Steve,
Need some help with a math problem.—Jeff
“And at the end of three years they [Assyria] took it: [northern kingdom] even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:†II Kings 18:10.
Wikipedia says that Hoshea, king of Israel, reign ended in 721 BC, the date of the 3rd. and most devastating invasion by the Assyrians. II Kings 18:10 say this was the “sixth year” of Hezekiah, king of Judah, reign. If Hezekiah came to the throne in 715 BC, subtract 6 years, that’s 709 BC when Assyria invaded the northern kingdom, not 721 BC. What am I missing here?
His reign has been dated from 715 – 687 BC or 716 – 687 BC.[1] Under either of these chronologies, Hezekiah witnessed the forced resettlement of the northern Kingdom of Israel by Sargon’s Assyrians in c. 720 BC and ruled the southern Kingdom of Judah during the invasion and siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BC.—Wikipedia
Hoshea (Hebrew: ???? “salvation”) was the last king of Israel and son of Elah. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 732 BC – 721 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 732 BC – 723 BC.[1]—Wikipedia.
Jeff
MYREPLY
Dear Jeff,
Wikipedia’s assertion that the last invasion was the most destructive is based on an assumption that all the remaining Israelites put up a fight and all went into captivity. The Bible does not support that assumption. II Kings 17:5 says the Assyrians went “throughout all the land of Israel” but there is no biblical record of battles, any Israelite tribes taken into captivity or that any Israelite cities other than Samaria were either inhabited or besieged in the last invasion. There is no indication that the last Assyrian found any Israelites present anywhere in the land except at Samaria. My books make the case that the remaining Israelites had already left voluntarily for other locations to avoid the last Assyrian invasion as they knew it was a lost cause to stay. If you wish to check out the secular and biblical evidence supporting that view, my books can be ordered at www.bibleblessings.net.
Since there are so many different opinions on the datings of the various Israelite and Judahite dynasties, I suggest that you address that question to my friend, Yair Davidy, whose website is www.britam.org. I believe he’ll give you the best information on the king lists of the Israelite kingdoms.
Steve
