2 Kings 18:13
Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Sennacherib's Assyrian forces came up against the fenced or fortified cities of Judah and captured them, with some measure of success, in part. That attack followed Assyria's conquest of Samaria and scattering of the remnant of the northern tribes, the ten tribes. The campaign occurred in the earlier part of Hezekiah's reign, a few years after the fall of Samaria, when the victorious Assyrian armies reappeared in Palestine. Assyria's success in capturing Samaria and scattering the tribes led the surrounding nations and many people to question the power of the God of the Hebrews, Israel's God.
Emboldened by success, the Ninevites had set aside Jonah's message and become defiant against the purposes of Heaven. After taking the fenced cities, the Assyrians withdrew for a season or time because of difficulties arising elsewhere in their realm, in other portions of it. The decisive demonstration before the nations whether the gods of the heathen would finally prevail did not come until some years later, toward the close or near the end of Hezekiah's reign. The providences of Hezekiah's reign at that later time would reveal that the God of Israel was with His people.