who dwelt there. His successor, Shalmaneser, crossed the Jordan, and marching upon Samaria, reduced Hoshea, king of Israel, to vassalage. It was not long, however, before Hoshea threw off the Assyrian yoke, ceased to pay tribute, and sought the aid of Shebek (or Sabaco, the So of 2 Kings xvii. 4), who had succeeded Piankhi on the throne. But the forces sent by Shebek, or by some of the other princes of the north, were routed, and Hoshea carried prisoner to Assyria—'cut off like foam upon the water.' The siege of Samaria was begun, but Shalmaneser died soon after. It was his successor Sargon, who not only captured Ashdod, after defeating the Egypto-Ethiopian forces, who aided in its defence, but brought the siege of Samaria to a close 721 B.C., and carried the people of the land into captivity. Egypt, unable to afford any efficient help, seems to have become an asylum of some of the 'outcasts of Israel.'[1]
Ahaz of Judah appears to have continued submissive and tributary to the end of his days, but his son Hezekiah inaugurated a nobler
- ↑ Compare Isa. xi. 11, xxvii. 13; Hosea ix. 6.
