2 Kings
Chapter 15
Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah (767-739)
Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam in Israel.
He was sixteen years old when he started his reign. He reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
He did what pleased the Lord as his father Amaziah had done.
But the Sanctuaries of the hillsides were not demolished, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense on them.
The Lord struck down the king. He became sick with leprosy and remained a leper until his death. He lived in an isolated house, while Jotham, his son, was head of the king’s household and administered justice in the kingdom.
Now, the rest about Azariah and all he did is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
When Azariah died, they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jotham succeeded him.
Zechariah of Israel (753)
Zechariah, son of Jeroboam, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, its capital, in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah. For the six months that he stayed in power,
he misbehaved towards the Lord, as his fathers had done, for he did not turn away from the sins which Jeroboam, son of Nebat, made Israel commit.
Shallum, son of Jabesh, conspired against him and struck him down at Ibleam. He killed him and reigned in his place.
Now, the rest regarding Zechariah is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
In this way, the Lord’s promise to Jehu was fulfilled: “Your sons until the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel.” And so it was.
Salum of Israel (753)
Shallum, son of Jabesh, began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, and he reigned for a month in Samaria.
Then Menahem, son of Gadi, rebelled against him in Tirzah. He came to Samaria and killed Shallum in that city. Having killed Shallum, Menahem reigned in his place.
Now, the rest of Shallum and the conspiracy he plotted are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
Then Menahem seized Tappuah and killed its inhabitants, devastating its territory from Tirzah onwards since they would not open the gates to him. And he ripped open all the pregnant women.
Menahem of Israel (752-741)
Menahem, son of Gadi, began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah. He reigned for ten years in Samaria,
and he, too, misbehaved towards the Lord, for he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, which he made Israel commit.
In his days, Pul, the king of Assyria, invaded the land of Israel. And Menahem had to give him a thousand talents of silver so that the king of Asshur would receive him as an ally and keep him in power.
Menahem exacted the money from all the wealthy and prominent people of Israel to give to the king of Asshur: fifty pieces of silver from each one. With this, the king of Asshur turned back and did not stay there in the land.
The rest regarding Menahem and all he did is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
When Menahem died, his son Pekahiah succeeded him.
Pekahiah of Israel (741-740)23Pekahiah, son of Menahem, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the fiftieth year of Azariah’s reign, king of Judah. He reigned for two years,
during which he misbehaved towards the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, made Israel commit.
His officer Pekah, son of Remaliah, conspired against him. He and fifty Gileadites assassinated Pekahiah, as well as Argob and Arieh, in Samaria in the fortress of the royal palace. With the king dead, Pekah succeeded him.
The rest about Pekahiah and all he did is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
Pekah of Israel (740-731)27In the fifty-second year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekah, son of Remaliah, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, its capital. He reigned for twenty years, and he misbehaved towards the Lord,
for he did not turn away from the sins which Jeroboam made Israel commit.
In the time of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came and seized Iyon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, the territory of Gilead and Galilee, and the whole land of Naphtali, and deported their inhabitants to Asshur.
Then Hoshea, son of Elah, conspired against Pekah, son of Remaliah, killed him and reigned in his place.
The rest about Pekah and all he did is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
Jotham of Judah (739-734)
Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign in the second year of the reign of Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel.
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
He did what pleased the Lord, as his father had done,
but he did not abolish the Sanctuaries on the high places where the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense. He built the Upper Gate of the House of the Lord.
The rest about Jotham and all he did is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
In those days, the Lord began to send Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, against Judah.
When Jotham died, they buried him with his fathers in the city of his ancestor David, and his son Ahaz succeeded him.
Commentaries
Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah.
After the narrator’s optimistic assessment, the same criticism made of his predecessors is repeated: “there the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense” (4); that is, the local shrines persisted. We will have to wait for Hezekiah and later his great-grandson Josiah to hear different news about these local cults. All that is said about Azariah is that he was confined to his house throughout his life because of a skin disease that “the Lord sent upon him” (5), so his son Jotham, his successor, ruled in his stead.
Zechariah of Israel.
In fulfillment of what the Lord had told Jehu (2 Kgs 10:30), the fourth member of his dynasty rises to power, but he only rules for six months before being assassinated by Salum, who then takes the throne.
Salum of Israel.
The usurper Salum’s reign is brief; Menahem also kills him within just one month. The narrator doesn’t even criticize him. However, since he is the king of the North, we can infer that he did or would have done “what the Lord disapproves of.”
Menahem of Israel.
He ruled for ten years and dealt with Assyrian invasions threatening the Israelite land. He maintained his power by agreeing to pay a large tribute to the Assyrian king, a tax levied on Israel’s wealthiest citizens. Menahem apparently died of natural causes (22).
Pekahiah of Israel.
Once again, the scene of regicide unfolds. Pekahiah, son and successor of Menahem, is murdered by his officer Pekah, who takes his place on the throne. Pekahiah reigned for two years and also “did what the Lord disapproved of” (24).
Pekah of Israel.
International politics worsen, and relations with Assyria become more strained. If the Assyrian king Pul had demanded a high tribute from Menahem (19), now the Assyrian troops firmly entered Israeli territory and deported the population. Let us remember that the Assyrians’ method of conquest involved deporting the inhabitants of defeated countries and bringing in settlers from other provinces to prevent uprisings (cf. 17:24). The internal situation in Israel worsened with the conspiracy and subsequent assassination of the king by Hoshea, who would remain on the throne for the rest of the suffering Northern kingdom’s existence.
Jotham of Judah.
We return to Judah, where, after a long reign, Azariah dies and is succeeded by his son Jotham. During his father’s lifetime, Jotham was already “in charge of the palace and ruling the nation” (5b) because of the king’s illness (5a). The Deuteronomist praises Jotham, despite his facing similar criticism for local cults. He is credited with building the upper gate of the Temple (35). At this time, the sister kingdom to the North and the king of Syria began skirmishes in Judah’s territory, not just to harass but also to pressure the king into allying against Assyria.