2 Kings 17:2
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. He did not worship Baal, as some of them had done; and he could not worship the calves, as all of them had, for they were carried away by the Assyrians in the former captivities, as the Jews {s} say; and who also observe {t}, that he removed the garrisons set on the borders of the land to watch the Israelites, that they might not go up to Jerusalem; and this being done on the fifteenth of Ab, that day was afterwards observed as a festival on that account; and they further remark {u}, that the captivity of the ten tribes was in the reign of this king, who was better than the rest, to show that it was not barely the sins of the kings on whom the Israelites would cast the blame, that they were carried captives, but their own, according to Hosea 5:3.
{s} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 22.
{t} T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 88. Kimchi in loc.
{u} Seder Olam Raba, ut supra. (c. 22.)