²⁶And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river of Gozan, unto this day.
26. stirred up the spirit] Compare 2 Chronicles xxi. 16, where see note; xxxvi. 22.
Pul ... and ... Tilgath-pilneser] Both here and in 2 Kings xv. 19, 29 (Pul ... Tiglath-pileser) the two names are used as though two different persons were meant, but there is no doubt that Pul is the earlier and Tiglath-pileser the royal name of the same king; compare verse 6.
unto Halah, etc.] In 2 Kings xv. 29 it is said only, to Assyria; in 2 Kings xvii. 6 it is said that the Western tribes (“Samaria”) were carried away and placed in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.
Halah] probably a district of Mesopotamia, but it has not yet been convincingly identified.
Habor] a river flowing into the Euphrates from the east, known to the Greeks as Χαβώρας or Ἀβόρρας.
and Hara] No place of this name is known and the word is omitted in LXX. The reading may be corrupt for and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings xvii. 6, compare LXX.; xviii. 11).
the river of Gozan] Gozan was a district of Mesopotamia.