the Fourth Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Shalmaneser
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Heb. id. שִׁלְמִנְאֶסֶר, signif. uncertain [according to Von Bohlen, fire- worshipper, with which Gesenius agrees]; on the monuments Salmanuzzur, or Salman-aser; Sept. Σαλαμανασσάρ, but in Tobit Ε᾿νεμέσαρος by some error; Josephus, Σαλμανασσάρης; Vulg. Salmanasar) was the Assyrian king who reigned immediately before Sargon, and probably immediately after Tiglath-pileser. He was the fourth Assyrian monarch of the same name (Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies, 2, 135 sq.). Very little is known of him, since Sargon, his successor, who was of a different family, and most likely a rebel against his authority, seems to have destroyed his monuments. He was contemporary with So of Egypt (2 Kings 17:4). He can scarcely have ascended the throne earlier than B.C. 730, and may possibly not have done so till a few years later. (See TIGLATH-PILESER).
It must have been soon after, his accession that he led the forces of Assyria into Palestine, where Hoshea, the last king of Israel, had revolted against his authority (2 Kings 17:3) No sooner had he come than Hoshea submitted, acknowledged himself a "servant" of the great king, and consented to pay him a fixed tribute annually. Shalmaneser upon this returned home; but soon afterwards he "found conspiracy in Hoshea," who had concluded an alliance with the king of Egypt, and withheld his tribute in consequence. In B.C. 723 Shalmaneser invaded Palestine for the second time, and, as Hoshea refused to submit, laid siege to Samaria. The siege lasted to the third year (B.C. 720), when the Assyrian arms prevailed; Samaria fell; Hoshea was taken captive and shut up in prison, and the bulk of the Samaritans were transported from their own country to Upper Mesopotamia (2 Kings 17:4-6; 2 Kings 18:9-11). It is uncertain whether Shalmaneser conducted the siege to its close, or whether he did not lose his crown to Sargon before the city was taken. Sargon claims the capture as his own exploit in his first year; and Scripture, it will be found, avoids saying that Shalmaneser took the place.
In 2 Kings 17:6, the expression is simply "the king of Assyria took it." In 2 Kings 18:9-10, we find, still more remarkably, "Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria and besieged it; and at the end of three years they took it." Perhaps Shalmaneser died before Samaria, or perhaps, hearing of Sargon's revolt, he left his troops, or a part of them, to continue the siege, and returned to Assyria, where he was defeated and deposed (or murdered) by his enemy. According to Josephus, who professes to follow the Phoenician history of Menander of Ephesus, Shalmaneser engaged in an important war with Phoenicia in defense of Cyprus (Ant. 9, 14, 2). It is possible that he may have done so, though we have no other evidence of the fact; but it is perhaps more probable that: Josephus or Menander made some confusion between him and Sargon, who certainly warred with Phoenicia and set up a memorial in Cyprus. Ewald (Isr. Gesch. 3, 315) supposes these events to have preceded even Hoshea's alliance with Egypt, but this is improbable (Knobel, Jesa. p. 139 sq.). According to Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 48), he was perhaps the same with Sargon, but this is doubtful. It may yet turn out, however, that he was only a deputy or viceroy, and in that case the discrepancies in this part of the history will receive a ready solution. (See SARGON).
These files are public domain.
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Shalmaneser'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/shalmaneser.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
