sary for purposes of defence,
namely, ten thousand foot-soldiers, fifty horsemen, and ten chariots.**

* 2 Kings xii. 4-16; cf. 2 Chron. xxiv. 1-14. The beginning
of the narrative is lost, and the whole has probably been
modified to make it agree with 2 Kings xxii. 3-7.

** 2 Kings xiii. 1-7. It may be noticed that the number of
foot-soldiers given in the Bible is identical with that
which the Assyrian texts mention as Ahab's contingent at the
battle of Qarqar, viz. 10,000; the number of the chariots is
very different in the two cases. Kuenen and other critics
would like to assign to the reign of Jehoahaz the siege of
Samaria by the Syrians, which the actual text of the Book of
the Kings attributes to the reign of Joram.

The power of Israel had so declined that Hazael was allowed to march
through its territory unhindered on his way to wage war in the country
of the Philistines; which he did, doubtless, in order to get possession
of the main route of Egyptian commerce. The Syrians destroyed Gath,*
reduced Pentapolis to subjection, enforced tribute from Edom, and then
marched against Jerusalem. Joash took from the treasury of Jahveh the
reserve funds which his ancestors, Jehoshaphat, Joram, and Ahaziah, had
accumulated, and sent them to the invader,** together with all the gold
which was found in the king's house.

* The text of 2 Kings xii. 17 merely says that Hazael took
Gath. Gath is not named by Amos among the cities of the
Philistines (Amos. i. 6-8), but it is one of the towns cited
by that prophet as examples to Israel of the wrath of Jahveh
(vi. 2). It is probable, therefore, that it was already
destroyed in his time.

** 2 Kings xii. 17, 18; cf. 2 Chron. xxiv. 22-24, where the
expedition of Hazael is represented as a punishment for the
murder of Mechariah, son of Jehoiada.

From this time forward Judah became, like Israel, Edom, the Philistines
and Ammonites, a mere vassal of Hazael; with the possible exception of
Moab, all the peoples of Southern Syria were now subject to Damascus,
and formed a league as strong as that which had successfully resisted
the power of Shalmaneser. Ramman-nirari, therefore, did not venture to
attack Syria during the lifetime of Hazael; but a change of sovereign
is always a critical moment in the history of an Eastern empire, and he
took advantage of the confusion caused by the de