Exodus 23:29Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The account of wild creatures occupying land through unexpected displacement is found in 2 Samuel 17:24-26. Salmanu-Asir IV, who ruled from 727 to 722 B.C. as the second and final monarch of the third Assyrian dynasty, and the offspring of its founder Tuklatipal-Azar II, relocated the populace of Israel, which existed independently from the kingdom of Judah with its unique capital, Samaria, to Assyria (or more accurately, Armenia). With the land left desolate, the new inhabitants from Assyria, assigned to the territories once inhabited by the Israelites, petitioned their king, stating, “that God sends lions against them, which kill them” (2 Kings 17:26).