Chapter 15

1 Azariah’s good reign. 5 He dying a leper, Jotham succeedeth. 8 Zachariah, the last of Jehu’s generation, reigning ill, is slain by Shallum. 13 Shallum, reigning a month, is slain by Menahem. 16 Menahem strengtheneth himself by Pul. 21 Pekahiah succeedeth him. 23 Pekahiah is slain by Pekah. 27 Pekah is oppressed by Tiglath-pileser, and slain by Hoshea. 32 Jotham’s good reign. 36 Ahaz succeedeth him.

1. Azariah. The name is also given as Uzziah (vs. 13, 30, 32, 34). This shorter form is used in Chronicles (except in the genealogy of David, 1 Chron. 3:12), and in Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Zechariah. This is one of many examples of variant forms of names.

3. That which was right. Only during part of his reign (see on v. 5). “As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper” (2 Chron. 26:5).

4. Not removed. Not all the high places were necessarily idolatrous shrines. They were, however, unauthorized places of worship where the people offered their sacrifices rather than at the Temple in Jerusalem (see on ch. 12:3).

5. Smote the king. For a fuller account of this incident see 2 Chron. 26:16–21. Azariah was evidently lifted up by pride because of his successes in war. While endeavoring to offer incense in the Temple he was smitten with leprosy.

Several house. That is, a separate house. Hebrew law required that lepers should dwell alone, “without the camp” (Lev. 13:46).

Over the house. Jotham became regent, ruling the nation from the time that his father was smitten with leprosy.

Judging the people. The king was the supreme judge of the land. Jotham now assumed all the responsibilities of kingship in the place of his father, although the latter continued to be reckoned as reigning.

6. Rest of the acts. Among these are Azariah’s successes in war against the Philistines, Arabians, and Mehunimites, the extension of his power over Ammon, the strengthening of the fortifications of Jerusalem, his interest in cattle breeding and agriculture, the building of protective towers in desert areas, the reorganization and re-equipment of his army, the construction of engines for shooting weapons, his endeavor to offer incense in the Temple, resulting in the stroke of leprosy, and the details of his burial (2 Chron. 26:1–23).

7. Azariah slept. Isaiah received his vision of God in the year of Azariah’s death (see on v. 1; cf. Isa. 6:1, 8).

A few years ago a well-carved stone slab was found at Jerusalem which bears the inscription, “Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah [Azariah], king of Judah. Not to be opened!” Since the inscription is written in the Aramaic square script in use at the time of Christ, the slab must have been prepared at that time. It probably marked the spot to which Uzziah’s bones were taken after his original tomb had been looted and had otherwise fallen into ruin.

8. Six months. Israel was now entering upon the last dark period of its history. King followed king in rapid succession, with assassinations being the usual practice of the times.

9. That which was evil. This is all that is recorded of the last king of the house of Jehu. Iniquity was the order of the day, and was soon to ruin the nation.

10. Shallum. Nothing is known of Shallum’s ancestry. The fathers’s name offers no clue.

Before the people. Heb. qabalРФam. This Hebrew phrase is not translated in some of the Greek manuscripts, which, however, add the name Keblaam after Jabesh. A later version reads en Ieblaam, “in Ibleam” (see ch. 9:27). The Hebrew suggests that the assassination was carried out in public. The procedure is an indication of the terrible corruption and uncertainty of the times. Human life was cheap and blood flowed freely. In the death of Zachariah the prediction was fulfilled, that the Lord would “avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu” (Hosea 1:4); also the forecast that God would “rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” (Amos 7:9).

12. The word of the Lord. See 2 Kings 10:30. The descendants of Jehu who ruled over Israel were Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah.

13. A full month. Literally, “a month of days.” Shallum was a murderer, and by a murderer his blood was shed after only a month upon the throne. When men forsake the law of the Lord, life is not safe or happy for king or people. Men sensed the evils of the times, but they tried to correct evil with evil. As a result the situation went from bad to worse till the whole nation was engulfed in ruin.

14. Tirzah. The early capital of Israel from Jeroboam to Omri (1 Kings 14:17; 16:8, 9, 15, 17, 23). The exact location is not known, but the place is probably to be identified with Tell elРFaЖrФah, a large mound 6 1/2 mi. (10.4 km.) northeast of Shechem where the French have carried out excavations since 1946.

Slew him. Josephus claims that Menahem was the general of the army (Antiquities ix. 11. 1). Men in those days were eager for power and hesitated at nothing to secure their ends. It was a time when the judgments of God were abroad in the land. The commandments of the Lord had been rejected, and now the commandments of men were of little worth (see GC 584).

16. Tiphsah. This is hardly the city by this name mentioned by Solomon in 1 Kings 4:24, for that city, the well-known Thapsacus, was on the Euphrates River. Menahem would hardly have occasion to make his way to so distant a place at this time. The mention of the city in connection with Tirzah has led to the belief that the two cities were near to each other. Some identify Tephsah with Khirbet Tafsa, a village 7 1/4 mi. (11.6 km.) west-southwest of Shechem. Others follow Lucian’s recension, which reads Taphoe, and identify it with Tappuah, now Sheikh Abu Zarad, about 7 7/8 mi. (12.6 km.) southwest of Shechem.

They opened not. Menahem made an example of the city that refused to give its loyalty to him.

Ripped up. Such savage cruelty was typical of the barbarous customs of the times (see 2 Kings 8:12; Hosea 13:16; Amos 1:13).

18. Departed not. The change from one dynasty to another brought no improvement. The nation needed, not a change of kings, but of heart.

19. Pul. From a comparison of Babylonian and Assyrian documents, most modern scholars conclude that “Pul” was simply another name for Tiglath-pileser III (see pp. 61, 156–159; see also on 1 Chron. 5:26).

Thousand talents. Such a weight of silver, calculated on the basis of the light shekel, would today be worth more than one million dollars. The Assyrian inscriptions tell of Tiglath-pileser’s overwhelming “Menihimme of Samerina,” or “Menahem of Samaria,” and imposing upon him tribute of gold, silver, and linen garments (see pp. 84, 159). Decades before this Adad-nirari III had secured from the king of Damascus 2,300 talents of silver and 20 talents of gold.

20. Of each man. A talent of silver was equal to 3,000 shekels. This special tax upon the men of wealth would thus involve 60,000 persons. Greed for gain, with its accompanying luxurious living and oppression of the poor, was one of the great evils of the day, and was constantly denounced by the prophets (see Amos 2:6; 3:15; 5:11, 12; 6:4; 8:6).

22. Pekahiah. Of the last five kings of Israel, Pekahiah was the only one to succeed his father on the throne. All the others secured the kingship through assassination of their predecessors.

24. That which was evil. This brief statement constitutes the extent of the record of the reign of this king of Israel. It was an age when men had given themselves over completely to iniquity. The Lord’s calls to repentance fell upon deaf ears. Although the Lord had long been patient with Israel, divine judgment was soon to fall on them.

25. Captain. Heb. shalish. Literally, “third.” Perhaps an officer of some importance (see on Ex. 14:7). In the case of Joram the shalish was evidently the king’s aide, spoken of as the “lord on whose hand the king leaned” (see on 2 Kings 7:2). When Jehu slew Joram, Bidkar, his shalish, was ordered to dispose of the body of the fallen king (ch. 9:24, 25).

Argob and Arieh. The meaning of these words is not clear. The names may be those of either men or places.

Fifty men. Probably members of the royal guard who conspired with Pekah against the life of Pekahiah.

26. The rest of the acts. The accounts of the lives of these wicked kings is fortunately brief. Their deeds were evil, and there would be little of edification in passing on to posterity the records of their many iniquities.

27. Pekah. For the synchronism of Pekah’s accession and the period covered by his reign see pp. 85, 150.

29. Came Tiglath-pileser. This was probably toward the close of Pekah’s reign, for Tiglath-pileser declares that the people of Israel “overthrew their king Pekah” and claims he placed Hoshea the son of Elah over them as king.

Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah. Cities near the border of Naphtali, in the extreme north. They are among those smitten by Benhadad during the reign of Baasha (1 Kings 15:20). The first city may be the site Tell edРDibbйЖn, and the second, Tell Abil (see on 1 Kings 15:20).

Janoah. In northern Israel, unidentified.

Kedesh. A town 4 mi. (6.4 km.) northwest of former Lake Huleh, taken by Joshua (Joshua 12:22), and assigned to the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 19:37). It is usually called Kedesh-naphtali (see Judges 4:6) to distinguish it from other towns by the same name. The site of Kedesh is now known as Tell Qades.

Hazor. Tell WaqqaЖs, 3.8 mi. (6.1 km.) southwest of the former Lake Huleh.

Land of Naphtali. The affliction referred to in Isa. 9:1 which the Lord brought on Zebulun and Naphtali is probably the incursion of Tiglath-pileser here mentioned.

Carried them captive. The Assyrians customarily transported captives from conquered territories in the endeavor to discourage revolts. The captivity here mentioned was the first of a series that ended only when both Israel and Judah were completely consumed. The judgments fulfilled the prediction of Moses (Deut. 28:37, 64, 65). The “Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh” were also carried away by Tiglath-pileser (1 Chron. 5:26).

30. Made a conspiracy. Tiglath-pileser III claims that it was he who placed Hoshea upon the throne of Israel (see on v. 29). Probably Hoshea was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Assyrian king before he was permitted to take the throne in Israel.

The twentieth year of Jotham. See on v. 33.

32. The second year. After the record of the reign of Azariah, the Biblical account continues with the reigns of five kings of Israel, all of whom came to the throne during Azariah’s reign. The last of these, Pekah, began to reign in the 52d year of Azariah (v. 27), the year of Azariah’s death (v. 2). Hence the record now returns to Judah and the reign of Jotham, who succeeded his father Azariah.

To reign. Jotham had begun to bear the burdens of state when Uzziah was smitten with leprosy and was forced to live in a house by himself (v. 5).

33. Sixteen years. For a comparison of this statement with the record of Hoshea’s accession in Jotham’s twentieth year (v. 30) see p. 150.

34. Which was right. During the years when Israel was ruled by kings who came to the throne by murder and filled their reign with evil, Judah was in large part blessed by descendants of the line of David who feared God and were faithful to Him.

35. Higher gate. Probably the same as the “high gate of Benjamin” (Jer. 20:2). Ezekiel’s six men with their “slaughter” weapons came by way of “the higher gate, which lieth toward the north” (Eze. 9:2).

36. Rest of the acts. Some of these are recorded in 2 Chron. 27:3–6.

37. Rezin the king of Syria. The Rezin-Pekah alliance, begun in the reign of Jotham, continued and came to its head under Ahaz (ch. 16:7–9; Isa. 7:1). It is thought that the events now taking place in Judah and Israel and the nations round about were closely related to Assyrian activities in the Mediterranean area. Tiglath-pileser was aggressive, and probably decided to bring all territories in the Westland under the Assyrian yoke. Rezin is mentioned in Tiglath-pileser’s inscriptions as Rahianu of Damascus.

Ellen G. White comments

1–4PK 303

5     PK 304

18–30PK 287

34, 35  PK 305