[1] See W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel,[2] 415 sqq.; O. C. Whitehouse, _Isaiah_, pp. 20 sqq., 372; J. Skinner, _Kings_, p. 43 seq.; T. K. Cheyne, _Ency. Bib._ col. 2058, n. 1, and references.
[2] The chief dates are: 720, defeat of a coalition (Hamath, Gaza and Musri) at Karkar in north Syria and Raphia (S. Palestine); 715, a rising of Musri and Arabian tribes; 713-711, revolt and capture of Ashdod (cp. Is. xx.). That Judah was invaded on this latter occasion is not improbable.
[3] Meluhha is held by many critics to be N.W. Arabia; the identification of Musri is uncertain, see below.
[4] The phrase was a favourite one of Rib-Addi, king of Gebal (Byblus), in the 15th century B.C.; _Tell-el-Amarna Letters_ (ed. Knudtzon), Nos. 74, 79, &c. Jeremiah (v. 27) uses the simile in a different way. For a discussion of Sennacherib's record, see Wilke, _Jesaja u. Assur_ (Leipzig, 1905), pp. 97 sqq.
[5] For the early date (between 720 and 710), Winckler, _Alttest. Unt._ 139 sqq., Burney, _Kings_, 350 sq.; Driver; Küchler, &c.; for the later, Whitehouse, _Isaiah_, 29 sq., in agreement with Schrader, Wellhausen, W. R. Smith, Cheyne, M'Curdy, Paton, &c.
[6] Isa. x. 28-32 may perhaps refer to this invasion. Allusions to the Assyrian oppression are found in Isa. x. 5-15, xiv. 24-27, xvii. 12-14; and to internal Judaean intrigues perhaps in Isa. xxii. 15-18, xxix. 15. For a picture of the ruins in Jerusalem, see Isa. xxii. 9-11. But see further ISAIAH (BOOK).
[7] See, on the story, Griffith, in D. Hogarth's _Authority and Archaeology_, p. 167, n. 1.
[8] The house of _Nisroch_ should probably be that of the god _Nusku_; see also Driver in Hogarth, _op. cit._ p. 109; Winckler, _op. cit._ p. 84.
[9] It is commonly believed that Hezekiah constructed the conduit of Siloam, famous for its Hebrew inscription (see INSCRIPTIONS, JERUSALEM). But Isa. viii. 6, would seem to show that the pool was already in existence, and, for palaeographical details, see _Pal. Explor. Fund, Quart. Stat._ (1909), pp. 289, 305 sqq.
[10] The name Nehushtan (2 Kings xviii. 4, cp. _nahash_, "serpent") is obscure: see the commentaries.
HIATUS (Lat. for gaping, or gap), a break in continuity, whether in speech, thought or events, a lacuna. In anatomy the term is used for an opening or foramen, as the _hiatus Fallopii_, a foramen of the temporal bone. In logic a hiatus occurs when a step or link in reasoning is wanting; and in grammar it is the pause made for the sake of euphony in pronouncing two successive vowels, which are not separated by a consonant.