Hoshea

See also Hosea, who has the same name in Biblical Hebrew.

Hoshea (Hebrew: הושע, Modern  Tiberian , "salvation"; Latin: Osee) was the last king of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel and son of Elah. William F. Albright dated reign to 732 – 721 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 732 – 723 BC.^[1]

Assyrian records basically confirm the Biblical account of how he became king. According to 2 Kings, Hoshea conspired against and slew his predecessor, Pekah (2 Kings 15:30). Shalmaneser V then campaigned against Hoshea, and forced him to submit and render tribute (2 Kings 17:3). An undated inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III boasts of making Hoshea king after his predecessor had been overthrown:

Israel (lit. : "Omri-land" Bit-Humria)…overthrew their king Pekah (Pa-qa-ha) and I placed Hoshea (A-ú -si') as king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold, 1,000(?) talents of silver as their [tri]bute and brought them to Assyria.^[2]

The amount of tribute exacted from Hoshea is not stated in Scripture, but Menahem, about ten years previously (743 or 742 BC)^[3] was required to pay 1,000 talents of silver to Tiglath-Pileser in order to "strengthen his hold on the kingdom" (2 Kings 15:19), apparently against Menahem's rival Pekah. The Assyrian Eponym Canon shows that Shalmaneser campaigned "against" (somewhere, name missing) in the years 727, 726, and 725 BC, and it is presumed that the missing name was Samaria.^[4] The Babylonian Chronicle states that Shalmaneser ravaged the city of Sha-ma-ra-in (Samaria).^[5] Additional evidence that it was Shalmaneser, not Sargon II who initially captured Samaria, despite the latter's claim, late in his reign, that he was its conqueror, was presented by Tadmor, who showed that Sargon had no campaigns in the west in his first two years of reign (722 and 721 BC).^[6]

Hoshea eventually withheld the tribute he promised Shalmaneser, expecting the support of "So, the king of Egypt". There is some mystery as to the identity of this king of Egypt: some scholars have argued that So refers to the Egyptian city Sais, and thereby refers to king Tefnakht of the 24th Dynasty; however the principal city of Egypt at this time was Tanis, which suggests that there was an unnecessary correction of the text and Kenneth Kitchen is correct in identifying "So" with Osorkon IV of the 22nd Dynasty.

The account in 2 Kings 17:4 states that Shalmaneser arrested Hoshea, then laid siege to Samaria; some scholars explain that Shalmaneser must have summoned Hoshea to his court to explain the missing tribute, which resulted in the imprisonment of the king of Israel, and the Assyrian army sent into his land. Regardless of the sequence of events, the Assyrians captured Samaria after a siege of three years. However, Shalmaneser died shortly after the city fell, and the Assyrian army was rec

References

v • d • e Israelite Kings Pre-Dynastic Abimelech United Monarchy Saul · Ish-boseth · David · Solomon · Rehoboam Northern Kingdom of Israel Jeroboam I · Nadab · Baasha · Elah · Zimri · Omri · Ahab & Jezebel · Ahaziah · Jehoram · Jehu · Jehoahaz · Jehoash · Jeroboam II · Zechariah · Shallum · Menahem · Pekahiah · Pekah · Hoshea Southern Kingdom of Judah Rehoboam · Abijam · Asa · Jehoshaphat · Jehoram · Ahaziah · Athaliah · Jehoash · Amaziah · Uzziah (or Azariah) · Jotham · Ahaz · Hezekiah · Manasseh · Amon · Josiah · Jehoahaz · Jehoiakim · Jeconiah (or Jehoiachin) · Zedekiah Hasmonean Dynasty Simon Maccabaeus · John Hyrcanus · Aristobulus I · Alexander Jannaeus · Salome Alexandra · Hyrcanus II · Aristobulus II · Hyrcanus II · Antigonus II Mattathias Herodian Dynasty Herod the Great · Herod Archelaus · Herod Antipas · Herod Philip II Italics: Disputed kingship, or kingship over only part of Israel