And the God of Israel,.... The Targum is,
"the word of the God of Israel:''
stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria: in the times of Menahem king of Israel:
and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser; in the times of Pekah king of Israel, to invade the land, and make war in it:
and he carried them away: not the former, but the latter:
even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh; these entirely together, with some other parts of the land, see
and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan; to the very same places where afterwards Salmaneser carried the ten tribes, or what remained of them, see 2 Kings 17:6
unto this day; the times of Ezra, the writer of this book, after the tribe of Judah returned from the captivity of Babylon; but the ten tribes remained where they were carried, and have not returned even to this day.