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701 b.c. During the reign of Hezekiah of Judah, Sennacherib of Assyria attacked cities along the western edge of Judah, and he sent officials to besiege Jerusalem and convince Hezekiah to surrender. The Cushite king Tirhakah advanced from Egypt to support Hezekiah but apparently failed. The siege of Jerusalem
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722 b.c. During the reign of Hoshea of Israel, Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked Israel and made it a vassal kingdom. Later, however, Hoshea conspired against Assyria, refusing to pay the tribute and appealing to Egypt for help, so the Assyrians came and besieged Samaria until it fell. Many Israelites
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733 b.c. King Ahaz of Judah, suffering attacks on all sides due to his refusal to join an alliance against Assyria, called upon Tiglath-pileser III (also called Pul) of Assyria for help. The Assyrians captured Damascus (Syria) and all of Galilee and Gilead from Israel. Ahaz’s petition came
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c. 740–732 b.c. As the Assyrian Empire expanded westward, Syria and Israel sought to compel Judah and the other nearby states to form an anti-Assyrian alliance. Judah refused, leading Syria and Israel to attack Jerusalem. Syria also wrested Elath from Judah and gave it to the Edomites. The
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c. 740 b.c. Looming over most of the latter history of the divided monarchy is the growing power and influence of Assyria. The resurgence of this ancient empire dominated much of the politics of the ancient Near East from the time of Jeroboam and Azariah until the empire’s
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c. 875–430 b.c. Prophets had been a part of Israelite society since the days of Moses, but the complex political, religious, and social situations of the divided monarchy made their role of communicating God’s clear message even more pronounced. Unlike priests, prophets did not inherit their role
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c. 767–753 b.c. A power vacuum created by Assyria’s attack and withdrawal from Syria allowed Jeroboam II of Israel and Azariah (also called Uzziah) of Judah to recover land that had once belonged to their kingdoms. Jeroboam recovered much of Gilead, and Azariah recovered Elath on the
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c. 825–798 b.c. The Syrians under Hazael continued to plague Israel during Jehu’s reign, eventually capturing all of Gilead from Aroer on the Arnon River to Bashan in the north. Later during the reign of Jehoash (also called Joash), Hazael attacked Gath on the western border of
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841 b.c. Elisha fulfilled the Lord’s prophecy to Elijah by sending someone to Ramoth-gilead to anoint Jehu, one of Joram’s commanders, as king of Israel. Jehu promptly headed for Jezreel, where King Joram (also called Jehoram) of Israel was recovering from some battle wounds. When Joram and
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853, 848 b.c. When King Ahab of Israel died, King Mesha of Moab seized the opportunity to throw off the yoke of tribute imposed on his people by David. Israel, Judah, and Edom (which still belonged to Judah) joined forces to attack Moab, but their efforts failed to re-subdue
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c. 853 b.c. The book of 2 Kings recounts events in Israel and Judah from the death of Ahab to the exile of Israel and Judah. The complex and shifting political setting for the book involves Israel, Judah, Syria, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia, as well as Egypt, Assyria,
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Ahab’s reign was marked by repeated conflict with Ben-hadad of Syria. Ben-hadad’s poor military organization accounted for his failed siege of Samaria, and Ahab defeated him again the next spring at Aphek. Ahab lost his life, however, attempting to retake Ramoth-gilead from Ben-hadad at the eastern edge of