ISRAEL - How King Hezekiah Paid Taxes
The Assyrian Empire’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE is mentioned in the Bible, in Assyrian records and later, by ancient historians such as Herodotus. By scholarly consensus, the siege is one of the most well-known biblical episodes and is considered to have definitely, historically occurred.
As part of unifying the empire under its new ruler King Sennacherib, the Assyrians moved to quash rebellions by states in the region, including the Kingdom of Judah then ruled by King Hezekiah. According to the biblical account, the Assyrians ravaged the country surrounding Jerusalem and laid siege to the city, but his army was disrupted by a plague that caused thousands of deaths among his troops.
Both the Bible and Assyrian records agree that the Assyrians did not conquer Jerusalem. They returned home after Hezekiah agreed to continue to pay tribute to the empire while maintaining nominal independence.
Now, recent excavations near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona have shown, for the first time, clues to how the Assyrian campaign impacted the economy in the Jerusalem area and how these Judean tributes were organized, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said.
The dig was undertaken ahead of the construction of Mordot Arnona, a new neighborhood in southern Jerusalem being built near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. The excavation revealed two large 8th-century BCE agricultural administrative buildings, one destroyed and the other built on its ruins shortly after, along with 180 ceramic jar handles engraved with Hebrew inscriptions indicating ownership of the contents.
“As the Assyrians were still interested in the agricultural produce and taxes Judah could provide, they did allow for the existence of an independent Judahite administration… but intensified its heavy economic demands,” the archaeologists said.
-www.timesofisrael.com, 11 October 2024
Arno's Commentary
The Bible documents the answer to King Hezekiah’s prayer: “Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years” (Isaiah 38:5).
He is known as a righteous king who was the son of the ungodly king, Ahaz. Second Kings 18:7-8 records: “And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.”
Noticeable is the mention of Gaza, which has experienced destruction by the Israeli military due to Hamas’ horrible murder of civilians on 7 October 2023.
What is also apparent is that wherever Israel digs due to construction, the past is discovered as recorded in the Bible, and confirmed by undeniable archaeological evidence.
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
