Shalmaneser

Shalmaneser is the king of Assyria whose campaign against Hoshea brings the northern kingdom of Israel to its end. He is named in two parallel notices in 2 Kings — once at the start of the campaign, once dated to Hezekiah's reign — and the surrounding verses follow the same arc through tribute, conspiracy, three-year siege, and deportation.

The Campaign Against Hoshea

Hoshea son of Elah is on the throne in Samaria when Assyria moves: "Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his slave, and brought him tribute" (2Ki 17:3). The vassalage does not hold. Hoshea conspires by sending messengers to So king of Egypt and withholding the annual tribute, and the king of Assyria responds by shutting him up and binding him in prison (2Ki 17:4). The land is then overrun, and Samaria itself is besieged for three years (2Ki 17:5). In the ninth year of Hoshea, the city falls, Israel is carried away to Assyria, and the deportees are placed in Halah, on the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes (2Ki 17:6).

The Same Siege Dated to Hezekiah

The chronicler returns to the same events in the next chapter and re-anchors them on the southern timeline: "And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it" (2Ki 18:9). The siege again lasts three years, and Samaria is taken in Hezekiah's sixth year — the ninth year of Hoshea (2Ki 18:10). The deportation list repeats verbatim: Halah, the Habor, the river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes (2Ki 18:11). The two notices together fix Shalmaneser as the named agent who opens the siege, with the actual fall of the city framed as an outcome of "the king of Assyria" without re-using the personal name.