Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 16:9

"And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried [the people of] it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin." — 2 Kings 16:9 (ASV)

Went up against Damascus, and took it. — We learn from the inscriptions that Damascus stood a two years’ siege. (The Eponym List makes Tiglath Pileser march against Damascus for two successive years, namely 733 and 732 B.C.)

Carried the people of it captive to Kir. — (Amos 9:7.) The name Kir is not found in the fragmentary remains of the annals of Tiglath Pileser. Schrader (page 261 and following) gives a mutilated inscription, apparently relating to the fall of Damascus.

And slew Rezin. — Sir H. Rawlinson found this fact recorded on a tablet of Tiglath Pileser’s, which has since been unfortunately lost. In the inscription just referred to, Tiglath says: “I entered the gate of his city; his chief officers alive [I took, and] on stakes I had them lifted up” (that is, impaled them).

Kir was the original home of the Arameans, according to Amos 9:7. It is mentioned along with Elam in Isaiah 22:6. “It has been generally identified with the district by the river Cyrus (modern Georgia). But, besides the linguistic objection pointed out by Delitzsch (Qir cannot be equivalent to Kúr), it appears that the Assyrian empire never extended to the Cyrus. We must, therefore, consider Kir to be a part of Mesopotamia.” (Cheyne.)