The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and BabyloniaPinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge)
Religion
The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia
Pinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge)
Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
This is immediately followed by an account of the operations against
Samsi, queen of Arabia, and the tribes connected with that over which she
held sway. After this he states that he set Idi-bi’ilu as governor over
the land of Musru. All these passages, however, are exceedingly
incomplete, as is also that referring to Samaria, which follows. The
shorter account of the expeditions of Tiglath-pileser gives in this place
lines of which the following is a translation—
“They overthrew Paqaḫa (Pekah), their king, and I set Ausi’a (Hosea) (upon
the throne) over them. Ten talents of gold, ... talents of silver, ...
their (tribute), I received, and (brought) them (to the land of Assyria).”
The longer account, from which most of the above extracts have been made,
may therefore be completed, with Rost, provisionally, as follows—
“(Pekah, all of whose) cities (I had captured) in my earlier campaigns,
and had given over (as a prey, and whose spoi)l I had carried off,
abandoned the city of Samerina (Samaria) alone. (Pekah), their king, (they
overthrew, and like) a hurricane (I ravaged the land).”
As will be seen, the above agrees closely with the statement in 2 Kings
xv. 30—
“And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of
Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the
20th year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.”
Mutilated details concerning other cities captured by Tiglath-pileser
follow the above extract from his annals, after which the narrative
continues—
“(Mitinti, of the land) of the Askelonites, (sinned) against (my)
agreement, (and revolted against me). He saw (the overthrow of Ra)ṣunnu
(Rezon), and failure (of understanding (?) fell upon him (?), and Rûkipti,
the son of Mitinti), sat upon the throne....”
In the account of the flight and death of Pekah, the Assyrian king
suggests that the abandonment of the king of Israel of his capital was due
to the fear of capture at his hands. One may also suppose that he wished
it to be understood that Pekah incurred the displeasure of his subjects by
his flight, and that they pursued after him, and having overtaken him, put
him to death. As a matter of fact, Pekah must really have fled on account
of the rebellion led by Hoshea, who, on learning of his flight, in all
probability pursued after him, and thus encompassed his death. Hoshea
then, by a payment of tribute to Tiglath-pileser, secured from the
Assyrian king his recognition as king of Israel, and at the same time
assured himself against attack at his hands.
Imitating Hoshea, Rûkipti, the new king of Askelon, also paid tribute, and
thus secured his recognition. As to Rezon, the Assyrian text does not
enable us to see what was his ultimate fate, but as it was such,
apparently, as to terrify Mitinti of Askelon into madness, it may be
supposed that it was death at the orders of the Assyrian king, as recorded
in 2 Kings xvi. 9.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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