King living at the time of Divided Monarchy
Hoshea was the last king of Israel, reigning from around 732 to 722 BC, until the Assyrian conquest of Samaria.
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Hoshea was the nineteenth and last king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He came to power after conspiring against and killing his predecessor, King Pekah, in the twentieth year of Jotham, king of Judah (2Ki.15.30).
Hoshea reigned over Israel for nine years, from around 732 to 722 BC (2Ki.17.1). During his reign, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser attacked Israel, and Hoshea became his vassal, paying him tribute (2Ki.17.3).
However, Hoshea later rebelled against Assyria by sending messengers to So, the king of Egypt, seeking help and refusing to pay tribute to Shalmaneser (2Ki.17.4). In response, the Assyrian king imprisoned Hoshea and besieged Samaria for three years (2Ki.17.4-5).
In the ninth year of Hoshea's reign, the Assyrians captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria (2Ki.17.6). This event marked the end of the northern kingdom of Israel and the beginning of the Assyrian exile.
The fall of Samaria and the exile of the Israelites occurred during the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah (2Ki.18.1, 9-10). The biblical narrative attributes the downfall of Israel to their persistent sin and disobedience to God, despite the warnings of the prophets (2Ki.17.7-23).
Hoshea's reign and the fall of Samaria are significant events in the history of Israel, demonstrating the consequences of turning away from God and the fulfillment of prophetic warnings about judgment and exile.
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8 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1954
Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
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.
In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
In the fourth year of Hezekiahʼs reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.
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.