Halah

Halah is one of the destinations where the Assyrians resettled Israelite exiles, named together with Habor, the river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes.

The Northern Kingdom Deported to Halah

When Samaria falls in the ninth year of Hoshea, the deportation route is recorded twice with nearly identical language. "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" (2 Ki 17:6). The summary in the next chapter repeats the placement: "And the king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes," (2 Ki 18:11).

The Trans-Jordan Tribes to Halah

The Chronicler extends the picture to the earlier Assyrian deportation of the Trans-Jordanian tribes. "And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day" (1 Chr 5:26).