2 Kings 15


2 Kings 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reigns of Azariah and his son, Jotham, the kings of Judah, as well as of Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah and Pekah, the kings of Israel. Twelve first verses of the narrative belong to a major section 2 Kings 9:1–15:12 covering the period of Jehu's dynasty.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 38 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Structure

This chapter can be divided into the following sections:
  • : Regnal account of Azariah ben Amaziah of Judah
  • : Regnal account of Zechariah ben Jeroboam of Israel
  • : Regnal account of Shallum ben Jabesh of Israel
  • : Regnal account of Menahem ben Gadi of Israel
  • : Regnal account of Pekahiah ben Menahem of Israel
  • : Regnal account of Pekah ben Remaliah of Israel
  • : Regnal account of Jotham ben Uzziah of Judah

    Analysis

This chapter displays a contrast between the stability of the southern kingdom and the downward sliding of the northern kingdom, with two royal records of Judah bracketing the narrative of five Israel kings in quick succession. Each reign is judged using a standard formula, one for the kings of Judah and another for the kings of Israel.

Azariah (Uzziah), king of Judah (15:1–7)

The regnal records of Azariah the son of Amaziah, the king of Judah, can be demarcated by the introductory form and the concluding form. The main account is in verse 5 regarding the king's leprosy and the active role of his son, Jotham, in ruling the kingdom on his behalf, but the length of the co-regency is not explicitly recorded. The period of his reign coincides largely with the reign of Jeroboam, who ruled over a kingdom territory comparable to that of Solomon, so Azariah's kingdom was a vassal to the kingdom of Israel. provides a more detailed account of Azariah's reign, especially the reason God striking him with leprosy, his 'military actions against Philistia, the Arabs of Geur-Baal, and the Meunites', as well as 'his efforts to fortify Jerusalem and to secure the hold on the Shephelah.'

Verse 1

  • "In the 27th year of Jeroboam": According to Thiele's chronology, following "accession year method", Azariah the son of Amaziah of Judah started to reign alone as the 10th king of Judah between April and September 767 BCE, following a period of co-regency.

    Verse 2

  • Cross reference: 2 Chronicles 26:3
  • "He reigned 52 years": according to Thiele's chronology, following the "accession year method", Azariah became king at the age of 16 when his father, Amaziah, was taken as hostage to the kingdom of Israel in 791 BCE, as a co-regent until his father's death between April and September 767 BCE, when he ruled alone at the age of 39, until his death between September 740 BCE and September 739 BCE at the age of 68.
  • "Jecholiah of Jerusalem" or "Jekoliah" ) could be arranged as a wife for Amaziah to 'consolidate Amaziah's hold on Jerusalem following a failed attempt at revolt'.

    Verse 5

  • "A leper": suffered from "leprosy", which was a 'term for several skin diseases'. As a leper, Azariah was deemed impure, and unfit to carry out the state functions or to appear at the temple.
  • "A separate house": from, bet hakhofshit; the meaning is uncertain. The Torah commands lepers to live apart from the population.

    Verse 7

The time of Azariah's death coincides with the time Isaiah received his call to be a prophet.
E.L. Sukenik found an Aramaic inscription that reads, "Here were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open!" and once marked the tomb of Uzziah outside Jerusalem.

Zechariah, king of Israel (15:8–12)

Zechariah, the last ruler of the Jehu dynasty, only reigned for six months and his assassination ends a long period of stability in the kingdom of Israel. It is set in the frame of the divine guidance that God himself announced to the founder of the dynasty and confirms the fulfillment of it in verse 12.

Verse 8

  • "In the 38th year of Azariah": based on Thiele's chronology, McFall determines that Jeroboam should have died between the month Elul and Tishrei 753 BCE, and immediately was succeeded by Zechariah, his son, while still counted as the 38th year of Azariah.
  • "Six months": Zechariah's assassination happened probably in the early months of 752 BCE, which is counted as the 39th year of Azariah.

    Verse 10

  • "Before the people" : from the Masoretic Hebrew text קָבָל עָם, qaval ʿam. Lucian's Greek version reads “in Ibleam”, the location where Ahaziah of Judah is slain by Jehu, which provides a certain irony when Zechariah, the last of Jehu's dynasty, was also slain in the same place. The Greek Septuagint text in Codex Vaticanus and some Hebrew text reads Keblaʿam.

    Verse 12

  • "To the fourth generation": a fulfillment of the word of YHWH in 2 Kings 10:30 that Jehu and four generations of his descendants ruled from approximately 814-753 BCE; Jehu's dynasty ended when Shallum assassinated Zechariah in 753 BCE.

    Shallum, king of Israel (15:13–16)

After bringing an end to the Jehu dynasty, Shallum could only reign for a month before he was slain by Menahem. The literary structure consists of an 'introductory regnal form', the body of the account and the 'concluding regnal form'. Menahem's submission to Assyria suggests that his action was to stop an attempt to revolt against the Assyrian by Shallum.

Menahem, king of Israel (15:17–22)

The 10-year reign of Menahem provides a 'rare period of stability' in the final years of the northern kingdom, which was the result of Menahem's tributary payment to the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser III. The tribute, along with those from other monarch, is listed with Menahem's name explicitly in the annals of the Assyria. To pay that tribute, Menahem instituted an oppressive tax, fifty shekels of silver per person from all the wealthy men in Israel, which may contribute to the coup against his son after he died.

Verse 17

  • "In the 39th year of Azariah": based onThiele's chronology, Menahem would start to reign by the end of April 752 BCE and died between September 742 BCE and April 741 BCE after sitting on the throne for 10 years.

    Verse 19

  • "Assyria": from this verse to the end of the book, Assyria is mentioned 48 times, replacing Aram as the principal threat to the northern kingdom.
  • "1000 talents" of metal: is about 38 tons, or 34 metric tons. One talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms.
Tiglath-Pileser records the tribute from Menahem in one of his inscriptions.

Pekahiah, king of Israel (15:23–26)

The main regnal account of Pekahiah, the 17th king of Israel, only mentions his assassination by a group of 50 men from Gilead led by Pekah ben Remaliah, his own captain.

Verse 23

  • "In the 50th year of Azariah": based onThiele's chronology, Pekahiah would start to reign between September 742 BCE and April 741 BCE after the death of his father, Menahem.
  • "Two years": Pekahiah would have died between September 740 BCE and April 739 BCE based on the accession year method in Thiele's chronology.

    Pekah, king of Israel (15:27–31)

The main record of Pekah's reign in this section focuses on the invasion of Tiglath-Pileser III into Israel in 734–732 BCE and his murder in a coup led by Hosea ben Elah, backed by the Assyrians, as noted in the annals of Assyria. Pekah's alliance with Rezin of Damascus in the Syro-Ephraimite War to resist the Assyrians and attack Judah, a vassal to the Assyrians, is recorded in multiple passages and also in the annals of the Assyrians.

Verse 27

  • "In the 52nd year of Azariah": based on Thiele's chronology, Pekah reign as a sole king in Samaria between September 740 BCE and April 739 BCE after the death of Pekahiah, but he may have been considered to reign together with Menahem 12 years earlier.
  • "Reigned 20 years": Thiele-McFall chronology maintains that Pekah started to reign together with Menahem since the 29th year of Azariah at the end of Nisan 752 BCE, and was a sole king starting between September 740 BCE and April 739 BCE for 8 years until his death between September 732 BCE and April 731 BCE, so the total years of his reign is 20 years.

    Jotham, king of Judah (15:32–38)

Like his father, Jotham was given a good assessment 'in the sight of the ', although both kings did not remove the 'high places', which was later done by Hezekiah and Josiah, nor perform notable political actions. Jotham's memorable achievement was the building of 'the upper gate of the house of the LORD'.

Verse 32

  • Cross reference:
  • "'In the 2nd year of Pekah": According to Thiele-McFall chronology, Jotham started co-regency with his father, Uzziah, around April 750 BCE, when Uzziah became a leper, and only reign as sole king after Uzziah's death between September 740 BCE and September 739 BCE, until he stepped down around September 735 BCE, but still held some state functions until his death around April 731 BCE. The synchronization with Hosea's reign indicates that Jotham died between September 732 BCE and September 731 BCE. Thiele notes that the year of Jotham's ascension on the throne is counted as the "first regnal year" as usually used for co-regency. However, the information that it starts on the 2nd year of Pekah indicates that the ascension occurred between Nisan and Tishrei 750 BCE, not as usual in the month of Tishrei for the kings of Judah.