So

So was an Egyptian pharaoh to whom King Hoshea of Israel sent messengers, likely seeking an alliance against Assyria.

So, mentioned in 2Ki 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.

(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.