2 Kings 17:1-7

Hoshea’s Reign over Israel

17:1 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria for nine years. 17:2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him. 17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria threatened him; Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute. 17:4 The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. Hoshea had sent messengers to King So of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. 17:5 The king of Assyria marched through the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years. 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.

A Summary of Israel’s Sinful History

17:7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped 10  other gods;


map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

tn Heb “went up against.”

tn Heb “and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy.”

sn For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 s.v. סוֹא and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 196.

tn Heb “and bound him in the house of confinement.”

tn Heb “went up against.”

tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.

tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

10 tn Heb “feared.”