And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,.... Which was at this time under the dominion of the king of Assyria; though in a little time after this it revolted, and had a king of its own, 2Ki 20:12, this king of Assyria was either Shalmaneser, who carried Israel captive, or it may be rather his son Esarhaddon, see Ezr 4:2,and from Cuthah; which, according to Josephus , was a city in Persia, where was a river of the same name; but it was rather a place in Erech, in the country of Babylon, See Gill on "Ge 10:10",and from Ava; the same with Ivah, Isa 37:13, where perhaps a colony of the Avim had settled, De 2:23and from Hamath; a city of Syria, which lay on the northern borders of the land of Canaan, Nu 34:8and from Sepharvaim; thought by some to be the Sippara of Ptolemy, or the Sippareni of Abydenus, in Mesopotamia; though Vitringa takes it to be a city in Syro-Phoenicia, See Gill on "Isa 36:19",and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel; not in Samaria, which was now destroyed, according to the prophecy in Mic 1:6 as Abarbinel and other Jewish writers note:and they possessed Samaria; as an inheritance; sowed it with corn, and planted vineyards there:and dwelt in the cities thereof; in the several parts of the kingdom.
Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect.