Bible Strands
2 Kings 17:3
Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Shalmaneser’s military campaign against Hoshea, king of Israel, immediately following Hoshea’s accession and the assessment that he did evil but not as his predecessors did. This moment establishes the initial political reality before Hoshea’s subsequent conspiracy and arrest.
The words — The Hebrew עֶ֔בֶד ('E.ved) literally means "subject" or "servant," denoting the vassal status Hoshea assumed. The verb עָלָ֔ה ('a.Lah) translates to "he came up," describing Shalmaneser’s advance against him.
The thread — The text mirrors the pattern of defeated nations becoming subject and paying tribute, as recorded when Arameans did so for David (2 Samuel 8:6). It also points forward to the same Assyrian king’s later destruction of Israel’s strongholds (Hosea 10:14).
Why it lands — The verse states a factual shift in allegiance without moral evaluation, requiring the reader to note the established tribute relationship before Hoshea withholds payment and faces imprisonment. It forces the reader to track the concrete political sequence that precedes the covenant breach detailed in the following verse.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
Cross-references
- Hosea 10:14 the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children.
- 2 Samuel 8:2 David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
- 2 Samuel 8:6 Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
- 2 Kings 15:19 Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”
- 2 Kings 18:9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
- 2 Kings 18:31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,
- 2 Kings 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
- Isaiah 7:7 But this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘It will not arise; it will not happen.