And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
At the end of three years they took it - not Hebrews 1:1-14:e., Shalmaneser. The change of expression is remarkable, and can only be accounted for by the circumstance that Shalmaneser, having been called to Assyria by a rebellion in his capital, left his army before the walls of Samaria, intending to return; but he having died, the successful usurper, Sargon, who became king, repaired to Syria, and prosecuting the siege of Samaria with new vigour, reduced it at the end of the third year (see the notes at 2 Kings 17:6). Standing on a steep eminence in an extensive plain, environed by hills, it possessed advantages for resisting a siege, and holding out against vigorous assaults three times as long as that which exhausted the resources of Jerusalem (see Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 241; Van de Velde, 1:, pp. 376, 377).