2 Kings 15:16-20

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. ¹  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. ²  15:18 He did evil in the sight of ³  the Lord; he did not repudiate ⁴  the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. ⁵ 

During his reign, 15:19 Pul ⁶  king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem paid ⁷  him ⁸  a thousand talents ⁹  of silver to gain his support ¹⁰  and to solidify his control of the kingdom. ¹¹  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. ¹²  Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.

2 Kings 15:29

15:29 During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, ¹³  Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people ¹⁴  to Assyria.

¹ tn Heb “then Menahem attacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, for it would not open, and he attacked.”

² map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

³ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

⁴ tn Heb “turn away from.”

⁵ tc The MT of v. 18 ends with the words, “all his days.” If this phrase is taken with what precedes, then one should translate, “[who encouraged Israel to sin] throughout his reign.” However, it may be preferable to emend the text to בְיֹמָיו (bÿyomav), “in his days,” and join the phrase to what follows. The translation assumes this change.

⁶ sn Pul was a nickname of Tiglath-pileser III (cf. 15:29). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 171-72.

⁷ tn Heb “gave.”

⁸ tn Heb “Pul.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75,000 pounds of silver (cf. NCV “about seventy-four thousand pounds”); NLT “thirty-seven tons”; CEV “over thirty tons”; TEV “34,000 kilogrammes.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “so his hands would be with him.”

¹¹ tn Heb “to keep hold of the kingdom in his hand.”

¹² tn Heb “and Menahem brought out the silver over Israel, over the prominent men of means, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each man.”

¹³ map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-D3; Map3-A2; Map4-C1.

¹⁴ tn Heb “them.”