The Fall of Samaria

Meanwhile in Samaria, King Zechariah, a very wicked man, whom we mentioned above as holding the throne, was killed by a certain Shallum, who seized the kingdom. Shallum in turn perished through the treachery of Menahem, who simply did again what his predecessor had done. Menahem kept the rule he had taken from Shallum and left it to his son Pekahiah. But a man of the same name killed Pekahiah and seized the kingdom. Before long he was cut down by Hoshea, and so he lost the throne by the same crime by which he had gained it. Hoshea, ungodly beyond all the kings who had gone before him, brought punishment from God on himself and permanent captivity on his nation. For Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, made war on him, defeated him, and made him pay tribute. But Hoshea was secretly planning a revolt, and he had asked the king of the Ethiopians, who then held Egypt, for help. When Shalmaneser found this out, he threw him into prison in chains that were never taken off. He destroyed the city and carried the whole people away into his own kingdom, placing Assyrians in the enemy’s country to guard it. That is why the district was called Samaria, because in the language of the Assyrians guards are called Samaritae. Very many of these settlers accepted the divine rites of the Jewish religion, while others remained in the errors of paganism. In this war Tobit was carried into captivity. [a]

But on the side of the two tribes, Ahaz displeased God by his ungodliness. Finding that he often came off worse in his wars with his neighbors, he resolved to worship the gods of the pagans, plainly because his enemies had won frequent battles with their help. He ended his days with this crime in his wicked mind, after a reign of sixteen years.