Ahaz, Invasion and the Mercy of Samaria

"He burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire." Aram carries away many captives; "Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day." The Israelites take 200,000 women, sons and daughters to Samaria.

Oded the prophet: "And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again." The leaders of Ephraim "clothed all that were naked among them… and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren."

"At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him." Edomites and Philistines raid. "And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not." "For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him." He cuts up the temple vessels and "shut up the doors of the house of the LORD."

The Good Samaritans

Many readers see in the men of Samaria who clothe, feed, anoint and carry the captives on donkeys to Jericho the background of Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37), which also involves Samaria, Jericho, oil and a donkey.

Assyrian records

Tiglath-pileser III's inscription lists "Jehoahaz (Ahaz) of Judah" among his tributaries. Chronicles says the alliance gave Ahaz no help; 2 Kings 16:9 says Assyria took Damascus.

4Q118

The only possible Chronicles fragment from Qumran, 4Q118, corresponds roughly to 2 Chronicles 28:27–29:3; its first column has no known parallel, and whether it is a copy of Chronicles is disputed.

Numbers

The library's Greek has 300,000 captives instead of 200,000; not checked in a Greek edition.