Sargon II (reigned 722–705 BC) is named only once in the Old Testament, Isaiah 20:1, where he sends his commander (the Tartan) against Ashdod, yet he is the "king of Assyria" behind one of the Bible's hinge events (ISBE, "Sargon"). In his own copious annals he credits himself with the capture of Samaria and records deporting 27,290 of its inhabitants, the end of the ten northern tribes as a kingdom, which 2 Kings 17:6 reports as "the king of Assyria carried Israel away unto Assyria." The two accounts name the same event from two sides: Scripture's "king of Assyria" and Sargon's first-person boast. He built a vast new capital, Dur-Sharrukin ("Sargon's fort"), and was killed in battle in 705 BC, the empire then at its height. (Source: ISBE 1915, "Sargon"; "Assyria," XIV.3, the 27,290 figure is from Sargon's own inscription.)
Empires and rulers of the Old Testament world
Sargon II: the fall of the northern kingdom
RulerAssyria
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- Isaiah 20:1bsb
Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
- 2 Kings 17:6bsb
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
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