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2 Kings 15

KJV · Chapter 15/25

1In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.

2Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.

3And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;

4Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

5And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land.

6And 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?

7So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

8In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.

9And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

10And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

11And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

12This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.

13Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.

14For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

15And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

16Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

17In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.

18And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

19And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

20And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.

21And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

22And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.

23In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.

24And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

25But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.

26And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

27In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.

28And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

29In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath–pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel–beth–maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

30And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

31And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

32In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.

33Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

34And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.

35Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord.

36Now 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?

37In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.

38And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

📖 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:6The closing formula for Azariah points to the chronicles of the kings of Judah (the southern kingdom).
  7. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:9Zechariah also does what is evil, repeating the sin of the golden calves that had persisted since the first Jeroboam.
  10. 2 Kings 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 Kings 15:11The closing formula for Zechariah points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  12. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:14Menahem comes from Tirzah, attacks Shallum in Samaria, kills him, and takes the throne of Israel (the north) in his place.
  15. 2 Kings 15:15The closing formula for Shallum mentions the very conspiracy he carried out, recorded in the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
  16. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:18Menahem also does what is evil, never turning away from the sins of Jeroboam throughout his whole reign.
  19. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:21The closing formula for Menahem points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  22. 2 Kings 15:22Menahem dies, and his son Pekahiah takes the throne of Israel (the north) in his place.
  23. 2 Kings 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 Kings 15:24Pekahiah also does what is evil, continuing the same sin of Jeroboam that marks almost every king of the north.
  25. 2 Kings 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 Kings 15:26The closing formula for Pekahiah points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  27. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:31The closing formula for Pekah points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom).
  32. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 15:36The closing formula for Jotham points to the chronicles of the kings of Judah (the southern kingdom).
  37. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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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