* Both of these Aroers lay beyond Jordan—­one in Reuben, afterwards Moab (Judg. xi. 26; Jer. xlviii. 19); the other in Amnion, afterwards Gad (Josh. xiii. 25; 2 Sam. xxiv. 5); here they stand for the countries beyond Jordan which Tiglath-pileser had just laid waste.  The tradition preserved in 1 Citron, v. 26 stated that these inhabitants of Gad and Reuben were led into captivity by Pul, i.e.  Tiglath-pileser.

“The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria:  they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts!  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.  And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing corn, and his arm reapeth the ears; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Ephraim.  Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, saith Jahveh, the God of Israel!...  In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood, and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel:* and it shall be as a desolation.  For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation."**

     * This is probably an allusion to the warlike exploits
     performed during Rezin and Pekah’s invasion of Judaea, a
     year or two previously.

     ** Isa. xvii. 1-6, 9, 10.

Samaria was doomed to helplessness for many a day to come, if not for ever, but it had taken a whole year to lay it low (733); Tiglath-pileser returned in 732, and devoted yet another year to the war against Damascus.  Eezin had not been dismayed by the evil fortune of his friends, and had made good his losses by means of fresh alliances.  He had persuaded first Mutton II. of Tyre, then Mitinti of Askalon, and with the latter a section of the Philistines, to throw in their lot with him; he had even won over Shamshieh, queen of the Arabs, and with her a number of the most warlike of the desert tribes; for himself, he had taken up a position on the further side of Anti-Lebanon, and kept strict watch from Mount Hermon on the roads leading from the valley of the Jordan to the plains of the Abana, in order to prevent the enemy from outflanking him and taking him in the rear.  But all to no purpose; Tiglath-pileser bore directly down upon him, overwhelmed him in a pitched battle, obliged him to take refuge behind the walls of Damascus, and there besieged him.

[Illustration:  288.jpg MOUNT HERMON]

     Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph brought back by Lortet.

The city was well fortified, amply supplied with provisions, and strongly garrisoned; the siege was, therefore, a long one, and the Assyrians filled up the time by laying waste the fertile country at the foot of Anti-Lebanon.  At last Rezin yielded, gave himself up unconditionally, and was forthwith executed:  eight thousand of his followers were carried off to Kir, on the confines of Elam,* his kingdom was abolished, and a Ninevite governor was installed in his palace, by whom the former domain of Damascus and the territory lately wrested from Israel were henceforth to be administered.