Osnappar (אָסְנַפַּר) is identified in Ezra 4:10 as "the great and honorable Osnappar" who deported peoples and settled them in Samaria and other cities beyond the Euphrates. Most scholars identify him with Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (668–627 BC), grandson of Sennacherib, who ruled at the height of Assyrian power.
The mention of Osnappar in Ezra reminds the reader that Israel's exile was not accidental but divinely permitted through pagan instruments. Assyria and Babylon were the rods of God's discipline (Isaiah 10:5). Yet these empires ultimately served His purpose — scattering and then regathering, humbling and then restoring. History's greatest powers are, in Scripture's frame, servants of the God of Israel whether they know it or not. "For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?" (Isaiah 14:27).