not because Assyria was strong. It is because Israel had turned away from the God who rescued them from Egypt.

Yet through all His prophets and seers, Yahweh warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.” But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe Yahweh their God. 2 Kings 17:13 to 14

Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea and others had all warned them. Hosea even described the horror of the coming invasion in Hosea 13:16. It is a hard verse to read. The prophets were not making threats for fun. They were begging people to turn back before it was too late.

Who Are the Lost Tribes of Israel?

The phrase lost tribes means the ten northern tribes who were carried into Assyria and seem to vanish from history. Over the centuries, people have claimed to find them almost everywhere, from Africa to Asia to the Americas. Some groups, like the Beta Israel of Ethiopia, have real Jewish traditions. Many other claims are just guesses, and historians treat them with caution.

The Bible gives a more hopeful picture. The tribes were not completely lost. Many northerners fled south to Judah before and after the fall. Some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun came to Hezekiah's Passover in 2 Chronicles 30:11. Josiah collected offerings from the remnant of Manasseh and Ephraim in 2 Chronicles 34:9. Some exiles in Assyria likely blended with the later Jewish exiles in Babylon.

By the New Testament, the old prophetess Anna is from the tribe of Asher in Luke 2:36. Paul speaks of our twelve tribes in Acts 26:7, and James writes to the twelve tribes in James 1:1. So in the Bible's view, all twelve were still part of God's people.

Where Did the Samaritans Come From?

After the Israelites were taken away, Assyria brought in new people from Babylon and other cities and settled them in the land.

Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns. 2 Kings 17:24

These newcomers mixed with the Israelites who stayed behind. The Bible says they worshiped Yahweh but also kept their old gods in 2 Kings 17:41. Over time this group became the Samaritans.

The Samaritans tell their own story differently. They say they are the true descendants of the northern tribes, especially Ephraim and Manasseh, who kept the Law of Moses faithfully. They built their own temple on Mount Gerizim and accept only the first five books of the Bible. A small Samaritan community, fewer than a thousand people, still lives today near Mount Gerizim and in Holon, Israel.

By Jesus' day, Jews and Samaritans did not get along at all.

“You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” John 4:9

That is why it shocked people when Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman, told the parable of the Good Samaritan, and praised the one healed leper who came back to thank Him, a Samaritan in Luke 17:16. After Pentecost, Philip preached in Samaria and many believed in Acts 8:5.

Is There Archaeological Evidence for the Fall of Samaria?

Yes. Assyrian inscriptions of Sargon II describe the capture of Samaria. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, now in the British Museum, shows Jehu, an earlier king of Israel, bowing down to Assyria. Ivory carvings found in the ruins of Samaria fit Amos's complaint about the rich on their beds of ivory in Amos 6:4. The Archaeology page on this site covers more of these finds.

What Does the Fall of Israel Mean for You Today?

The fall of Samaria is a warning that God's patience is long, but it is not endless. He sent prophet after prophet for two centuries. He does not enjoy judgment.

It is also a story of hope. God promised through Ezekiel that He would one day join the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph into one in Ezekiel 37:16 to 17. In Jesus, the Good Shepherd, God gathers lost sheep from every tribe and nation. Even Samaritans, the people nobody wanted, were welcomed in. That means nobody is too far gone.

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Questions People Ask

When did the northern kingdom of Israel fall?

Samaria, the capital of Israel, fell to Assyria in 722 BC after a siege of about three years. Some historians give 721 or 720 BC, because the siege began under Shalmaneser V and Sargon II claimed the victory. Either way, the northern kingdom ended in the late 720s BC.

Who conquered Israel in 722 BC?

The Assyrian empire conquered Israel. The siege of Samaria began under King Shalmaneser V, and King Sargon II, who took the throne during the siege, later claimed credit for capturing the city and deporting its people.

What happened to the ten lost tribes of Israel?

Many were carried away to Assyria and mixed with other peoples. But many northerners also fled to Judah, and the New Testament still speaks of all twelve tribes, like Anna from the tribe of Asher. Most claims that a modern group is a lost tribe are not well supported.

Who were the Samaritans?

The Samaritans came from the mix of Israelites left in the land and foreigners Assyria moved in after 722 BC. They worshiped Yahweh, kept the five books of Moses and built a temple on Mount Gerizim. A small Samaritan community still exists today.

Sources

← Jonah, Amos, Hosea and the Prophets Before the Fall Hezekiah, Isaiah and the Assyrian Army →

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