2 Reis 15

BLIVRE · Chapter 15/25

1No ano vinte e sete de Jeroboão, rei de Israel, começou a reinar Azarias, filho de Amazias, rei de Judá.

2Quando começou a reinar tinha dezesseis anos, e reinou cinquenta e dois anos em Jerusalém; o nome de sua mãe foi Jecolias, de Jerusalém.

3E fez o que era correto aos olhos do SENHOR, conforme todas as coisas que seu pai Amazias havia feito.

4Contudo, os altos não foram tirados; pois o povo ainda sacrificava e queimava incenso nos altos.

5Mas o SENHOR feriu ao rei com lepra, e foi leproso até o dia de sua morte, e habitou em casa separada. Jotão, filho do rei tinha o cargo do palácio, governando o povo da terra.

6Os demais dos feitos de Azarias, e todas as coisas que fez, não estão escritos no livro das crônicas dos reis de Judá?

7Azarias descansou com seus pais, e sepultaram-no com seus pais na cidade de Davi; e Jotão, seu filho, reinou em seu lugar.

8No ano trinta e oito de Azarias rei de Judá, reinou Zacarias, filho de Jeroboão, sobre Israel por seis meses.

9E fez o que era mau aos olhos do SENHOR, como seus ancestrais haviam feito; ele não se afastou dos pecados de Jeroboão, filho de Nebate, o que fez pecar a Israel.

10Contra ele se conspirou Salum, filho de Jabes, e o feriu em presença do seu povo; e o matou, e reinou em seu lugar.

11Os demais dos feitos de Zacarias, eis que estão escritos no livro das crônicas dos reis de Israel.

12E esta foi a palavra do SENHOR que havia falado a Jeú, dizendo: Teus filhos até a quarta geração se sentarão no trono de Israel. E assim foi.

13Salum, filho de Jabes, começou a reinar no ano trinta e nove de Uzias rei de Judá, e reinou pelo tempo de um mês em Samaria;

14Pois subiu Menaém, filho de Gadi, de Tirsa, e veio a Samaria, e feriu Salum, filho de Jabes, em Samaria, e o matou, e reinou em seu lugar.

15Os demais dos feitos de Salum, e sua conspiração com que conspirou, eis que estão escritos no livro das crônicas dos reis de Israel.

16Então feriu Menaém a Tifsa, e a todos os que estavam nela, e também seus termos desde Tirsa; e feriu-a porque não lhe haviam aberto; e fendeu o ventre de todas as suas grávidas.

17No ano trinta e nove de Azarias, rei de Judá, reinou Menaém, filho de Gadi, sobre Israel, por dez anos, em Samaria.

18E fez o que era mau aos olhos do SENHOR; ele não se afastou em todo o seu tempo dos pecados de Jeroboão, filho de Nebate, o que fez Israel pecar.

19E veio Pul, rei da Assíria, à terra; e Menaém deu a Pul mil talentos de prata para lhe ajudasse a se firmar no reino.

20E impôs Menaém este dinheiro sobre Israel, sobre todos os poderosos e ricos: de cada um cinquenta siclos de prata, para dar ao rei da Assíria, e o rei da Assíria voltou, e não ficou ali na terra.

21Os demais dos feitos de Menaém, e todas as coisas que fez, acaso não estão escritas no livro das crônicas dos reis de Israel?

22Menaém descansou com seus pais, e reinou em seu lugar seu filho Pecaías.

23No ano cinquenta de Azarias rei de Judá, reinou Pecaías filho de Menaém sobre Israel em Samaria, dois anos.

24E fez o que era mau aos olhos do SENHOR: não se separou dos pecados de Jeroboão filho de Nebate, o que fez Israel pecar.

25E conspirou contra ele Peca filho de Remalias, capitão seu, e feriu-o em Samaria, no palácio da casa real, em companhia de Argobe e de Arié, e com cinquenta homens dos filhos dos gileaditas; e o matou, e reinou em seu lugar.

26Os demais dos feitos de Pecaías, e todas as coisas que fez, eis que estão escritos no livro das crônicas dos reis de Israel.

27No ano cinquenta e dois de Azarias rei de Judá, reinou Peca, filho de Remalias sobre Israel em Samaria; e reinou vinte anos.

28E fez o que era mau aos olhos do SENHOR; não se separou dos pecados de Jeroboão filho de Nebate, o que fez pecar a Israel.

29Nos dias de Peca rei de Israel, veio Tiglate-Pileser rei dos assírios, e tomou a Ijom, Abel-Bete-Maaca, e Janoa, e Quedes, e Hazor, e Gileade, e Galileia, e toda a terra de Naftali; e transportou-os à Assíria.

30E Oseias filho de Elá fez conspiração contra Peca filho de Remalias, e feriu-o, e o matou, e reinou em seu lugar, aos vinte anos de Jotão filho de Uzias.

31Os demais dos feitos de Peca, e tudo o que fez, eis que está escrito no livro das crônicas dos reis de Israel.

32No segundo ano de Peca filho de Remalias rei de Israel, começou a reinar Jotão filho de Uzias rei de Judá.

33Quando começou a reinar era de vinte e cinco anos, e reinou dezesseis anos em Jerusalém. O nome de sua mãe foi Jerusa filha de Zadoque.

34E ele fez o que era correto aos olhos do SENHOR; fez conforme todas as coisas que havia feito seu pai Uzias.

35Com tudo isso os altos não foram tirados; que o povo sacrificava ainda, e queimava incenso nos altos. Edificou ele a porta mais alta da casa do SENHOR.

36Os demais dos feitos de Jotão, e todas as coisas que fez, não estão escritos no livro das crônicas dos reis de Judá?

37Naquele tempo começou o SENHOR a enviar contra Judá a Resim rei da Síria, e a Peca filho de Remalias.

38E descansou Jotão com seus pais, e foi sepultado com seus pais na cidade de Davi seu pai; e reinou em seu lugar Acaz seu filho.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

An unstable and violent succession of kings passes through the throne of Israel (Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah), with several assassinated in conspiracies. In Judah, Azariah (Uzziah) reigns for a long time but is struck with leprosy for overstepping into priestly duties. Assyria, under Tiglath-Pileser, begins to seriously threaten the region.

Explanation

This chapter shows the accelerating decline of the Northern Kingdom, with kings rising to power through successive assassinations — a pattern of instability that contrasts sharply with the dynastic continuity in Judah. The punishment of Azariah/Uzziah with leprosy (detailed more fully in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) for burning incense in the temple, a function reserved for priests, shows that even generally faithful kings face serious consequences when they overstep boundaries set by God. The rise of the Assyrian threat in this chapter marks the beginning of the end for the Northern Kingdom, which would be conquered just a few decades later.

Fun facts

  • Tiglath-Pileser III, mentioned here for the first time, was one of the most expansionist kings in Assyrian history, and his campaign of conquests is thoroughly documented in Assyrian inscriptions that directly mention biblical kings such as Menahem, externally confirming the biblical chronology.
  • Menahem's practice of 'ripping open the pregnant women' of Tiphsah (v.16) is one of the most brutal accounts in the Old Testament, reflecting psychological warfare tactics documented in other ancient Near Eastern cultures used to terrorize rebellious populations.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Reis 15:1Azariah (also called Uzziah), son of Amaziah, begins to reign over Judah (the southern kingdom) in the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam II in Israel (the north).
  2. 2 Reis 15:2Azariah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and stayed fifty-two years on the throne in Jerusalem — one of the longest reigns in the whole book.
  3. 2 Reis 15:3Azariah does what is right, following the example of his father Amaziah, keeping up Judah’s (the south’s) reasonably good pattern.
  4. 2 Reis 15:4Like almost every good king of Judah, Azariah does not remove the high places, the shrines where the people kept insisting on sacrificing outside the temple.
  5. 2 Reis 15:5Leprosy forced even a king to live apart, cut off from public affairs. Because of this, his son Jotham ends up governing in practice as a kind of regent, even while his father is formally still alive and reigning.
  6. 2 Reis 15:6The closing formula for Azariah points to the chronicles of the kings of Judah (the southern kingdom).
  7. 2 Reis 15:7Azariah dies and is buried with his ancestors in the City of David; his son Jotham takes the throne of Judah (the south).
  8. 2 Reis 15:8Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II, reigns over Israel (the north) in Samaria for only six months — the start of a string of short, violent reigns in the northern kingdom.
  9. 2 Reis 15:9Zechariah also does what is evil, repeating the sin of the golden calves that had persisted since the first Jeroboam.
  10. 2 Reis 15:10Shallum conspires against Zechariah, kills him publicly, and takes the throne of Israel (the north) — the abrupt end of Jehu’s dynasty.
  11. 2 Reis 15:11The closing formula for Zechariah points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  12. 2 Reis 15:12Zechariah’s death fulfills exactly the promise made to Jehu: his descendants would reign only to the fourth generation — Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah complete that count.
  13. 2 Reis 15:13Shallum reigns just one full month in Samaria, beginning in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah of Judah (the south) — the shortest reign in the book.
  14. 2 Reis 15:14Menahem comes from Tirzah, attacks Shallum in Samaria, kills him, and takes the throne of Israel (the north) in his place.
  15. 2 Reis 15:15The closing formula for Shallum mentions the very conspiracy he carried out, recorded in the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
  16. 2 Reis 15:16Menahem brutally attacks the city of Tiphsah for not opening its gates to him, an episode of extreme violence against the local population, including pregnant women.
  17. 2 Reis 15:17Menahem begins to reign over Israel (the north) from the thirty-ninth year of Azariah of Judah (the south), and reigns ten years in Samaria.
  18. 2 Reis 15:18Menahem also does what is evil, never turning away from the sins of Jeroboam throughout his whole reign.
  19. 2 Reis 15:19This is the first recorded direct contact between a king of Israel and Assyria, since Pul is another name for Tiglath-pileser III. Paying this tribute buys time, but it also signals to Assyria that Israel is a valuable target — the start of a pressure that will end in the fall of the northern kingdom.
  20. 2 Reis 15:20To pay the tribute to Assyria, Menahem taxes the rich and powerful of Israel (the north) fifty shekels of silver per person, and so gets the Assyrian king to withdraw without settling in the land.
  21. 2 Reis 15:21The closing formula for Menahem points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  22. 2 Reis 15:22Menahem dies, and his son Pekahiah takes the throne of Israel (the north) in his place.
  23. 2 Reis 15:23Pekahiah reigns over Israel (the north) in Samaria for only two years, beginning in the fiftieth year of Azariah of Judah (the south).
  24. 2 Reis 15:24Pekahiah also does what is evil, continuing the same sin of Jeroboam that marks almost every king of the north.
  25. 2 Reis 15:25Pekah, a captain of Pekahiah’s own army, conspires against him, kills him inside the palace in Samaria with the help of fifty Gileadite men, and takes the throne.
  26. 2 Reis 15:26The closing formula for Pekahiah points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  27. 2 Reis 15:27Pekah begins to reign over Israel (the north) in Samaria for twenty years, starting in the fifty-second year of Azariah of Judah (the south).
  28. 2 Reis 15:28Pekah also does what is evil, repeating the same sin of Jeroboam that runs through the whole book in the northern kingdom.
  29. 2 Reis 15:29This is the first wave of Assyrian deportations against Israel, decades before the final fall of Samaria. Assyria typically deported conquered populations in stages, both to break any local resistance and to relocate labor within the empire.
  30. 2 Reis 15:30In this final period of the northern kingdom, almost every king reaches the throne by killing his predecessor. It is a symptom of the instability that directly precedes Israel’s final collapse, recorded in the chapters that follow.
  31. 2 Reis 15:31The closing formula for Pekah points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  32. 2 Reis 15:32Jotham, son of Uzziah, begins to reign over Judah (the southern kingdom) in the second year of Pekah in Israel (the north).
  33. 2 Reis 15:33Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and stayed sixteen years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Jerusha, daughter of Zadok.
  34. 2 Reis 15:34Jotham does what is right, following the example of his father Uzziah — Judah (the south) keeps up a pattern of relatively good kings in this period.
  35. 2 Reis 15:35Once again the high places are not removed, but Jotham leaves a concrete mark: he builds the upper gate of the house of the Lord.
  36. 2 Reis 15:36The closing formula for Jotham points to the chronicles of the kings of Judah (the southern kingdom).
  37. 2 Reis 15:37In the days of Jotham the Lord begins allowing the first attacks by Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel (the north) against Judah (the south) — the warning sign of the crisis that breaks out in the next chapter.
  38. 2 Reis 15:38Jotham dies and is buried with his ancestors in the City of David; his son Ahaz takes the throne of Judah (the south).

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