2 Kings 18:10 - Exposition

And at the end of three years they took it. The expression, "at the end of three years," does not show that the three years were complete. On the contrary, as the siege Began in Hezekiah's fourth year, probably in the spring, and was over in his sixth, say, by the autumn, the entire duration was not more than two years and a half. The plural verb, יִלְכְּדֻהָ , "they took it," is remarkable, since it would have seemed more natural to write יִלְכְּדָהּ , "he took it"—and so the LXX ; the Vulgate, and the Syriac—but the writer seems to have known that Shalmaneser did not take it, but died during the siege, the capture falling into the first year of Sargon. Even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea King of Israel (see the comment on 2 Kings 18:9 ), Samaria was taken .