5 then proceeded to invade the entire country. He attacked Samaria and threw up a siege against it. The siege lasted three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea's reign the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the people into exile in Assyria. He relocated them in Halah, in Gozan along the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 17:5-6
Commentary on 2 Kings 17:1-6
(Read 2 Kings 17:1-6)
When the measure of sin is filled up, the Lord will forbear no longer. The inhabitants of Samaria must have endured great affliction. Some of the poor Israelites were left in the land. Those who were carried captives to a great distance, were mostly lost among the nations.