Earlier in his reign, Tiglath-pileser had inaugurated the policy of transplanting the populations of conquered areas in order to reduce the possibility of future uprisings, and he now proceeded to deport some of the Israelites. (1Ch 5:6, 26)

Shalmaneser V. Shalmaneser V succeeded Tiglath-pileser III. Hoshea (c. 758-740 B.C.E.), who usurped the throne of Israel, at first submitted to Assyria’s exaction of tribute. Later he conspired with Egypt to free Israel from the Assyrian yoke, and Shalmaneser began a three-year siege of the city of Samaria that eventually brought its fall (740 B.C.E.) and Israel’s exile. (2Ki 17:1-6; 18:9-11; Ho 7:11; 8:7-10) Most reference works state that Shalmaneser died before completing the conquest of Samaria and that Sargon II was king by the time the city finally fell.​—See, however, SARGON; SHALMANESER No. 2.

Sargon II. Sargon’s records speak of the deportation of 27,290 Israelites to locations in the Upper Euphrates and Media. Description is also given of his campaign in Philistia in which he conquered Gath, Ashdod, and Asdudimmu. It was at the time of this campaign that the prophet Isaiah was instructed to warn of the futility of putting trust in Egypt or Ethiopia as a means of protection against the Assyrian aggressor. (Isa 20:1-6) It was perhaps first during Sargon’s reign that people from Babylon and Syria were brought into Samaria to repopulate it, the Assyrian king later sending an Israelite priest back from exile to instruct them in “the religion of the God of the land.”​—2Ki 17:24-28; see SAMARIA No. 2; SAMARITAN.

It appears from Ezra 4:2 that the transplanting of people from and to the northern kingdom of Israel was still continuing in the days of Esar-haddon, which may explain the period of “sixty-five years” in the prophecy at Isaiah 7:8.​—See AHAZ No. 1; ESAR-HADDON.