Halah was one of the places where the Assyrians settled the exiled Israelites after conquering the Northern Kingdom.
Halah was one of the locations where the Assyrians resettled the Israelites after the conquest of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) in 722 BC. It is mentioned three times in the Old Testament, always in the context of the Assyrian exile.
In 2Ki.17.6, it is recorded that the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, settling them in Halah and other places. This event is also described in 2Ki.18.11, emphasizing that the Israelites were deported because they had sinned against the Lord.
The third reference to Halah is in 1Ch.5.26, which states that the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (Tiglath-Pileser III) and the spirit of Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, who took the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile, bringing them to Halah and other locations.
The exact location of Halah is uncertain, but it is generally believed to have been in the region of the Khabur River in northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Syria or Iraq). This area was under Assyrian control during the time of the Israelite exile.
The Bible does not provide any further information about Halah or the lives of the exiled Israelites there. However, the repeated mentions of Halah in the context of the Assyrian exile underscore the significance of this event in Israel's history and serve as a reminder of the consequences of disobedience to God.
Approximate location: 36.345, 40.789 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
A district of Media to which captive Israelites were transported by the Assyrian kings (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chr. 5:26). It lay along the banks of the upper Khabur, from its source to its junction with the Jerujer. Probably the district called by Ptolemy Chalcitis.
is probably a different place from the Calah of (Genesis 10:11) It may be identified with the Chalcitis of Ptolemy.
HA'LAH, a place in Assyria to which the ten tribes were carried captive. 2 Kgs 17:6; 2 Kgs 18:11; 1 Chr 5:26. It is now identified, with great probability, as the Chalcitis of Ptolemy, and in the north-west of Gauzanitis. Layard found a remarkable mound near the Khabour called Gla or Kalah, "castle," which covers the site of an ancient fortress or town. The Septuagint and Vulgate versions appear to regard Halah as a river, and it may have been the name of a river and of a town. The river was perhaps the Nahr al Huali, which is a branch of the Khabour.
HA'LAH, a place in Assyria to which the ten tribes were carried captive. 2 Kgs 17:6; 2 Kgs 18:11; 1 Chr 5:26. It is now identified, with great probability, as the Chalcitis of Ptolemy, and in the north-west of Gauzanitis. Layard found a remarkable mound near the Khabour called Gla or Kalah, "castle," which covers the site of an ancient fortress or town. The Septuagint and Vulgate versions appear to regard Halah as a river, and it may have been the name of a river and of a town. The river was perhaps the Nahr al Huali, which is a branch of the Khabour.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
3 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H2477
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.