Assyrian captivity

Not all of Israel's populace was deported by the Assyrians; some of those who were not expelled from the former kingdom's territory eventually became known as the Samaritan people.

[1] And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser 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 Gozan, unto this day.

(1 Chronicles 5:26)In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and he took Ijon, and Abel Beth Maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

(2 Kings 15:29)In 722 BC, around ten years after the initial deportations, the ruling city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Samaria, was finally taken by Sargon II after a three-year siege started by Shalmaneser V. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

(2 Kings 17:3–6)The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria, settled them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.

(2 Kings 18:11–12)The term "cities of the Medes" mentioned above may be a corruption from an original text "Mountains of Media".

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

(2 Chronicles 15:8–10)Many Israelite civilians were killed during the invasion, with infants being dashed and pregnant women being ripped open (Hosea 13:16).

(2 Chronicles 30:11–12)For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it is written.

Sargon records his first campaign on the walls of the royal palace at Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad): In my first year of reign *** the people of Samaria *** to the number of 27,290 ...

)[7]The description of the final defeat of the Northern Kingdom of Israel above appears to be a minor event in Sargon's legacy.

Many centuries later, rabbis of the restored Kingdom of Judah were still debating the return of the lost ten tribes.

(1 Chronicles 9:3)Nonetheless, Nehemiah chapter 11 verse 3 describes a group called "Israel" settling in Judean neighborhoods.