Jeremy Goldberg, «Two Assyrian Campaigns against Hezehiah and Later Eight Century Biblical Chronology», Vol. 80 (1999) 360-390
The massive Assyrian invasion of Judah in 701 (reflected in 2 Kgs 18,13b; 18,1719,37) has apparently been confused with an earlier, limited invasion in Hezekiahs 14th year (reflected in 2 Kgs 18,13a.14-16; 2 Kgs 20; 2 Chr 32; Isa 22). Historically, this earlier campaign can best be dated to 712, when Sargon II apparently led the Assyrian royal guard on a Palestinian campaign. Chronologically, this dating fits perfectly with e.g. recent dating of the definitive fall of Samaria (2 Kgs 18,9: in Hezekiahs 6th year) to 720. 2 Kgs 18,9s parallel dating to Hosheas 9th year agrees with his apparent accession in 731 or 729. Dating Menahems death to 743 (as required, following biblical data, to avoid a triple overlap among Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz) agrees with Eponym Chronicle evidence for this dating of 2 Kgs 15,19-20s presumably already desperate fiasco, and is consistent with a plausibly composite 738 tribute-list naming Menahem. Combining these datings produces a workable later 8th century biblical chronology.
Other difficulties, arising from the beginning of 2 Kgs 18,1319,37, appear to be more pregnant for biblical history.
As currently very widely accepted, 2 Kgs 18,13s dating of Sennacheribs massive invasion (v. 13b) to year 14 of Hezekiah (v. 13a) appears untenable because other biblical evidence bearing on the dating of this regnal year clearly places it prior to 701 (so e.g. 2 Kgs 16,2.5-9; 18,10; Isa 14,28-32)5.
2 Kgs 18,14-16 is widely thought to tally with events in 701, but actually fits very poorly with these events, as recently emphasized by Seitz6, since it reports a smaller amount of Judaean tribute sent to Lachish during the Assyrian campaign. This surrender on terms also appears to contradict 2 Kgs 18,1719,37, which relates a continuing conflict ending with an Assyrian setback.
These discrepancies can both be resolved by setting 2 Kgs 18,14-16 during an Assyrian campaign in year 14 of Hezekiah that actually preceded the massive invasion in 2 Kgs 18,13b; 18,1719,37 / 701 (but had already been confused with it by the time 2 Kgs 18,13 was written)7. Such a sequence fits very well with the lesser tribute and (to all appearances) less extensive invasion in 2 Kgs 18,14-16. An obvious objection is that a pre-701 Assyrian campaign against Hezekiah would clearly have been the work of Sargon II rather than Sennacherib, who did not campaign in the west before 701. However confusion on this point is hardly unthinkable for a limited invasion.
Strong support for such confusion arises from recent recognition that the definitive conquest of Samaria in 2 Kgs 17,6 implicitly assigned to Shalmaneser V by vv. 3-6 (cf. also v. 5 with 2 Kgs 18,9)