2 Kings 17:4

4 But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So ^[a] 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.

2 Kings 17:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:4

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

2 Kings 17:4 In-Context

2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.

4 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.

5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

6 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. So is likely an abbreviation for Osorkon.