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Texts -- 2 Kings 15:1-20 (NET)

Context
Azariah’s Reign over Judah
15:1 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam’s reign over Israel , Amaziah’s son Azariah became king over Judah . 15:2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign , and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem . His mother’s name was Jecholiah , who was from Jerusalem . 15:3 He did what the Lord approved , just as his father Amaziah had done . 15:4 But the high places were not eliminated ; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places . 15:5 The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease until the day he died . He lived in separate quarters , while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land . 15:6 The rest of the events of Azariah’s reign, including all his accomplishments , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah . 15:7 Azariah passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David . His son Jotham replaced him as king .
Zechariah’s Reign over Israel
15:8 In the thirty-eighth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah , Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king over Israel . He reigned in Samaria for six months . 15:9 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , as his ancestors had done . He did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin . 15:10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him; he assassinated him in Ibleam and took his place as king . 15:11 The rest of the events of Zechariah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel . 15:12 His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu , “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel .” That is exactly what happened . 15:13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah’s reign over Judah . He reigned for one month in Samaria . 15:14 Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh . He killed him and took his place as king . 15:15 The rest of the events of Shallum’s reign, including the conspiracy he organized , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel . 15:16 At that time Menahem came from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah . He struck down all who lived in the city and the surrounding territory , because they would not surrender . He even ripped open the pregnant women .
Menahem’s Reign over Israel
15:17 In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah , Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel . He reigned for twelve years in Samaria . 15:18 He did evil in the sight of the Lord ; he did not repudiate the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin . During his reign , 15:19 Pul king of Assyria invaded the land , and Menahem paid him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and to solidify his control of the kingdom . 15:20 Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel ; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria . Then the king of Assyria left ; he did not stay there in the land .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Menahem

    [ebd] conforting, the son of Gadi, and successor of Shallum, king of Israel, whom he slew. After a reign of about ten years (B.C. 771-760) he died, leaving the throne to his son Pekahiah. His reign was one of cruelty and oppressio...
    [isbe] MENAHEM - men'-a-hem (menachem, "one who comforts"; Manaem; 2 Ki 15:14-22): 1. Accession and Reign: Son of Gadi and 16th king of Israel. He reigned 10 years. Menahem was probably the officer in charge of the royal troops in ...
    [smith] (comforter), son of Gadi, who slew the usurper Shallum, and seized the vacant throne of Israel. B.C. 772. His reign, which lasted ten years, is briefly recorded in (2 Kings 15:14-22) He maintained the calf-worship of Jerob...
    [nave] MENAHEM, king of Israel, 2 Kin. 15:13-22.

  • Assyria

    [ebd] the name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous region lying to the north of...
    [isbe] ASSYRIA - a-sir'-i-a: I. GEOGRAPHY II. EARLY HISTORY III. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS IV. POPULATION V. TRADE AND LAW VI. ART VII. MECHANICS VIII. FURNITURE, POTTERY AND EMBROIDERY IX. LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND SCIENCE X. GOVERNM...
    [nave] ASSYRIA An empire founded by Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-12; Mic. 5:6. It extended from east of the Tigris, Gen. 2:14; 10:11; possibly to Egypt, Gen. 25:18. Its armies invade the land of Israel under Pul, 2 Kin. 15:19; 1 Chr. 5:26; ...

  • Shallum

    [ebd] retribution. (1.) The son of Jabesh, otherwise unknown. He "conspired against Zachariah, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead" (2 Kings 15:10). He reigned only "a month of days in Samaria" ...
    [smith] (retribution). The fifteenth king of Israel, son of Jabesh, conspired against Zachariah, killed him, and brought the dynasty of Jehu to a close, B.C. 770. Shallum, after reigning in Samaria for a month only, was in his turn ...
    [nave] SHALLUM 1. King of Israel, 2 Kin. 15:10, 13-15. 2. Husband of Huldah, the prophetess, 2 Kin. 22:14; 2 Chr. 34:22. 3. Son of Sisamai, 1 Chr. 2:40, 41. 4. See: Jehoahaz, 3. 5. Grandson of Simeon, 1 Chr. 4:25. 6. Son of Za...

  • Zachariah

    [ebd] remembered by the Lord. (1.) Son of Jeroboam II., king of Israel. On the death of his father there was an interregnum of ten years, at the end of which he succeeded to the throne, which he occupied only six months, having be...
    [nave] ZACHARIAH 1. Son of Jeroboam, and last of the house of Jehu, 2 Kin. 10:30; 14:29; 15:8-12. 2. Grandfather of Hezekiah, 2 Kin. 18:2; 2 Chr. 29:1.

  • UZZIAH; (AZARIAH)

    [isbe] UZZIAH; (AZARIAH) - u-zi'-a, oo-zi'-a (`uzziyah (2 Ki 15:13,30; Hos 1:1; Am 1:1; Zec 14:5), `uzziyahu (2 Ki 15:32,34; Isa 1:1; 6:1; 7:1; 2 Ch 26:1 ff; 27:2); also called `azaryah (2 Ki 14:21; 15:1,7; 1 Ch 3:12), 'azaryahu (2...

  • ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF

    [isbe] ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF - 1. The Prophet 2. His Times and Mission 3. Contents and Analysis 4. The Critical Question Involved 5. The Unity of the Book 6. Conclusion LITERATURE Few books of the Old Testament are as difficult of int...

  • Uzziah

    [ebd] a contracted form of Azari'ah the Lord is my strength. (1.) One of Amaziah's sons, whom the people made king of Judah in his father's stead (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chr. 26:1). His long reign of about fifty-two years was "the most ...
    [nave] UZZIAH 1. Called Azariah. King of Judah, 2 Kin. 14:21; 15:1, 2; 2 Chr. 26:1, 3. Rebuilds Elath, 2 Kin. 14:22; 2 Chr. 26:2. Reigns righteously, 2 Kin. 15:3; 2 Chr. 26:4, 5. Defeats the Philistines, 2 Chr. 26:6, 7. Takes t...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • SHALLUM (2)

    [isbe] SHALLUM (2) - (shallum, shallum, "the requited one" (2 Ki 15:10-15)): The 15th king of Israel, and successor of Zechariah, whom he publicly assassinated in the 7th month of his reign. Nothing more is known of Shallum than th...

  • UZZA; UZZAH

    [isbe] UZZA; UZZAH - uz'-a, uz'-a ('uzzah (2 Sam 6:6-8), otherwise `uzza' meaning uncertain): (1) One of those who accompanied the ark on its journey from Kiriath-jearim toward David's citadel (2 Sam 6:3-8, "Uzzah" = 1 Ch 13:7-11, ...

  • JABESH

    [ebd] dry. (1.) For Jabesh-Gilead (1 Sam. 11:3,9,10). (2.) The father of Shallum (2 Kings 15:10, 13, 14), who usurped the throne of Israel on the death of Zachariah.
    [smith] (dry). Father of Shallum, the fifteenth king of Israel. (2 Kings 15:10,13,14) Jabesh-gilead, or Jabesh in the territory of Gilead. In its widest sense Gilead included the half tribe of Manasseh, (1 Chronicles 27:21) as...

  • Gadi

    [isbe] GADI - ga'-di (gadhi, "fortunate"): The father of Menahem, one of the kings of Israel who reached the throne through blood (2 Ki 15:14,17).
    [smith] A Gadite, father of Menahem a king of Israel. (2 Kings 15:14,17)
    [nave] GADI, father of Menahem, 2 Kin. 15:14, 17.

  • ZECHARIAH (2)

    [isbe] ZECHARIAH (2) - (zekharyah, zekharydhu, "Yah has remembered" (2 Ki 14:29; 15:8-12); Zacharias, the King James Version Zachariah): Son of Jeroboam II, and 14th king of Israel. He was the 4th of the line of Jehu, and reigned s...

  • Jotham

    [isbe] JOTHAM - jo'-tham (yotham, "Yahweh is perfect"; Ioatham): (1) The youngest son of Gideon-Jerubbaal, the sole survivor of the massacre of his seventy brothers by Abimelech (Jdg 9:5), and (by Jdg 8:22) the legitimate ruler of ...
    [smith] (Jehovah is upright). The youngest son of Gideon, (Judges 9:5) who escaped from the massacre of his brethren. (B.C. after 1256.) His parable of the reign of the bramble is the earliest example of the kind. The son of King Uz...
    [nave] JOTHAM 1. Son of Gideon, Judg. 9:5, 57. Rebukes the Shechemites in the parable of the trees, Judg. 9:7-21. 2. Son of Azariah, king of Judah, 2 Kin. 15:5-7, 32, 38; 1 Chr. 3:12; 2 Chr. 26:21-23; 27. Piety of, 2 Chr. 27. T...

  • Tiphsah

    [ebd] passing over; ford, one of the boundaries of Solomon's dominions (1 Kings 4:24), probably "Thapsacus, a great and wealthy town on the western bank of the Euphrates," about 100 miles north-east of Tadmor. All the land traffic...
    [isbe] TIPHSAH - tif'-sa (tiphcach, "ford"; Thapsa): (1) This marks the northern extremity of the dominions ruled by Solomon, Gaza being the limit on the South (1 Ki 4:24). It can hardly be other than Thapsacus, on the right bank o...
    [smith] (ford) is mentioned in (1 Kings 4:24) as the limit of Solomon?s empire toward the Euphrates and in (2 Kings 15:16) it is said to have been attacked by Menahemi. It was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Th...
    [nave] TIPHSAH 1. A city on the Euphrates, 1 Kin. 4:24. 2. A city of unknown location, 2 Kin. 15:16.

  • Pul

    [ebd] (1.) An Assyrian king. It has been a question whether he was identical with Tiglath-pileser III. (q.v.), or was his predecessor. The weight of evidence is certainly in favour of their identity. Pul was the throne-name he bor...
    [isbe] PUL - pul: (1) An Assyrian king (2 Ki 15:19). See TIGLATH-PILESER. (2) An African country and people (Isa 66:19). See PUT.
    [smith] an Assyrian king, and the first Assyrian monarch mentioned in Scripture. He made an expedition against Menahem, king of Israel, about B.C. 770. (2 Kings 15:19)
    [nave] PUL 1. King of Assyria. Forced tribute from Menahem, king of Israel, 2 Kin. 15:19; 1 Chr. 5:26. 2. A place or tribe in Africa, Isa. 66:19.

  • TAX; TAXING

    [isbe] TAX; TAXING - taks, taks'-ing: I. INTRODUCTION 1. General Considerations 2. Limits of the Discussion II. TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER SELF-GOVERNMENT 1. In the Earliest Period 2. Under the Theocracy; in the Period of the Judges 3. ...

  • AZARIAH

    [smith] (whom the Lord helps) a common name in Hebrew, and especially in the families of the priests of the line of Eleazar, whose name has precisely the same meaning as Azariah. It is nearly identical, and is often confounded, with ...

  • Tirzah

    [isbe] TIRZAH - tur'-za (tirtsah; Thersa): (1) A royal city of the Canaanites, the king of which was slain by Joshua (12:24). It superseded Shechem as capital of the Northern Kingdom (1 Ki 14:17, etc.), and itself gave place in tur...
    [smith] an ancient Canaanite city, whose king is enumerated among those overthrown in the conquest of the country. (Joshua 12:24) It reappears as a royal city, the residence of Jeroboam and of his successors, (1 Kings 14:17,18) an...
    [nave] TIRZAH 1. A daughter of Zelophehad, Num. 26:33; 36:11; Josh. 17:3. Special legislation in regard to the inheritance of, Num. 27:1-11; 36; Josh. 17:3, 4. 2. A city of Canaan. Captured by Joshua, Josh. 12:24. Becomes the re...

  • CAPTIVITY

    [ebd] (1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chr. 5:26) (B.C. 762), and Tigla...
    [isbe] CAPTIVITY - kap-tiv'-i-ti (galah, galuth, shebhuth, shibhyah; metoikesia): I. OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM (THE WORK OF ASSYRIA) 1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 BC 2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 BC 3. Of Tiglath...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • The second major part of the Book of Kings records the histories of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.123During this era of 209 years (931-722 B.C.) the two kingdoms experienced differing relati...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Kings)3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:184. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:155. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-246. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29C. The ...
  • Most Bible students know Azariah by his other name, Uzziah (vv. 13, 30, 32, 34; 2 Chron. 26; Isa. 1:1; Hosea 1:1, Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5; et al.). His 52-year reign (790-739 B.C.) was longer than any other king of Judah or Isra...
  • Zechariah reigned only six months (753-752 B.C.) before his successor Shallum assassinated him. Zechariah was the fourth and last king of Jehu's dynasty (v. 12; cf. 10:30). The fact that the people made Shallum king after he ...
  • Shallum's reign was even shorter than Zechariah's. It lasted only one month (752 B.C.).Menahem was the commander-in-chief of Jeroboam II's army.95He was serving in Tirzah, Israel's former capital. Menahem regarded Shallum as ...
  • Though the writer did not clarify this point, it seems that Pekah had been ruling over Israel in Gilead since 752 B.C., the year Menahem assassinated Shallum. This must be the case in view of the writer's chronological refere...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. "An Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile: A Study of 2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38-39."Scottish Journal of Theology27:3:(August 1974):329-52.Albright, William F. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pel...
  • The Chronicler gave us much more information about Uzziah than we have in Kings (2 Kings 15:1-7). Uzziah ("Yahweh is strong") was evidently the king's throne name and Azariah ("Yahweh helps") his personal name.Uzziah, as his ...
  • 6:1 Why did Isaiah date this passage since he did not date most of his others?70Probably he did so because King Uzziah had been the best king of Judah since Solomon. Nevertheless during the last part of his reign he suffered ...
  • Perverse conduct was the consequence of Israel's apostasy and infidelity, and it led to slavery.2:14-15 Israel was Yahweh's firstborn son, not a slave or even a home-born servant.77As such he enjoyed the special care and prov...
  • 16:15 However, Jerusalem became self-centered and unfaithful to the Lord; she forgot Him when she became preoccupied with His blessings (cf. Deut. 6:10-12; 8). She went after every people that passed by rather than remaining ...
  • 23:5-8 Oholah proved unfaithful to the Lord by lusting after her attractive neighbors, the Assyrians."The appeal, then as now, was to youth, strength, position, wealth and self-gratification; that is, the world in all its daz...
  • The Lord used Hosea's family members as signs to communicate His message of coming judgment on Israel.1:2 At the beginning of Hosea's ministry, Yahweh commanded him to take a wife of harlotry and to have children of harlotry....
  • This warning confronted the tribe of Ephraim, or perhaps all Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.5:8 Blowing trumpets in cities announced the coming of an invader. Throughout Israel's towns the sentries would blow alarm...
  • This section focuses on Israel's domestic sins.7:1 The Lord longed to heal Israel, but when He thought about doing so new evidences of her sins presented themselves. The prophets He sent to them were mainly ineffective in ste...
  • This pericope condemns Israel's foreign policy.7:8 Ephraim had mixed itself with the pagan nations, like unleavened dough mixed with leaven. She had done this by making alliances with neighbor nations as well as by importing ...
  • 13:15 With the removal of God's compassion (v. 14), Israel's prosperity would end. Hosea described that change like a hot eastern desert wind sweeping over Israel and drying up all its water sources. Israel had flourished amo...
  • 6:1 The prophet began this message by announcing coming woe (Heb. hoy, cf. 5:18). Those who felt at ease in Zion (Jerusalem) and secure in Samaria were the subjects of his message. Those who felt at ease in Samaria, partially...
  • 7:7 Amos saw a third vision. The Lord was standing beside a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. A plumb line was a string with a weight on the end. People used it, and still use it, to determine if a vertical structu...
  • 23:1 As we have seen, there were three groups of people present in the temple courtyard. These were the disciples of Jesus, His critics, namely the various groups of Israel's leaders, and the crowds of ordinary Israelites. Je...
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