In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz of Judah began to reign — Hezekiah (חִזְקִיָּה, *Chizkiyyah*, 'the LORD is my strength') accedes to the throne synchronized with Israel's collapse in the final Assyrian siege. Hezekiah emerges as the great reformer, born of the apostate Ahaz yet fundamentally rejecting his father's spiritual apostasy and Assyrian vassalage. The synchronism with Hoshea's reign places Hezekiah among Israel's final kings, yet Hezekiah will prove to be the last great Davidic king before the exile. His accession represents the theological turning point: from apostasy toward reform.

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