Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
The king named in the verse is Shalmaneser, and his coming up throughout all the land was the advance of the hosts of Assyria to invest Samaria. The investment began during the early years of Hezekiah's reign, about two years after his Passover invitation. In the three-year siege that followed, multitudes inside perished miserably of hunger and disease as well as by the sword.
The siege ended in the fall not only of the city but of the nation, with the broken remnant of the ten tribes carried away captive and scattered among the provinces of the Assyrian realm. With Samaria fallen, the Assyrian threat could soon reach Judah and Jerusalem, which lay close by and whose temple held rich spoils to invite attack.
The king named in the verse is Shalmaneser, and his coming up throughout all the land was the advance of the hosts of Assyria to invest Samaria. The investment began during the early years of Hezekiah's reign, about two years after his Passover invitation. In the three-year siege that followed, multitudes inside perished miserably of hunger and disease as well as by the sword.
The siege ended in the fall not only of the city but of the nation, with the broken remnant of the ten tribes carried away captive and scattered among the provinces of the Assyrian realm. With Samaria fallen, the Assyrian threat could soon reach Judah and Jerusalem, which lay close by and whose temple held rich spoils to invite attack.