Egyptian pharaoh to whom King Hoshea sent messengers.
So
Named in 1 verse of 2 Kings, first in 2 Kings 17:4.
סוֹאSo
The name means “a measure for grain; vail.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869
- People
- Egypt
About So Written by AI
So, mentioned in 2 Kings 17:4, was an Egyptian pharaoh during the reign of King Hoshea of Israel (732-722 BC). Hoshea, the last king of Israel before the Assyrian conquest, sought to establish an alliance with Egypt to counter the growing threat of Assyria. The biblical text states that Hoshea sent messengers to So, indicating an attempt at diplomatic relations. However, this action was seen as a rebellion against Assyria, to whom Israel was paying tribute. As a result, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser attacked Israel, captured Hoshea, and besieged the capital city of Samaria for three years. The city eventually fell, and the people of Israel were deported to Assyria, marking the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. The identity of So is not certain, but some scholars suggest that he may have been Osorkon IV, a pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled from Tanis in the Nile Delta region.
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
(Nubian, Sabako), an Ethiopian king who brought Egypt under his sway. He was bribed by Hoshea to help him against the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:4). This was a return to the policy that had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I.
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
Where the Bible names him
- 2 Kings 17:4
But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.