And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was plotting against him. Hoshea had sent messengers to So, the king of Egypt, and had stopped bringing his yearly tribute payments to the king of Assyria as he had done before. Because of this, the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
This verse describes how King Hoshea of Israel was imprisoned by Assyria after he tried to form an alliance with Egypt and stopped paying his required tribute.
📚 Historical Context
This occurred around 724 BC when Hoshea, the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel, attempted to break free from Assyrian control by seeking help from Egypt. Israel had been paying tribute (taxes/protection money) to Assyria for years as a vassal state. Hoshea's rebellion led to Assyria's final conquest of Israel and the exile of its people in 722 BC.
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