2 Kings 17:4

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.

Nehemiah 9:16-17

9:16 “But they – our ancestors – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled and did not obey your commandments. 9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them,

Isaiah 48:4

48:4 I did this because I know how stubborn you are.

Your neck muscles are like iron

and your forehead like bronze.


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 “and our fathers.” The vav is explicative.

tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).

tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bÿmitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bÿmiryam, “in their rebellion”).

tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.

tn The words “I did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 4 is subordinated to v. 3.

sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.