Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 18
Both Hezekiah and Hoshea, the king of northern and central Israel, refused to pay taxes to the king of Assyria. God was with Hezekiah and he protected Judah from Assyria’s army at this time (18:7).
However, the king of Assyria’s anger against Hoshea and his country was fierce. He took possession of the whole of northern and central Israel. His army surrounded Samaria, the capital city, for three years until they overcame the city’s defences. Hoshea became the prisoner of the king of Assyria, and Assyria’s army forced the people in northern and central Israel to leave their homes. They had to march for several hundred miles (or kilometres) and then to begin life in a foreign country.
That was the end of northern and central Israel as a separate nation. Since the time of Solomon, about 200 years previously, we have been reading the accounts of two separate countries. Northern and central Israel had its own kings and its own government. The family of David only ruled Judah, the southern part of Israel. From this time, however, the Book of 2 Kings will only record the history of Judah, this southern part. Foreigners now lived on the land that was formerly northern and central Israel.
The author of 2 Kings has already given a longer account of these events in chapter 17. That account appears there because that chapter deals with the rule of Hoshea over northern and central Israel. However, the author repeats the main information here (18:9-12) to show when it happened during Hezekiah’s rule over Judah.
Next part: The king of Assyria attacks Judah (2 Kings 18:13)
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