John Gill Commentary 2 Kings 17

In the tenth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the
son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years .
] In this account there is some difficulty, since it was in the twentieth of Jotham, that is, the fourth of Ahaz, that Hosea conspired against Pekah king of Israel, and slew him, when it might be reasonably thought he began his reign: now either there was an interregnum until the twelfth of Ahaz, or Hoshea however was not generally received and acknowledged as king till then, as others think; he being a tributary to the king of Assyria, and a kind of viceroy, is not said to reign until he rebelled against him; after which he reigned nine years, four in the times of Ahaz, and five in the reign of Hezekiah, (2 Kings 18:9 2 Kings 18:10) , in this way the author of the Jewish chronology goes ^F18 , in which he is followed by other Jewish writers; and this bids as fair as any to remove the difficulty, unless these nine years refer to the time of his reign before the twelfth of Ahaz; and the sense be, that in the twelfth of Ahaz he had reigned nine year's; but it is said he "began" to reign then.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: Seder Olam Rabba, c. 22.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but
not as the kings of Israel that were before him . He did not worship Baal, as some of them had done; and he could not worship the calves, as all of them had, for they were carried away by the Assyrians in the former captivities, as the Jews ^F19 say; and who also observe ^F20 , that he removed the garrisons set on the borders of the land to watch the Israelites, that they might not go up to Jerusalem; and this being done on the fifteenth of Ab, that day was afterwards observed as a festival on that account; and they further remark ^F21 , that the captivity of the ten tribes was in the reign of this king, who was better than the rest, to show that it was not barely the sins of the kings on whom the Israelites would cast the blame, that they were carried captives, but their own, according to (Hosea 5:3) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Seder Olam Rabba, c. 22.
• F20: T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 88. Kimchi in loc.
• F21: Seder Olam Raba, ut supra. (c. 22.)

Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria Which some take to be the same with Tiglathpileser, see (1 Chronicles 5:26) but he rather seems to be his son; his name was to be found, as Josephus ^F23 relates, in the archives of the Tyrians, against whom he had an expedition; his name is Salmanassar in Metasthenes ^F24 , who says he reigned seventeen years:

and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents, to depart from him; he became tributary to him, and agreed to pay him a yearly tax.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: Antiqu. l. 9. c. 14. sect. 2.
• F24: De Judicio Temp. fol. 221. 2.

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea
That he was forming a scheme to rebel against him, and cast off his yoke; of this he had intelligence by spies he sent, and placed to observe him very probably:

for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt ;
to treat with him, and enter into alliance with him, to help him against, and free him from, the king of Assyria. This king of Egypt is supposed to be Sabacon the Ethiopian, who reigned in Egypt ninety years; of whom Herodotus ^F25 and Diodorus Siculus ^F26 make mention; by Theodoret he is called Adramelech the Ethiopian, who dwelt in Egypt:

and brought no presents to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by
year ;
did not pay him his yearly tribute:

therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison ;
that is, after he took Samaria, the siege of which is next related; unless it can be thought that he met with him somewhere out of the capital, and seized him, and made him his prisoner, and after that besieged his city; which is not so likely.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 137.
• F26: Bibliothec l. 1. p. 59.

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land
Of Israel, there being none to oppose his march; Hoshea not daring to come out, and meet him and fight him:

and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years ;
so long the city held out against him, see (2 Kings 18:9 2 Kings 18:10) .