Interpretative Key 7: Jehu Restored the Southern Calendar in Northern Israel
[Credit: me]
3066: Jehu becomes king of Israel
2 Kings explicitly omits the typical connector between the two kingdoms that would say that Jehu became king of Israel in the first year of Ahaziah king of Judah. This is no doubt in part because of the highly unusual situation of one man killing both the Northern and Southern kings at the same time, but more importantly, Jehu apparently re-established the legitimate Israelite calendar in the Northern kingdom upon assuming the throne (part of his “zeal for the LORD,” per 2 Kings 10:16). This is the only obvious explanation for the shift at this point in how the years are accounted, as well as the lack of needed information to establish early vs. late parts of the year for Northern events from here on out.
The text also omits the typical format for Athaliah’s reign, no doubt because her reign was both illegitimate and deviated in succession so significantly from the progression of David’s line.
Because Jehu became king in early 3066, his reign is accounted as starting in that Southern calendar year, he didn’t start his “first year” until the Southern year of 3067, and the years sync up from there.
Calculations
3066: Joash (J) is born
3066: Athaliah begins reigning over Judah
3073: Joash (J) becomes king of Judah
3073: Athaliah is killed
Joash (J) became king in the seventh year of Jehu (2 Kings 12:1), which would be 3073. Joash (J) was seven years old at the time (2 Kings 11:21; 2 Chronicles 24:1), which means he was born in 3066. That is why he had a nurse when Jehoshabeath stole him away and hid him (2 Kings 11:2): he was still an infant.
Athaliah reigned for six full years (2 Kings 11:3; 2 Chronicles 22:12), which would be from 3067-3072, and then she was deposed in the seventh year (2 Kings 11:4; 2 Chronicles 23:1).
3094: Jehoahaz (I) becomes co-regent with Jehu in Israel
3096: Joash (J) and Jehoiada change the system for repairing the Temple (2 Kings 12:6)
3096: Jehu dies
3096: Jehoahaz (I) becomes sole king of Israel
Jehu reigned for 28 years (2 Kings 10:36), and because he had no co-reign at the beginning of his rule, he must have stopped reigning in 3094.
Jehoahaz (I) began reigning in Israel in the 23rd year of Joash (J) (2 Kings 13:1), which would be 3096. This means Jehu established a co-reign with Jehoahaz (I) in 3094 and then died in 3096.
3088: Amaziah is born (2 Kings 14:2; 2 Chronicles 25:1)
3110: Jehoash (I) becomes co-regent with Jehoahaz (I) in Israel
3111: Jehoahaz (I) dies
3111: Jehoash (I) becomes sole king of Israel
3113: Joash (J) dies
3113: Amaziah becomes king of Judah
3115: Jeroboam II becomes co-regent with Jehoash (I) in Israel
3127: Jehoash (I) dies
3127: Jeroboam II becomes sole king of Israel
3142: Amaziah dies
Joash (J) reigned for 40 years (2 Kings 12:1; 2 Chronicles 24:1), and because he didn’t have a co-reign with his father, he must have stopped reigning in 3113.
Jehoahaz (I) reigned for 17 years (2 Kings 13:1), which started in 3094 and ended in 3111 or started in 3096 and ended in 3113.
Jehoash (I) became king in the 37th year of Joash (J) (2 Kings 13:10), which would be 3110. Therefore, Jehoash (I) began a co-reign with Jehoahaz (I) in 3110, and Jehoahaz (I) died in either 3111 or 3113.
Jehoash (I) reigned for 16 years (2 Kings 13:10), which started in 3110 and ended in 3126, started in 3111 and ended in 3127, or started in 3113 and ended in 3129.
Amaziah became king of Judah in the second year of Jehoash (I) (2 Kings 14:1), which would be either 3112, 3113, or 3115. If he had a co-reign with Joash (J) (which is possible but not necessarily the case, based on the language of 2 Kings 12:21 and 2 Chronicles 24:27), then because Joash (J) stopped reigning in 3113, Amaziah’s two start dates would be 3112 and 3113 or 3113 and 3115. Otherwise, he had a single transition upon the death of Joash (J) in 3113.
Amaziah reigned 29 years (2 Kings 14:2; 2 Chronicles 25:1). The people of Judah had to establish Amaziah’s son Uzziah as king in his place after his death (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 26:1), which, along with Uzziah’s age of 16 at the time he became king, means that Amaziah had no co-reign with Uzziah. Therefore, the 29 years ended with his death, which would be in either 3141, 3142, or 3145.
Amaziah died 15 years after Jehoash (I) (2 Kings 14:17; 2 Chronicles 25:25), which means Jehoash (I) died in 3126, 3127, or 3129.
Jeroboam II has two start dates for the beginning of his reign: the 15th year of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23) and 27 years before the beginning of Uzziah’s reign (2 Kings 15:1). One was the beginning of a co-reign with Jehoash (I), and one was the year Jehoash (I) died.
Note: The only alternative to a relatively long co-reign between Jehoash and Jeroboam is a gap of more than a decade between Amaziah and Uzziah. However, I find it impossible to believe that God would provide no information about such a long period in Judah’s history when there was no king on the throne, especially in 2 Chronicles, which is all about the history of the kings of Judah. Furthermore, why would the people have not simply made Azariah king at a young age? As he became king at 16 (2 Kings 14:21), he would have been three or four years old before the supposed gap. While it’s true that that is awfully young to be a king, there are examples in the Bible of young children becoming kings in Judah, with an advisor overseeing the kingdom while the child is growing: Joash was seven when he became king, and Josiah was eight. Why wait until Azariah was 16? It’s not even the age of adulthood in the Bible (that would be 20). See also the Commentary section below for more justification for choosing the long co-reign option.
That means the two starts dates for Jeroboam II were 3114/3115/3117 and 3127/3128/3130. The former must have been when his co-reign with Jehoash (I) began, and the latter must have been when Jehoash (I) died. However, the only option for Jehoash’s death that works with the previously identified options of 3126/3127/3129 is 3127. Therefore, Jehoash (I) died in 3127.
This means Amaziah started reigning in 3113 and died in 3142. This means there is no evidence of a co-reign between Amaziah and Joash (J), and Joash (J) was murdered in 3113. It also means Jehoahaz (I) died in 3111, and the 16 years of Jehoash (I) ran from 3111 to 3127. Finally, it means Jeroboam II started his co-reign with Jehoash (I) in 3115.
3126: Uzziah is born (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Kings 15:2; 2 Chronicles 26:1; 2 Chronicles 26:3)
3142: Uzziah becomes king of Judah
3169: Jotham is born (2 Kings 15:33; 2 Chronicles 27:1; 2 Chronicles 27:8)
3180: Jeroboam II dies
3180: Zechariah becomes sole king of Israel
3181: Shallum murders Zechariah
3181: Shallum becomes king of Israel
3181: Menahem murders Shallum
3181: Menahem becomes king of Israel
3191: Pekahiah becomes co-regent with Menahem in Israel
3192: Menahem dies
3192: Pekahiah becomes sole king of Israel
3194: Pekah murders Pekahiah
3194: Pekah becomes king of Israel
3194: Jotham becomes co-regent with Uzziah in Judah
3196: Uzziah dies
3196: Jotham becomes sole king of Judah
3214: Hoshea murders Pekah
3214: Hoshea becomes king of Israel
Zechariah became king in the 38th year of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:8), which would be 3180. However, Jeroboam II reigned for 41 years (2 Kings 14:23), which would either have started in 3115 and ended in 3156 or started in 3127 and ended in 3168. This means he had a co-reign with his son that started in either 3156 or 3168, and he died in 3180. We will have to briefly table the question of which year the co-reign started in.
Note carefully that 2 Kings 15:8 says, “In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months.” This is different from other descriptions of royal reigns in the Bible, which would normally say, “In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel, and reigned six months in Samaria.” Why the difference? Because the Jewish accounting system doesn’t have a great way to express absolute lengths of time that cross a New Year line.
In other words, according to the standard system, if a king began ruling a week before the New Year, and he died a week after, he would be said to have reigned “for one year.” But the absolute length of time would be two weeks, so saying “one year” could be misleading. Therefore, this particular way of expressing Zechariah’s reign captured the absolute length of time (six months) while also indicating that he didn’t reign all six months in the same calendar year. Therefore, he began reigning in 3180 (when Jeroboam II died) but was murdered in 3181 (note that Zechariah’s murder shortly after the end of a co-reign with a mighty father parallels the murder of Elah at the hands of Zimri).
Shallum’s reign of “a full month” in the 39th year of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:13) follows the standard format, so his entire reign was in 3181. This is why his killer Menahem was also said to have begun reigning in the 39th year of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:17).
Menahem reigned for ten years (2 Kings 15:17), which means he stopped reigning in 3191. However, his son Pekahiah began reigning in Uzziah’s 50th year (2 Kings 15:23), which would be 3192. Therefore, Pekahiah began a co-reign with Menahem in 3191, and Menahem died in 3192.
Pekahiah was murdered by Pekah in the 52nd year of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:27), which means Pekahiah’s two-year reign (2 Kings 15:23) started with the death of Menahem and ended with his own death. Therefore, Pekahiah was murdered in 3194.
Uzziah reigned 52 years (2 Kings 15:2; 2 Chronicles 26:3), which means he stopped reigning in 3194. However, his son Jotham became king in the second year of Pekah (2 Kings 15:32), which would be 3196. Therefore, Uzziah’s 52 years must have ended when Jotham began a co-reign with him, as described in 2 Chronicles 26:21. Therefore Uzziah died in 3196.
Pekah reigned for 20 years (2 Kings 15:27), which means he was murdered by Hoshea in 3214. Thus the “20th year of Jotham” in which Hoshea began reigning (2 Kings 15:30) would be dated from the beginning of Jotham’s co-reign with Uzziah.
3168: Zechariah becomes co-regent with Jeroboam II in Israel
3190: Ahaz is born (2 Kings 16:2; 2 Chronicles 28:1)
3202: Hezekiah is born (2 Kings 18:2; 2 Chronicles 29:1)
3210: Ahaz becomes co-regent with Jotham in Judah
3211: Ahaz deposes Jotham
3211: Ahaz becomes sole king of Judah
3224: Hoshea becomes king of Israel for the second time
3227: Ahaz dies
3227: Hezekiah becomes king of Judah
3231: Assyria besieges Israel (2 Kings 18:9)
3233: Assyria conquers Israel
Jotham reigned for 16 years (2 Kings 15:33; 2 Chronicles 27:1; 2 Chronicles 27:8), which could be starting in 3194 and ending in 3210 or starting in 3196 and ending in 3212. Ahaz began reigning in the 17th year of Pekah (2 Kings 16:1), which would be 3211.
This means Jotham had two ending points during the reign of Pekah. So why is there a reference to his 20th year when Hoshea began reigning, especially as there is no further information about Jotham that could clarify when he died?
Jotham’s age and reign are repeated in 2 Chronicles 27:1 and 2 Chronicles 27:8, which also happened when Jehoram (J) had an unusual reign that required careful analysis.
This time, instead of a temporary co-reign, I believe Ahaz deposed Jotham and removed him from the throne before his death. This is why Jotham’s death is not relevant to the later progression of kingly reigns, but why Hoshea’s start is still given in terms of Jotham’s reign, as Jotham’s removal from the throne was illegitimate.
There are several pieces of evidence for this theory:
- Despite Jotham being a righteous king, precious little text is devoted to describing his reign in 2 Chronicles 27, which is a noticeably short chapter. This is because Jotham’s reforms and military might were reversed immediately by Ahaz and ultimately accomplished little.
- 2 Chronicles 27:2 draws special attention to the corruption of the Judean people, which would explain why they went along with Ahaz’s overthrow of a legitimate, righteous Davidic king.
- 2 Chronicles 28:19 says that Ahaz “encouraged moral decline in Judah.” A son deposing his righteous, still legitimate father and then acting as if that was an appropriate thing to do would certainly poison the public character of the nation.
- It makes more sense of Isaiah 7, 2 Kings 16, 2 Chronicles 28.
There are three recorded instances in Scripture where Israel and Syria invade Judah during this time period: Isaiah 7, 2 Kings 16, and 2 Chronicles 28 (while Isaiah 7 at first glance appears to be the same invasion as 2 Kings 16, I will explain in the Commentary section why I believe that isn’t the case). There seems to be a contradiction between 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28, as in the former, Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria helps Ahaz, while in the latter, Tiglath-Pileser distresses him.
I propose that Isaiah 7 actually occurred during the reign of Jotham, after the death of Uzziah (especially because Isaiah received his commission as prophet in the year Uzziah died, as recorded in Isaiah 6) but before Ahaz became co-regent. God sent Isaiah to Ahaz, who was terrified (Isaiah 7:2), in an attempt to establish a relationship with the future king and encourage him to trust the Lord for deliverance, but Ahaz reacted petulantly and rebelliously (Isaiah 7:12).
This invasion was the one referenced in 2 Kings 15:37, which says that “in those days [i.e., the days of Jotham] the LORD began to send Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah.” In this invasion, the failure of Syria and Israel to prevail against Judah (Isaiah 7:1) were due to Jotham’s military might (2 Chronicles 27:6).
In 2 Kings 16, Rezin and Pekah again invaded, this time after Ahaz deposed Jotham, no doubt because the two invading kings were eager to take advantage of the chaos in Judah and the removal of Jotham’s might from the throne (and because God was using them for judgment against the wickedness of Ahaz and the people of Judah). While Ahaz was initially able to withstand them (2 Kings 16:5), he knew he needed help, so he sent to the king of Assyria to save him, which worked. Tiglath-Pileser came to his aid and killed Rezin. Ahaz then acted even more unfaithfully by recreating the altar that was in Damascus (note that Ahaz worshipping according to the pattern of the Syrians he had just defeated was similar to what Amaziah did with the gods of Edom).
If Jotham was still on the throne at this time (and we know he was still alive, because Hoshea’s murder of Pekah was given in terms of Jotham’s reign), there is no way he would have allowed the desecration of the Temple worship system Ahaz committed in 2 Kings 16:10-18. This is strong evidence that Jotham had been removed from the throne before his death.
2 Chronicles 28 records a third invasion of Judah by Syria and Pekah, in which Ahaz sent to Tiglath-Pileser, but the king of Assyria distressed him and did not help him. This time, however, Rezin’s name is not mentioned, because he was killed in the second invasion. During this third invasion, Ahaz attempted to use the same gambit of appealing to Assyria that had worked previously. Unfortunately for him, his continual unfaithfulness to the LORD and encouragement of moral decline in his people (as described in 2 Chronicles 18:19 – this would have started in earnest when he deposed Jotham) led to the foolishness of his strategy being exposed: even though he was already being invaded by four different nations, Assyria invaded him as well and made his situation worse (this reflects how our sins seem to be our salvation at first but end up being our ruin in the end).
Therefore, either Ahaz began a co-reign in 3210 and deposed Jotham in 3211 or began a co-reign in 3211 and deposed Jotham in 3212.
Hoshea began ruling in the 12th year of Ahaz (2 Kings 17:1), which would have been in 3222, 3223, or 3224. This cannot refer to the end of a co-reign, as Hoshea gained his throne via conspiracy and murder. The fact that this happened 8-10 years after Hoshea murdered Pekah and that this beginning of a reign is given in terms of Ahaz alone (implying Jotham was dead by this time) suggest an unexplained gap of some sort. I like James B. Jordan’s suggestion that Assyria kept Hoshea in his role of governor (though he declared himself king at first) until Ahaz’s 12th year, at which time the king of Assyria allowed him to reign (Wars and Rumors of Wars [Chronologies and Kings XII]).
Ahaz reigned for 16 years (2 Kings 16:2; 2 Chronicles 28:1), which must have ended in 3226, 3227, or 3228. Hezekiah began ruling in the third year of Hoshea (2 Kings 18:1), which would be in 3225, 3226, or 3227. There is no evidence of a co-reign between Ahaz and Hezekiah (this is particularly important, as after the Assyrian conquest of Israel, there is no more bouncing back and forth between Israel and Judah to provide the contextual clues needed to map out co-reigns), so Ahaz died in either 3226 or 3227.
To figure out the exact timeline of Hezekiah and Hoshea, we need to look to Isaiah 7:8, which states that “within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, so that it will not be a people.” This statement seems bizarre at first, as the destruction of Northern Israel by Assyria happened much sooner than 65 years after the rule of Ahaz. Furthermore, no other event recorded in Scripture seems to fulfill this prophecy, except perhaps Josiah’s cleansing of the North from idol worship, but that happened well over 65 years after Ahaz’s rule.
However, if we consider that Assyria conquered Northern Israel in Hezekiah’s sixth year / Hoshea’s ninth year (2 Kings 17:1; 2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:10), which would be 3232 or 3233, we can work backwards and see if anything significant happened at the time. And indeed, 65 years before 3233 would be 3168, which was one of the two options for the beginning of the co-reign between Jeroboam II and his son Zechariah.
To understand the significance of this, we have to look at 2 Kings 13. In this chapter, during the reign of Jehoahaz, God delivered Israel into the hands of Syria. But Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord gave them a deliverer from the Syrians. Then in the days of Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash, Elisha tried to help Jehoash destroy Syria, but Jehoash responded faithlessly, and so Syria was preserved, although Jehoash did recapture cities from them.
Interestingly, the text also tells us that the Lord’s compassion to Israel during the days of Jehoahaz and Jehoash was because of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God was not willing to destroy Northern Israel yet. In fact, we learn in chapter 14 that God sent Jonah to promise the restoration of Israel’s territory that had been seized by Syria, which was fulfilled by Jeroboam II. God did not blot out Israel’s name, but rather He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam II.
What therefore seems to have happened is that when Jeroboam set his son Zechariah on the throne, it was the end of Jeroboam’s 41 years of might and deliverance of Israel, as well as the beginning of the end for Israel. By the time Isaiah visited Ahaz, Israel had sunk so low from the relative high of Jehu’s day that it was now colluding with Syria, rather than being oppressed by them. Moreover, it was seeking to end the Davidic kingdom in Judah and replace it with a puppet king (Isaiah 7:5-6). Obviously, at this point, Israel was beyond saving.
Therefore, Zechariah’s co-reign with Jeroboam II started in 3168, Assyria conquered Israel in 3233, Hezekiah became king in 3227, Ahaz died in 3227, and Hoshea became king in 3224.
The exact timing of Ahaz’s reign is still unclear, as Jotham’s 16 years and Ahaz’s 16 years are still not fully mapped out, although I believe we can be confident we can move forward no matter what with the correct dating of the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign and the destruction of Israel by Assyria.
Looking at the data in 2 Chronicles, we can see that the length of reign given in that book for a king of Judah who spent time as a co-regent has always started with the year that he became a co-regent:
- Asa is never said to have reigned for 41 years in 2 Chronicles, unlike in 1 Kings 15:10. However, he is said to have died in his 41st year (2 Chronicles 16:13). I believe this unusual construction serves to fit the pattern.
- Jehoram’s eight years are from his co-reign with Jehoshaphat to his own death.
- Ahaziah’s one year is from his co-reign with Jehoram to his own death.
This general rule flows out of Interpretative Key 6, which stated that listed ages of kings of Judah refer to their age when their co-reigns began. Therefore, I believe we are meant to infer that Jotham’s 16 years started with his co-reign with Uzziah in 3194 and ended when he made his son Ahaz co-regent when he turned 20 in 3210. One year later, in 3211, Ahaz deposed Jotham.
Now, this may seem a bit tenuous, especially because it means Ahaz’s 16 years would then have started when he deposed his father, not when his co-regency began. However, given the abnormal circumstances of Ahaz’s reign, it is not out of the question that his reign would have been accounted differently. Until better evidence one way or the other can be found about the beginning of Ahaz’s reign, I think I am justified in adopting this approach for now.
Commentary
Point 1
Jehu began reigning in a Sabbath year (3066), which represented rest for Israel from the corruptive influence of Jezebel, and Joash (J) also began reigning in a Sabbath year (3073), which represented rest for Judah from the corruptive influence of Jezebel’s daughter Athaliah.
Point 2
Athaliah was killed exactly 50 years after Omri moved the capital of Israel to Samaria, which, as previously discussed, was the point in time the corruption in Judah could be traced back to. Thus, this may have represented a sort of metaphorical Jubilee, where in the 50th year, Judah was freed from Samarian oppression and returned to its proper Davidic inheritance.
Point 3
There is a parallel between the start of David’s reign and the start of Amaziah’s reign. David executed the Amalekite who claimed to have murdered David’s adoptive father Saul (2 Samuel 1), who was standing in the way of David becoming king. David also killed the men who murdered Ishbosheth, who was an obstacle to David reigning over the Northern tribes (2 Samuel 4).
All three of the men David executed expected to be rewarded. Perhaps the men who killed Joash also thought to be rewarded by Amaziah for clearing a path to him becoming king. Instead, he put them to death (2 Kings 14:5).
Point 4
There is a potential explanation for the long co-reign between Jehoash (I) and Jeroboam II that started only four years after the death of Jehoahaz (I). Jeroboam II became co-regent in 3115, two years into Amaziah’s solo reign. We know Amaziah was faithful for a time, but then he defeated the Edomites and decided to worship the gods he had captured from them (2 Chronicles 25). God then led Amaziah to challenge Jehoash (I) in battle, which resulted in Jehoash capturing Amaziah, breaking down the wall of Jerusalem, and taking riches and hostages from Jerusalem before returning home.
I would propose that Amaziah’s apostasy happened in 3115, and when Jehoash (I) was challenged by Amaziah and went to face him, he set his son Jeroboam on the throne temporarily, much as Jehoshaphat had set Jehoram (J) on the throne in Judah to attend to governance while he went out to war. However, unlike Jehoram, Jeroboam proved to be mighty (2 Kings 14:28). It’s even possible that he restored Israel’s territory (2 Kings 14:25) while his father was in Judah. Even if not, Jehoash might have considered it useful to keep his son on the throne, because he was such an effective ruler.
Point 5
The co-reign between Jeroboam II and Zechariah was also long (3168-3180). Most likely Jeroboam II set his son on the throne so far in advance in an attempt to train him up and prepare him to follow in his mighty father’s footsteps, possibly in an attempt to avoid God’s promise that Jehu’s sons would only rule through the fourth generation (2 Kings 10:30; 2 Kings 15:12).
Point 6
My justification for putting Isaiah 7 before Ahaz started ruling is that it makes sense of the “Immanuel” prophecies of Isaiah 7-8. Consider: Hezekiah was born in 3202. Ahaz was 20 when he became king, which means he was born in 3190. That means he was 12 when Hezekiah was born.
Let’s say the events of Isaiah 7 occurred in or not long before early 3202 (when Ahaz was a preteen). God’s intention in sending Isaiah to Ahaz was to show the future king the proper path to navigate the judgment on Judah’s wickedness that Rezin and Pekah would represent once he became king (similar to how, in 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat was able through faithfulness to endure the wrath promised him in 2 Chronicles 19:2). When Ahaz rejected the idea of relying on God, Isaiah predicted that a virgin would bear a son, who would be called “Immanuel.” If Ahaz had been married as a child for political reasons, but he hadn’t yet become intimate with his wife (because he hadn’t yet entered puberty), then it’s possible Hezekiah was born via an immaculate conception (he was certainly a type of Christ, and it’s normal for prophecies in the Old Testament to have a near-term fulfillment in addition to their ultimate fulfillment in Christ).
According to Isaiah, before Immanuel would know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that Ahaz dreaded (Ephraim, where Syria’s forces were deployed, as stated in Isaiah 7:2) would be forsaken by both her kings (Isaiah 7:16), i.e., Rezin and Pekah. Rezin was killed while Pekah was still king (as seen in 2 Kings 16), and Pekah was killed in 3214, when Hezekiah was 12. As mentioned previously, the age of accountability (i.e., the age of adulthood) in the Bible is 20, so both kings were dead before Hezekiah was legally old enough to know good from evil.
Isaiah 8 takes place just before the invasion of 2 Kings 16 (Rezin is mentioned as still alive in Isaiah 8:6, but Isaiah 8:3-4 says that Isaiah’s newborn wouldn’t even get his first words out before Assyria’s destruction of Syria and killing of Rezin would happen, as recorded in 2 Kings 16:9). Isaiah 8:6-7 describes Assyria’s eventual conquest of Northern Israel, but then Isaiah 8:8 mentions an Assyrian invasion of Judah, where the king of Assyria would stretch out his wings (i.e., armies) through the land of Immanuel. If Hezekiah was Immanuel, this would be the invasion of Judah by Assyria in the 14th year of Hezekiah, as recorded in 2 Kings 18-19.
Note that Sennacherib spread his forces throughout Judah (2 Kings 18:13), but only “reached up to the neck” (Isaiah 8:8), in that he didn’t capture Jerusalem. Isaiah’s reassurance to Hezekiah that God would deliver Judah in 2 Kings 19:5-7 is even more impactful when you realize that Isaiah had received the prophecy of Isaiah 8 (indicating that Judah would not be overcome) many years earlier, before Hezekiah even became king.
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