2 Kings 16:9

“And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him, etc.] Complied with his request: for the king of Syria went up against Damascus, and took it; the metropolis of the kingdom of Syria, and so made a powerful diversion in favour of the king of Judah: and carried the people of it captive to Kir; not Cyrene, as the Vulgate Latin version, a country belonging to Egypt, which the king of Assyria had no power over; but a place in upper Media, as Josephus f186 relates, which belonged to the Assyrian king; (see <232206>Isaiah 22:6), compared with (<122102>2 Kings 21:2), of this captivity Amos had prophesied some time before, (Amos 1:5) and slew Rezin; the king of Syria, which also was foretold in the same…”

“The submission of Judah, which Ahaz proffered, would be of the utmost importance in connection with any projects that might be entertained of Egyptian conquests. Naturally, Damascus was the first object of attack. It was the head of the confederacy, and it lay nearest to an army descending upon Lower Syria, as all Asiatic armies would descend, from the north. It appears from an inscription of Tiglath-pileser’s, that Rezin met him in the field, was defeated, and slain. An attack upon Pekah followed. Now probably it was that the entire trans-Jordanic region was overrun: and that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, were carried into captivity 1 Chronicles 5:26. Megiddo…”

“16:9 The location of Kir is unknown; it was the original home of the Arameans (Amos 9:7).”

“am 3264, bc 740 went up: Ch2 28:5, Foretold, Amo 1:3-5 Damascus: Heb. Dammesek Kir: Josephus informs us that this place was in Upper Media; and it is clear that it must be understood of some city or country in the dominions of the king of Assyria. It is highly probable that it was the country on the banks of the river Κυρος, Cyrus, or Kyrus, now called Kur, or Kura; and we find cities called Cyropolis, Cyrena, and Carine, mentioned by writers as lying in these parts, and a part of Media, called Syromedia, as it is thought, from the Syrians who were carried captive thither. Isa 22:6; Amo 9:7 slew Rezin: Isa 7:16, Isa 9:11 4 Kings (2 Kings) 16:10”

“Tiglath-pileser then marched against Damascus, took the city, slew Rezin, and led the inhabitants away to Kir, as Amos had prophesied ( Amo 1:3-5). קיר, Kir, from which, according to Amo 9:7, the Aramaeans had emigrated to Syria, is no doubt a district by the river Kur (Κῦρος, Κύῤῥος), which taking its rise in Armenia, unites with the Araxes and flows into the Caspian Sea, although from the length of the river Kur it is impossible to define precisely the locality in which they were placed; and the statement of Josephus (Ant. ix. 13, 3), that the Damascenes were transported εἰς τὴν ἄνω Μηδίαν, is somewhat indefinite, and moreover has hardly been derived from early historical sources…”