Hezekiah (jan 1, 716 BC – jan 1, 687 BC)

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2 Kings 18:9-10: Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured.

There are some thorny issues in the timeline of Hezekiah's reign:

1) We know the Siege of Jerusalem happened in 701 BCE based on extra-biblical evidence. 2 Kings 18:13 places that in the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign, giving a starting point of 716 BCE.

2) However, 2 Kings 18:1 says he became king in the 3rd year of Hoshea, king of Israel, which would have been 728 BCE.

This discrepancy is generally avoided by asserting that Hezekiah served as co-regent with his father Ahaz from a young age, but officially took over the throne in 716 BCE. Co-regency was common in other nations, and is attested to in the reigns of other kings of Israel and Judah, including Ahaz and Jotham.

This timeline also works out with Isaiah's prophecy, though it requires Ahaz to have fathered Hezekiah at the age of 11 (not unheard of in the ancient world).

Alternatively, Robb Andrew Young (in "Hezekiah in History and Tradition") asserts that he was born in 735 BCE, became king in 725 BCE at the age of ten, and had a three-year co-regency with his father Ahaz.

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