SHALMAN

(Shalʹman).

The despoiler of the house of Arbel whom Hosea mentions when prophesying against the faithless northern kingdom of Israel. Though neither Shalman nor Arbel are otherwise mentioned in the Bible, Hosea’s incidental but emphatic reference to them suggests that the incident was apparently fresh in the mind of his audience.—Hos. 10:14.

The Annals of Tiglath-pileser III refer to a prince of Moab named Salamanu, but there is no historical basis for connecting him with a “despoiling” in Israel.

Shalman is therefore most generally thought to be a shortened form of “Shalmaneser,” the name of five Assyrian kings. Shalmaneser V emerges as the most likely person here referred to, for toward the end of Hosea’s period of prophesying, Shalmaneser V invaded Israel and laid siege to Samaria.