The Second Book of the Kings, commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings
2 Kings 15
Chapter XV · Vol. II, pp. 787–790
1 Azariah's good reign. 5 He dying a leper Jotham succeedeth. 8 Zachariah, the last of Jehu's generation, reigning ill, is slain by Shallum. 13 Shallum, reigning a month, is slain by Menahem. 16 Menahem strengtheneth himself by Pul. 21 Pekahiah succeedeth him. 23 Pekahiah is slain by Pekah. 27 Pekah is oppressed by Tiglath-pileser, and slain by Hoshea. 32 Jotham's good reign. 36 Ahaz succeedeth him.
1 In the twenty and seventh year1 of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah2 son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
B.C. 810.
1 Perhaps the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam's partnership in the kingdom with his father, who made him consort at his going to the Syrian wars; but the sixteenth year of Jeroboam's monarchy.
2 Dr. Kennicott complains of the corruption in the name of this king of Judah, which is expressed in four different ways in this chapter—Ozriah, Oziah, Ozrihu, and Ozihu. But the oldest Hebrew MS. reads here and in ver. 6, 7, Uzziah, which is supported by the Syriac and Arabic versions, by the parallel place in Chronicles, by Josephus, and by St. Matthew's genealogy, where it is Ozias, not Azarias. This is also the reading at ver. 32, 34 of the present chapter.—I.
2 Sixteena years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
a 2 Ch.26.1,3,4. ch.14.21; 12.2,3. Is.56.9,10.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;3
3 That is, he obeyed the divine commands as far as Amaziah, who at first reigned well, but lapsed into pride through success, and then into idolatry, wherefore God gave him up to foreign and domestic enemies. See notes on ch. 14. 3, 13.—C.
4 Save that the bhigh places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
b 1 Ki.15.14; 22.43. ch.12.3; 14.4; ver.35.
5 And the LORD csmote4 the king,5 so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house:6 and Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.
c 2 Ch.26.16-21. Job 34.19. Le.13.46. Nu.12.10.
4 B.C. 763.
5 For his proud and presumptuous intrusion into the sanctuary, 2 Ch. 26. 16-21.—Note, We may neither seek to be wise above what is written, nor worship God but as he himself has authorized and required.—C.
6 A house separate from intercourse with others, according to the law, Le.13.46.—C.
6 And the drest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
d 1 Ki.11.41,43; 14.29,31; 15.7,8,23,24; 22.45,50. ch.8.23,24.
7 So Azariah slept with his fathers;7 and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
7 B.C. 758.
8 In the ethirty and eighth year8 of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
A.M. 3246. B.C. 758.
e There having been an interregnum of eleven years, ch.14.29.
8 B.C. 773.
9 And he fdid that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
f ch.10.31; 13.2,11; 14.24; 3.3. 1 Ki.12.26-33; 15.26,34; 16.26.
10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired9 against him, and gsmote him before the people,1 and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
9 B.C. 772.
g As prophesied, Am.7.9. Ho.1.4. 1 Ki.16.9. 2 Ch.21.20. ver.14,25,30.
1 Not in secret, but in public as a criminal, and with full consent and approbation of the people, to whom he had become obnoxious.—C.
11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
12 This was hthe word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.
13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned ia full2 month3 in Samaria.
i 1 Ki.16.15. Ps.55.23. Pr.28.2.
2 Heb. a month of days.
3 An instructive example of the brief period allotted to the successful sinner.—C.
14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from kTirzah, and came to lSamaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
k 1 Ki.14.17; 15.21,33; 16.8,9,15.
l 1 Ki.16.24,28,29. ch.13.1,9,10; ver.8,13.
15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
16 Then Manahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah:4 because they mopened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he nripped up.
4 We have no reason to believe that there were two cities of the name Tiphsah. The city here referred to was situated on the Euphrates, at a ford. It was called by the Greeks Thapsacus. The English version would here convey the impression that Tiphsah must have been near Tirzah, and consequently in the tribe of Ephraim; but the Hebrew may be rendered thus:—'Setting out from Tirzah Menahem smote Tiphsah,' &c.—P.
m Ju.8.5-17.
17 In the nine and thirtieth year5 of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.6
5 B.C. 772.
6 So far as we learn from the record, he was more wicked than Shallum, yet Providence grants him a longer reign. Is this just? Rather, are we able to judge of Providence? We see what Shallum was; do we know what he might have become? God giveth account of none of his ways. But we see that Menahem, who came to riches and power by domestic treason and cruelty, was soon plundered by a foreign invader.—C.
18 And ohe did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
o 1 Ki.12.26-33; 13.33; 15.26; 16.2,9. ch.3.3; ver.9,28.
19 And pPul the king of Assyria7 came8 against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver[≈ 34 tonnes · 34 tons · silver worth ≈ US$59 million],9 that his hand might be with him to qconfirm the kingdom in his hand.
p 1 Ch.5.26. De.28.25-52. Is.9.1.
7 By heathen authors called Pul Belochus. By aid of Arbaces the Mede he vanquished Sardanapalus, the last monarch of Assyria, and was the first king of Babylon and Assyria. As this was in the time of Jonah, ch. 14. 25, it has been conjectured that he was the unnamed monarch who repented at his preaching.—C.
8 B.C. 769.
9 About £342,185, 15s. sterling.
q ver.14; ch.14.5. Je.17.5.
20 And Menahem exacted1 the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver[≈ 570 g · 1.3 lb · silver worth ≈ US$980],2 to give to the king of Assyria: so the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
1 Heb. caused to come forth.
2 £5, 4s. [This was a poll-tax of about £6, 5s. a head to 60,000 of his subjects. It is the first instance, either in Israel or Judah, of money raised by taxation for a public object. In Judah, at least, such exigencies were met from the treasuries of the temple or the crown.—I.]
21 Andr the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?
A.M. 3235. B.C. 769.
r 1 Ki.14.19,20; 15.31; 16.5,6,20,27,28; 22.39,40. ch.1.18; 10.34,35; ver.11,15,26,31.
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned stwo years.
s Job 20.5. 1 Ki.15.25; 16.8; 22.51. Pr.28.2.
24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
25 But tPekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, uconspired4 against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites:5 and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
u 1 Ki.15.27; 16.9. ch.9.14; ver.10,30.
4 B.C. 759.
5 It seems most probable, from the construction of the Hebrew, that Argob and Arieh were slain with the king, and that the fifty Gileadites were Pekah's assistants in the conspiracy. Boothroyd, however, thinks that Argob, Arieh, and the Gileadites were all agents in the conspiracy. Some think that Argob, Arieh, and the Gileadite guard of fifty, were all slain.—Note, From the difficulty of decision we learn that minute and accurate knowledge of such villanies, matters little. Sinners are the ignorant but willing instruments of divine justice in punishing one another.—C.
26 Andx the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
x ver.21.
27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
28 Andy he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
y 1 Ki.12.26-33; 13.33; 15.26; 16.2,9. ch.3.3; ver.9,18,24.
29 In the days of Pekah king of 6Israel zcame 7Tiglath-pileser8 king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor,9 and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
6 B.C. 740.
z 2 Ch.28.16,20. 1 Ch.5.26, with 1 Ki.15.20. Le.xxvi. De.xxviii. Is.i.-iv. vii.-ix.
7 The second word (Pileser) added to the original name is, according to Lorsbach's probable conjecture, equivalent to the Persian balasar, 'great and exalted prince,' from bala, high, exalted, and sar, chief, prince.—I.
8 The son of Pul. This is the first captivity, in which half the tribes were carried away as a warning to the rest.—Note, It is thus diseases invade the body and carry away health, and vigour, and enjoyment, thus warning of the final captivity of death, if so be that men will 'lay it to heart,' and turn to the Lord.—C.
9 These towns were all situated in the north of Palestine, in the territory of Naphtali. Galilee was also at this early period the name of a small district in Naphtali. It is difficult to account for the name Gilead, except on the supposition that it too was the name of a territory in Naphtali. As here employed it can scarcely mean the country east of the Jordan.—P.
30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a aconspiracy1 against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him,2 and reigned in his stead, bin the twentieth3 year of 4Jotham the son of Uzziah.5
a ver.25.
1 B.C. 739.
2 He made the conspiracy in the twentieth of Jotham, and fourth of Ahaz, and held the government as a military chief, but was not crowned king till the twelfth of Ahaz, eight years after, ch.17.1.—C.
b After an anarchy of nine years, ch.17.1. Ho.10.3,7,15.
3 In the fourth year of Ahaz, in the twentieth year after Jotham had begun to reign.
4 From ver. 33 we learn that Jotham reigned but sixteen years; it is therefore clear that he must have reigned four years in subordination to his father, during the continuance of the malady described, ver. 5.—C.
5 Or Azariah, ch.14.21.—C.
31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began cJotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
c 2 Ch.27.1,8. Mat.1.9. 1 Ch.3.12.
33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
34 Andd he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
d ver.3,4. 2 Ch.26.4,5; 27.2,6.
35 Howbeite the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.
A.M. 3265. B.C. 739.
e ver.4; ch.12.3; 14.4. 1 Ki.15.14; 22.43. 2 Ch.27.2.
36 Nowf the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
f ver.6,7. 1 Ki.11.41,43; 14.29,31. ch.8.23,24; 12.19. 2 Ch.27.7.
37 (In those days6 the gLORD began to send7 against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.)
6 At the end of Jotham's reign.
g Is.7.1; 9.21. Ho.5.12,14. Am.4.13. 2 Ch.28.6. ch.16.5.
7 Does God send wicked men to effect his purposes? Yes. They go for their own wicked purposes of covetousness or ambition; God sends them by means of these very propensities to execute his judgments.—C.
Notes
[Ver. 19. It appears from the narrative that the kings of Israel had been accustomed to acknowledge in some form the supremacy of the rulers of Assyria. Menahem neglected to do so; and perhaps proceeded to a more overt act of defiance in capturing Tiphsah, on the very borders of Assyria. Thus provoked, the Assyrian monarch marched against Palestine, and the kingdom was saved only by the payment of an enormous ransom. P.]
Reflections.—Formality in religion, and imperfections in reformation, continue often from generation to generation: and even the best of periods are marked with some token of the Lord's displeasure. He abases them that walk in pride; and by one stroke of disease can make the mightiest monarchs loathsome to others, and a burden to themselves; and after all their glory, bring them with shame to the grave. For the transgression of a land, how many are the princes thereof! But few traitors and murderers die in their beds. Wicked men are generally fond of power; and in the worst of times will push themselves into it by perjury and murder, and to the perpetual hazard of their own life. And often the most cruel are the most cowardly. But what a mercy is it to enjoy religion, liberty, peace, and safety, under a mild government! By civil wars, by murders of princes, and by occasional ravages, God hurries wicked nations into lasting ruin. And often they who were most forward in securing their settlements, share with the first in desolating judgments. And no less frequently godly magistrates and ministers are taken away from the evil to come, just when the storm is gathering against hypocritical professors.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.