2 Kings 18:1
in 2 Kings 18In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
KJV
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
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This verse in 2 Kings 18
Commentary
2 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In the third year - If Hoshea ascended the throne toward the close of the 12th year of Ahaz 2Ki 17:1, and if Ahaz reigned not much more than 15 years 2Ki 16:2, the first of Hezekiah might synchronise in part with Hoshea’s third year. Hezekiah - The name given by our translators follows the Greek form, Ἐζεκίας Ezekias, rather than the Hebrew, which is Hizkiah. Its meaning is “strength of Yahweh.”
This site's exposition
in the third year of Hoshea
on 2 Kings 18:1-3
Hezekiah's reign opens dated against Hoshea's rebellion, the last king Israel will ever have, so Judah's reformer and Israel's collapse are set side by side in one sentence. The formula that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did echoes across the book of Kings as the standard every king is measured against, and few earn it without qualification. David is named as the standard rather than Solomon, whose later years the text has already judged.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
In the third year. Of Hoshei'a's rebellion. 1 See above,:1, and Rashi there. 2 I.e., in the third year of Hoshei'a's rebellion against Ashur and declaring his independence, Chizkiyoh became king.—Metzudas Dovid
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בִּשְׁנַ֣ת | bishnat | in year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| שָׁלֹ֔שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| לְהוֹשֵׁ֥עַ | lehoshea' | of Hoshea | H1954 → | 16 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֵלָ֖ה | ʾelah | Elah | H425 → | 16 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מָלַ֛ךְ | malakh | he became king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| חִזְקִיָּ֥ה | chizkiyah | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| בֶן־ | ven- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָחָ֖ז | ʾachaz | Ahaz | H271 → | 42 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוּדָֽה׃ | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בִּשְׁנַ֣תin year
bishnatH8141 →877 times
שָׁלֹ֔שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
לְהוֹשֵׁ֥עַof Hoshea
lehoshea'H1954 →16 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אֵלָ֖הElah
ʾelahH425 →16 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מָלַ֛ךְhe became king
malakhH4427 →348 times
חִזְקִיָּ֥הHezekiah
chizkiyahH2396 →127 times
בֶן־[the] son of
ven-H1121 →4930 times
אָחָ֖זAhaz
ʾachazH271 →42 times
מֶ֥לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יְהוּדָֽה׃Judah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Chronicles 28:27And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 21:20
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He died, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the…
- 2 Chronicles 24:25
And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his…
- 2 Chronicles 21:20
Through
2 Kings 15:30Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:1
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.
- 2 Kings 17:1
Through
2 Kings 16:20And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
it leads to
- Matthew 1:9
Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
- Isaiah 1:1
This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
- Matthew 1:9
Through
1 Chronicles 3:13Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
it leads to
- 2 Kings 16:1
In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 29:1
Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
- 2 Chronicles 33:1
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
- 2 Kings 16:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
What the record shows
2 entries- Hezekiah — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed
Sennacherib's Prisms ('shut up like a bird in a cage'); Ophel royal bulla (Mazar, scientifically excavated)
Biblical figure (King of Judah, 726-697/696 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.
- Hezekiah Bulla (Ophel)undisputed
Ophel, south of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem · Israel Antiquities Authority
Counterpoint: This bulla came out of Eilat Mazar's controlled excavation and wet-sifting, so its authenticity is not in question — but it was recovered from fill rather than a sealed floor, so it dates the seal, not the layer. The caution scholars do raise concerns the other Hezekiah bullae that surfaced on the antiquities market with no findspot; Christopher Rollston has argued such unprovenanced pieces should not be used as evidence at all.
About 2 Kings

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PersonDivided kingdomHezekiahThe reforming king of Judah who trusted Jehovah against Sennacherib, spread the Assyrian letter before the LORD, was granted fifte…
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Kings.
