2 Kings 18:1

1 In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, reigned Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah. (In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the king of Judah, began to reign.)

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, the son of Elah, king of Israel, reigned Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah. (In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the king of Judah, began to reign.)

2 He was of five and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem nine and twenty years; the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah .

3 And he did that, that was good before the Lord, by all things that David, his father, had done.

4 And he destroyed [the] high places, and all-brake [the] images, and cut down [the maumet] woods, and he brake the brazen serpent, whom Moses had made; for unto that time the sons of Israel burnt incense to it; and he called the name of it Nehushtan. (And he destroyed the hill shrines, and broke up all the images, or all the idols, and cut down the idol groves, or the sacred poles, and broke apart the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for unto that time the sons of Israel had burned incense to it; and they called it Nehushtan.)

5 And he hoped in the Lord God of Israel; therefore after him none was like him of all the kings of Judah, but neither also in the kings that were before him. (And he hoped in the Lord God of Israel; and after him there was no one like him out of all the kings of Judah, but also not any of the kings who were before him were like him.)