r against the kingdom of Israel (_Vitringa_, _Proleg. in Is._
p. 6) is described as being already past, and a second invasion is
threatened. But the first expedition of Shalmaneser, reported in 2
Kings xvii. 1 seqq., is almost contemporaneous with the beginning of
Hezekiah's reign. For it was directed against Hoshea, king of Israel,
who began his reign in the twelfth [Pg 170] year of that of Ahaz, which
lasted sixteen years. The exact harmony of the passage in Hosea with
that in 2 Kings xvii. is very evident. In 2 Kings xvii. 3, it is said:
"Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became
his servant and gave him tribute." This was the first expedition of
Shalmaneser. Then followed the second expedition, which was caused by
the rebellion of Hoshea,--in consequence of which Samaria was taken and
the people carried away. In Hos. x. 14, 15, it is said: "And tumult
ariseth against thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as
Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle; the mother was dashed
in pieces upon (her) children. So shall he do unto you, Bethel, because
of your great wickedness in the dawn of the morning, destroyed,
destroyed shall be the king of Israel." Hosea here declares that the
beginning of the destruction by Shalmaneser is the prophecy of the end
of the kingdom of Israel. The "morning dawn" is the time of apparently
reappearing prosperity, when, according to _Cocceius_, a time of peace
begins to shine. In Amos iv. 13, v. 8, the prosperity again dawning
upon the kingdom of Israel is likewise expressed by "morning" and
"morning dawn." The identity of Beth-arbel and Arbelah in Galilee can
the less be doubted, because recent researches have rendered it certain
that this place, now called _Irbid_, was an important fortress.
(Compare _Muenchener gelehrte Anzeigen_ 1836, S. 870 ff.; _Robinson_,
iii. 2, p. 534; _v. Raumer_, S. 108.) The use of Beth-arbel, instead of
the more common Arbelah, as well as that of Shalman instead of
Shalmaneser, belongs to the higher style. At the first expedition, the
decisive battle had, no doubt, taken place at Arbelah. They who
disconnect this passage from 2 Kings xvii. do not know what to make of
it. _Simson_ complains of the darkness resting on the passage under
consideration.--But Hos. xii. 2 (1) likewise leads us to the very last
times of the kingdom of Israel,--those times when Hoshea endeavoured to
free himself from the Assyrian servitude by the