They spake, i.e. they wrote, or sent messengers to him for relief. Know not the manner of the God of the land; they supposed the true God to be like one of their topical deities, who had their particular countries and provinces allotted to them.
Related Commentaries of 2 Kings 17:26
2 Kings 17:26
26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.