Chapter Fifteen

1–7. The reign of the 10th Judean king Azariah-Uzziah. 8–12. Zechariah, 15th king of Israel. 13–16. Shallum, 16th Israelite king. 17–22. 17th Menahem. 23–26. 18th Pekahiah. 27–31. 19th Pekah. 32–38. 11th king of Judah Jotham.

2 Kings 15:1. In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king: 2 Kings 15:2. He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 2 Kings 15:3. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 2 Kings 15:4. Nevertheless the high places were not removed; the people still offered sacrifice and burned incense on the high places. 2 Kings 15:5. And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house. And Jotham the king’s son was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land. 2 Kings 15:6. Now the rest 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? 2 Kings 15:7. And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. And Jotham his son became king in his place. The prolonged (52 years) and flourishing reign of Azariah-Uzziah, to which the Fourth Book of Kings devotes only a few verses, while the Second Book of Chronicles devotes an entire chapter (2 Chr 26). There it is related that the piety of Azariah-Uzziah was particularly firm, and the successes of his reign were especially notable during the time of his guidance by the God-illumined high priest Zechariah (2 Chr 26:5). Of the deeds of this king, which contributed to the well-being and prosperity of the Kingdom of Judah and gave Uzziah a wide reputation even among other peoples, there are named: military successes in conflicts with the Philistines, Arabs, and Ammonites; the strengthening of the Jerusalem walls with towers and specially invented machines for hurling arrows and stones; the erection of watch-towers in the desert, the hewing of water pools for cattle, extensive livestock raising and grape cultivation, and the best equipping of the army of 307,500 men with 2,600 officers (v. 6–15). But these rare successes inclined Azariah-Uzziah toward self-exaltation and sacrilege, which was punished by leprosy that struck him in the very temple, where he dared to usurp the high-priestly functions (2 Chr 26:16-21; cf. blessed Theodoret, question 46). Smitten with leprosy and, being such, obliged by the law to live outside the city (Lev 13:46; 2 Kgs 7:3), Uzziah settled in a “separate house” (v. 5; 2 Chr 26:21), Heb. be-bet hahofshim, LXX leave the Hebrew term untranslated: εν οἴκω ᾿αφφσυσώθ (so too blessed Theodoret, question 46, Slavonic: “in the house of apphusosoth”); the Hebrew hofshit contains the notion of remoteness and freedom, hence in the Vulg: in domo libera seorsum. Probably Uzziah now lived in a separate country house, perhaps specially erected for him (not “in a hospital,” as Gesenius, Prof. Gulyaev, etc.). The affairs of government were managed by his son Jotham until Uzziah’s death (v. 5, 2 Chr 26:21). He was buried, as a leper, separately from the other kings, though near to them (2 Chr 26:23).

2 Kings 15:8. In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned six months. 2 Kings 15:9. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done; he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 15:10. And Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him down before the people and killed him, and became king in his place. 2 Kings 15:11. Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 2 Kings 15:12. This was the word of the Lord which he spoke to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it was fulfilled. Regarding the date in verse 8, compare the comments to (2 Kgs 14:23). In verse 10, in the Hebrew text there is an obscure and perhaps corrupted expression kebal-am (otherwise kabalaim, codex 174 of Kennicott); the LXX convey it as a proper name of a person: Κεβλαάμ, Slavonic “Kevlaam,” but better—as in the Russian Synodal and Prof. Gulyaev: “before the people” (Vulg. palam). With the death of Zechariah, this fourth successor of Jehu, the dynasty of the latter on the Israelite throne ended, according to the prophecy given to Jehu himself (v. 12, cf. 2 Kgs 10:30).

2 Kings 15:13. Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah; he reigned one month in Samaria. The reign of the 19th Israelite king Shallum, who, according to Josephus, was a friend of Zechariah and treacherously killed him, lasted only 1 month. If Zechariah, who reigned 6 months, became king in the 38th year of the reign of the Judean Azariah (2 Kgs 15:8), and Shallum in the 39th, then evidently the former began his reign in the second half of the 38th year.

2 Kings 15:14. And Menahem son of Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria; he struck down Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him; then he became king in his place. 2 Kings 15:15. Now the rest of the acts of Shallum and his conspiracy which he made are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 2 Kings 15:16. At that time Menahem smote Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory, from Tirzah onward; because the city did not open to him, he smote it, and he ripped open all the women who were pregnant in it. 2 Kings 15:17. In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel and reigned ten years in Samaria; 2 Kings 15:18. and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, throughout his days. 2 Kings 15:19. Pul the king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, so that his hand might be with him and so that he might confirm him in his kingly office. 2 Kings 15:20. And Menahem exacted this money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels of silver from each man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land. 2 Kings 15:21. Now the rest of the acts of Menahem and all that he did are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 2 Kings 15:22. And Menahem slept with his fathers. And Pekahiah his son became king in his place. The new usurper of the Israelite throne, the 16th king Menahem, established himself on the throne not without protest from the population, which is why the bloodshed produced by Menahem in Tiphsah (v. 16) occurred, an unknown trading city on the Euphrates (1 Kgs 4:24; Heb. v. 4): a campaign there at this time for Menahem was unthinkable given the troubled circumstances (see to the contrary in the book of Brodovich “Book of the Prophet Hosea,” p. 214, note), perhaps Tappuah (Josh 16:8), on the northern border of the tribe of Ephraim and the southern—of Manasseh (now supposedly Yasuf south of Nablus, Onomast. 511), the region of which, beginning from Tirzah (see 1 Kgs 16:17 and note), Menahem subjected to cruel devastation and bloodshed. In a religious respect, the reign of Menahem was not distinguished from the others (v. 18). But it is noteworthy as the moment of the first appearance on the territory of Palestine of the world conquerors of that time, the Assyrians, with king Pul at the head (v. 19). This Pul, as is now generally recognized by Assyriologists, is identical to Tiglath-Pileser (Heb. Tiglat-Pileser) of the Bible, Tillat-Pilezer of the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions, in which under 738 this king names Menahem among his tributaries (Tiele, Babyl.-asbyr. Gesch., s. 110 ff. 226. Gommel. Gesch. Babyl. s. 648 ff.), although in the Bible sometimes these two names are distinguished as the names of two different kings (cf. verse 29 and 1 Chr 5:26). But this is explained by the fact that Pul was a Babylonian (in the canon of Ptolemy: υῶος) name of the Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser. The invasion of the Assyrian king into Palestine (some suppose that Menahem himself invited Pul to pacify the land; in this they point to the intensified attempts noted by the prophet Hosea and blamed by him of the Kingdom of Israel to seek help from the Assyrian king: Hos 5:3) presupposes that Syria, through which the Assyrian king had to pass, coming to the Kingdom of Israel, was already conquered by the Assyrian king (indeed, in the Assyrian inscriptions together with the Israelite Menahem are mentioned the king of Damascus and Tyre as tributaries of Tiglath-Pileser), who thus at this time, in the words of the prophet (Hos 8:10), was “King of kings.” From the mighty Assyrian king, Menahem ransomed himself with a rich tribute of 1,000 talents of silver (about half a million rubles), distributing this sum among the wealthier (Heb. gibore-hail, as called in the book of Ruth the rich Boaz, (Ruth 2:1)) inhabitants: judging by the distribution of 50 shekels (about 40 rubles) to each man, there were only 60,000 such people in the Kingdom of Israel, whereas in the days of David there were 800,000 adults (2 Sam 24:9). (In a talent there are 3,000 shekels; the total sum of the tribute is 3,000,000 shekels). Menahem reigned 10 years (v. 17).

2 Kings 15:23. In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned two years; 2 Kings 15:24. and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 15:25. And Pekah son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, along with Argob and Arieh; he had with him fifty men of the Gileadites. And he killed him, and became king in his place. 2 Kings 15:26. Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all that he did are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. The two-year reign of the 18th Israelite king, the son of Menahem, Pekahiah (Heb. Pekahiah, LXX: Φακεσίας, Vulg.: Phaceia), which, according to the testimony of Josephus Flavius (Iud.Antiq. 9:11, 1), did not yield to his father, was not marked by anything either in internal affairs (was distinguished by the usual worship of calves by the Israelite kings, v. 24) or in external affairs, and ended with his violent death from the hand of his adjutant Pekah (Heb. Pekah, LXX: Φακεέ, Vulg.: Phacee) in the chambers of the royal palace (v. 25; cf. 1 Kgs 16:18). Pekah became king (19th king).

2 Kings 15:27. In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned twenty years; 2 Kings 15:28. and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord: he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 15:29. In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. 2 Kings 15:30. And Hoshea son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah, and struck him down, and killed him, and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. 2 Kings 15:31. Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. The reign of Pekah, who was distinguished, according to Josephus, by extreme ungodliness and lawless propensities, according to v. 27 lasted 20 years, but in reality appears to have been 30 years (when using alphabetic numerals, the Hebrew letter kaph—20 and lamed—30 can be confused): according to verses 32–33, Pekah reigned with Jotham of Judah 2 years, and simultaneously with him 16 years (18 years), but from (2 Kgs 17:1), the murderer and successor of Pekah, Hoshea, became king only in the 12th year of the Judean Ahaz: thus Pekah reigned 30 years. During the reign of Pekah, the invasion of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser into the territory of the Kingdom of Israel took place (v. 29), Tiglath-Pileser III of the cuneiform inscriptions. As is evident from the following chapter, this king appeared with conquering aims toward the Kingdom of Israel, at the invitation of the Judean king Ahaz, who was forced to do so by the threat of the allied forces of Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria (2 Kgs 16:5-9; cf. Isa 7:1 and following), who had concluded an alliance, probably not against Judah alone (as successful were the military actions of Pekah against the Kingdom of Judah, as is evident from (2 Chr 28:5-15)), but also against Assyria itself. But this was the last unsuccessful attempt by the two weakened kingdoms to throw off the Assyrian yoke; for both kingdoms it ended equally miserably. From the Syrians, the Assyrian king took Damascus, deported its inhabitants to Kir, and killed Rezin (2 Kgs 16:9). In the Kingdom of Israel, he similarly took the northern cities and provinces (v. 29; once temporarily occupied by the Syrian king Ben-Hadad I, who came at the invitation of Asa, 1 Kgs 15:19-20), and in part also the Trans-Jordan—“Gilead”. Kedesh—in the tribe of Naphtali (Josh 20:7; Onomasticon, 583), which was already a portent and beginning of the universal captivity of Israel. Tiglath-Pileser in the inscription reports of himself that in his 733 campaign he killed Pekah and set Hoshea as king of Samaria: this apparently accords with the testimony of v. 30, which seems to relate to the invasion of the Assyrian king mentioned in v. 29 and speak of Pekah’s murder by Hoshea, who thus became king of Israel; one can think that the supporters of Assyria hastened to set up the Assyrian-dependent Hoshea to please the Assyrian king (compare, however, 2 Kgs 17:3). His year of accession could not have been the 20th year of the reign of Jotham of Judah (v. 30), since the latter reigned only 16 years (v. 33, cf. 2 Chr 27:3).

2 Kings 15:32. In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah became king. 2 Kings 15:33. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 2 Kings 15:34. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 2 Kings 15:35. Nevertheless the high places were not removed; the people still offered sacrifice and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 15:36. Now 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? 2 Kings 15:37. In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah. 2 Kings 15:38. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Ahaz his son became king in his place. About the reign of Jotham (cf. 2 Kgs 15:5), the 11th Judean king, (2 Chr 27:1) also tells. Regarding the religious activity of Jotham, besides what is said in v. 34–35 of the present chapter of the Fourth Book of Kings, in (2 Chr 27:2) it is noted: “only he did not enter the temple of God,” that is, he did not repeat the sacrilegious attempts of his father Uzziah (2 Chr 26:16). Jotham built the upper, that is, the northern gate of the temple (v. 35; cf. Ezek 9:2) called also the Benjamin Gate (Jer 20:2); made many buildings on the south-eastern wall of the city, at the so-called Ophel; built cities and fortresses; conquered and forced the Ammonites to pay tribute (2 Chr 27:3-5). His fortunate reign, however, contributed to the development of luxury and other vices in Judah, against which were directed the prophetic utterances of Isaiah (Isa 1:23). * * * The date of Uzziah’s accession in (2 Kgs 15:1) does not accord with the testimony (2 Kgs 14:17), according to which Jeroboam II reigned simultaneously with the Judean Amaziah only 15 years, not 26–27; consequently, the son of Amaziah, Uzziah, could have become king not in the 27th year of the reign of Jeroboam II, as is stated in (2 Kgs 15:1), but earlier: in the 15th–16th year of the reign of Jeroboam