The Reign Of Hoshea King Of Israel c. 732/1-723/2 BC And The Last Days Of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-7).
The history here is very much telescoped. Hoshea had assassinated Pekah and he immediately then submitted to Assyria, paying heavy tribute. Fortunately for Israel Tiglath-pileser accepted his submission. This resulted in a reprieve for Israel who, unlike Damascus, were not at that time destroyed.
Hoshea's vassal status then had to be re-confirmed when, on Tiglath-pilesers's death, Tiglath-pileser's son, Shalmaneser ‘came up against him' at which point Hoshea renewed his submission and became Shalmaneser's servant and paid tribute. This need not indicate that he was seen as in a state of rebellion, only as now needing to submit to the new king. On the death of Tiglath-pileser it would be necessary for treaties to be renewed and new submissions made to the new king, and tribute might well have been delayed by Hoshea until it was certain who would successfully succeed Tiglath-pileser (succession was not always straightforward). Thus by this ‘visit' he was being given a firm reminder of his responsibilities.
This tribute then continued for some years. But at some point Hoshea apparently felt that with Egypt's offered help, he could take the risk of withholding tribute. The initiative may well have come from Egypt who wanted to set up a buffer between Egypt and Assyria. We can understand Hoshea's error. Egypt had no doubt always been looked on as a powerful country, even if at present inactive in Palestine, and Hoshea was not to know that at this time it was divided up and weak, and simply trying to protect itself by stirring up people against Assyria. He no doubt felt that with Egypt behind him he, along with other states, would now be able to resist Assyria. But he was gravely mistaken. No actual help would come from Egypt.
Analysis.
a In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned for nine years (2 Kings 17:1).
b And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him (2 Kings 17:2).
c Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute (2 Kings 17:3).
d And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year (2 Kings 17:4 a).
c Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison (2 Kings 17:4 b).
b Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years (2 Kings 17:5).
a In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:6).
Note that in ‘a' Hoshea commenced reigning in Samaria and reigned for nine years, and in the parallel in the ninth year he ceased to reign because the cream of Israel were exiled. In ‘b' he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and in the parallel YHWH responded by sending the king of Assyria to besiege Samaria. In ‘c' Shalmaneser made him yield to him as his vassal and pay tribute, and in the parallel he put him in prison because he had failed to pay tribute. Centrally in ‘d' he had rebelled against Assyria at the instigation of the king of Egypt, and had withheld tribute.
‘In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned for nine years.'
As we saw in 2 Kings 15:30 Hoshea assassinated Pekah, the preceding king of Israel in order to submit to Assyria, thereby saving Israel from total destruction. As a result he was confirmed in his kingship by the Assyrians. This was in the twelfth year of Ahaz and the twentieth year of Jotham (2 Kings 15:30), Thus Ahaz's twelve years were years of co-regency. But Ahaz was by now in sole control because of his father's illness, and thus seen as a main party. Hoshea reigned for nine years during most of which Israel paid tribute to Assyria.
‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.'
This rather enigmatic statement is not easy to interpret. It would suggest that he did not lay any emphasis on Jeroboam's false cult, but nevertheless did not truly turn to YHWH. It may also indicate that he had more concern for social justice. Possibly he was in fact lukewarm towards religion generally, although perfunctorily engaging in the worship of the Assyrian deities, simply because he had no choice in the matter. Some have connected it with a willingness to allow his subjects to visit the temple at Jerusalem inasmuch as, according to 2 Chronicles 30:10, Hezekiah invited to the feast of the Passover, held at Jerusalem, the Israelites from Ephraim and Manasseh as far as to Zebulun, with some individuals from these tribes accepting his invitation
‘Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.'
Shalmaneser V followed Tiglath-pileser III. At the commencement of any new reign there would be a tendency to withhold tribute in order to see what the new king would do, but once Shalmaneser came on the scene, possibly sending a warning ahead, Hoshea rapidly submitted and paid tribute. ‘Became his servant' i.e. acknowledged himself as his vassal.
‘And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year.'
Years passed during which Hoshea continued to pay tribute, but then Hoshea began to enter into intrigues with ‘So, king of Egypt' and withheld tribute, and the king of Assyria, through his spies, possibly stationed in Samaria, discovered the fact. The king of Egypt in question was probably Osorkon IV. It seems probable that Osorkon, who only ruled a part of Egypt, initiated the intrigue as a way of protecting the borders of Egypt, without having too much concern about the consequences for his ‘allies'. It would be left to them to look after themselves. But Hoshea probably saw Egypt as a powerful united country whom even Assyria would fear. In fact around this time (in about 725 BC), Egypt had two lines of senior pharaohs reigning in the Delta, Osorkon IV in Tanis (Zoan) and Iuput II in Leontopolis further south. Neither king actually ruled effectively over anything more than his own local province, but Hosea probably did not realise that. Tanis (Zoan) would be the recognised objective of Hebrew envoys to Egypt in the eighth and seventh centuries BC (compare Isaiah 19:11; Isaiah 19:13; Isaiah 30:2; Isaiah 30:4). That Osorkon was not to be relied on comes out in the outcome.
‘Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.'
It would appear that as Shalmaneser approached Israel Hoshea went out to meet him, probably hoping to make his submission and blame the intrigue on his anti-Assyrian compatriots. Shalmaneser was not, however, convinced, and shut him up, bound, in prison.
‘Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.'
Then Shalmaneser advanced into Israel, ‘throughout all the land', occupying every part of it and laying siege to Samaria whose stout walls held him back for three years. It was during this siege that Shalmaneser died and was replaced by Sargon II who finally took the city. Alternatively Sargon may have been acting as his father's commander-in-chief. Both seemingly laid claim to having taken the city.
‘In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.'
Once Samaria was taken many of its people were carried away into exile, some to Assyria itself, and others to the cities of the Medes. There are a number of Assyrian records of this event. The Nimrud Prism reads, ‘I clashed with them in the power of the great gods, my lords, and counted as spoil 27,280 people together with their chariots, --- and the gods in whom they trusted.' The Display Inscription reads, ‘I surrounded and captured the city of Samaria, 27,290 of the people who dwell in it I took away as prisoners.' These would be the cream of the city, including all the princes, aristocrats and businessmen. Their journey would not have been a pleasant one as they would be shamed and chained (compare Isaiah 20:4 of captured Egyptians) but eventually they would be settled in the places mentioned.
Interestingly records have been discovered which have confirmed these settlements. Texts from Gozan (tell Halaf) mention as living there ‘Halbisu from Samaria' and list other names compounded with Yau (YHWH), while an ostracon from Calah (now Nimrud) of about 720/700 BC contains a list of ‘biblical' names such as ‘Elinur son of Menahem; Nedabel son of Hanun; Elinur son of Michael', and so on.
Thus came to an end Israel as a united people, and shortly afterwards the exiles would be replaced by peoples transferred from other areas (see 2 Kings 17:24), resulting in a mixed population. Israel was no more (apart from those who had settled in Judah or who had fled to Judah in the face of the Assyrian onslaught, of which there would be a good many) and its exiles would slowly be absorbed into the surrounding peoples.