2 Kings 18:1

1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz began his rule over Judah.

2 Kings 18:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 18:1

Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah
king of Israel
That is, in the third year of his rebelling against the king of Assyria, when he shook off his yoke, and refused to be tributary to him any longer, see ( 2 Kings 17:1 ) ,

[that] Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign;
having finished the account of the kingdom of Israel, and the captivity of the people, the historian returns to the kingdom of Judah, and the things of it.

2 Kings 18:1 In-Context

1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz began his rule over Judah.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

3 In God's opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.

4 He got rid of the local fertility shrines, smashed the phallic stone monuments, and cut down the sex-and-religion Asherah groves. As a final stroke he pulverized the ancient bronze serpent that Moses had made; at that time the Israelites had taken up the practice of sacrificing to it - they had even dignified it with a name, Nehushtan (The Old Serpent).

5 Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king quite like him, either before or after.