2 Kings 18:34
Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
The taunt belongs to the confrontation between Assyria and Judah, when the Assyrian spokesman turned his attack directly against the God of Israel. Standing before Judah, he pointed to the fallen Samaria as his proof, demanding where the gods of Hamath and Arpad and of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah had been when their cities were taken. By listing those conquered peoples and the failure of their gods to rescue them, he argued that Israel's God would likewise be unable to rescue Judah from Assyrian power.
Samaria's overthrow had already caused the surrounding nations to doubt God's power to deliver His people. The Assyrian therefore used that defeat to frame the coming struggle with Judah as a decisive test of strength. The issue at stake was whether the gods of the nations or the God of Israel would prevail.