The End of Israel: The “uprooting” and “scattering” of Israel (1 Kgs. 14:15) has long been delayed because of God’s promises and character (2 Kgs. 10:30; 13; 14:23–29). God has continually saved (Hb. yšʿ) it from its enemies: through Elisha, through Jeroboam (2 Kgs. 14:27), through other unnamed saviors (2 Kgs. 13:5). There have been signs in the preceding chapters, however, that deliverance is now at an end, that the “exile” of 2 Kings 13:5 was a dry run for a now imminent main event. The most recent act of “salvation,” in fact (16:7–9, cf. “save me,” yšʿ, in 16:7) was in reality an act of judgment upon Israel that brought the Assyrian king to within striking distance of Samaria (15:29). The third siege of the city (cf. 1 Kgs. 20:1ff.; 2 Kgs. 6:24ff.) will be the last. There will be no pr…