2 Kings 17:4

17:4 The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. ¹  Hoshea had sent messengers to King So ²  of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. ³ 

2 Kings 17:9-10

17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ⁴  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ⁵  17:10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

¹ tn Heb “and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy.”

² sn For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 s.v. סוֹא and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 196.

³ tn Heb “and bound him in the house of confinement.”

⁴ tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.

⁵ sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.