2Ki 15 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 2Kgs 15:1-3: 15:1-3 The name Uzziah means Yahweh is my strength. • fifty-two years: The length of Uzziah’s reign (792–740 BC ) reflects changed conditions in the early 700s BC . Assyria was in decline and relations between Israel and Judah were cordial. Uzziah’s spiritual convictions earned God’s blessing so that Judah enjoyed its greatest prosperity since the days of Solomon (2 Chr 26:9-10 ).

Summary for 2Kgs 15:1-3: 15:1-3 ^a The name Uzziah means Yahweh is my strength.

• fifty-two years: The length of Uzziah’s reign (792–740 BC) reflects changed conditions in the early 700s BC. Assyria was in decline and relations between Israel and Judah were cordial. Uzziah’s spiritual convictions earned God’s blessing so that Judah enjoyed its greatest prosperity since the days of Solomon (2 Chr 26:9-10 ^b).
15:4 ^c In spite of his good spiritual evaluation, Uzziah continued to allow worship at the pagan shrines (14:4 ^d).
15:5 ^e Because Uzziah usurped the prerogatives of the priesthood (2 Chr 26:16-21 ^f), the Lord struck the king with leprosy. His son Jotham became co-regent (about 750 BC). While Uzziah’s isolation kept him from public duties, he may have continued to exercise political power. King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria (744–727 BC), in connection with his first western campaign (744–743 BC), mentioned an opponent named Azariau whom many scholars understand as Uzziah.
Summary for 2Kgs 15:8-12: 15:8-12 ^g Jeroboam II’s son Zechariah was far less capable than his father. Zechariah perpetuated the sins that Jeroboam [I] ... led Israel to commit. God had promised Jehu a royal line to the fourth generation (10:30 ^h); Zechariah’s six-month reign fulfilled that promise.
15:13 ⁱ Jabesh, which lay east of the Jordan in northern Gilead, might have been the hometown of Shallum, whose reign was even shorter than Zechariah’s. Shallum was assassinated, as he had done to Zechariah (15:10 ^j).
15:14 ^k Tirzah had been capital of the northern kingdom during Israel’s first two dynasties (1 Kgs 14:17 ^l; 15:21 ^m, 33 ⁿ; 16:8 ^o).

• Menahem was an army commander.
15:16 ^p At Tirzah, Menahem heard of King Zechariah’s assassination by Shallum. Menahem gathered his forces and moved against Samaria.

• ripped open the pregnant women: This horrible wartime practice, noted in Assyrian and Babylonian documents, is also attributed to King Hazael of Aram (8:12 ^q). See also Hos 10:14 ^r; 13:16 ^s; Amos 1:13 ^t.
Summary for 2Kgs 15:19-20: 15:19-20 ^u Tiglath-pileser: The NLT uses the Assyrian (see 15:29 ^v; 16:6 ^w) form of the name, rather than the Hebrew form, Pul, which is taken from the Babylonian. Tiglath-pileser III seized the throne of Assyria in 744 BC and provided able leadership until his death in 727 BC.

• When Tiglath-pileser launched the western campaign to regain territory held by Aram, Menahem paid him a heavy tribute of thirty-seven tons of silver to keep him from overrunning Israel.

• Although Menahem’s name means comfort, the unsettled conditions in the northern kingdom provided little consolation for God’s people during his reign (752–742 BC).
Summary for 2Kgs 15:23-25: 15:23-25 ^x Menahem’s son Pekahiah reigned only two years before Pekah conspired to assassinate him. Pekahiah continued the sins associated with the religious policies initiated by Jeroboam I (1 Kgs 12:26-33 ^y). Pekah, an army commander, had apparently been a rival for the throne for some time.
15:27 ^z fifty-second year of King Uzziah’s reign: The date for Pekah’s accession is the final year of Uzziah’s reign (740 BC). Because of the standing relationship between Tiglath-pileser and Menahem, Pekah confined his influence to Gilead during Menahem’s reign (752–742 BC). With Menahem’s death, Pekahiah made Pekah an army commander. This provided Pekah with a broader base of support and gave him opportunity to seize the throne of Israel in 740 BC.
Summary for 2Kgs 15:29-30: 15:29-30 ^aa With his second western campaign (734–732 BC), Tiglath-pileser ... attacked Israel again. Pekah had allied himself with King Rezin of Aram in an ill-conceived anti-Assyrian coalition (see Isa 9:1 ^ab). As a result of this invasion, Tiglath-pileser captured and conquered much of Israel’s northern and eastern territory.

• Pekah’s doomed political policies caused dissension in Israel that led to his assassination by Hoshea, whose action was probably intended to placate the Assyrian king and preserve the northern kingdom. In his annals, Tiglath-pileser claimed that he put Hoshea on the throne and received his heavy tribute.

• The twentieth year of Jotham, counting from the beginning of his co-regency with his father Uzziah in Judah, was 732 BC, the year of his death.
Summary for 2Kgs 15:32-33: 15:32-33 ^ac The second year of King Pekah’s reign reflects the first full year of Jotham’s independent reign; he was co-regent with his father for the previous decade.

• sixteen years: From the beginning of his co-regency with his father Uzziah (750 BC) until his son Ahaz became the primary ruler of Judah (735 BC).
Summary for 2Kgs 15:34-35: 15:34-35 ^ad Although Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, he allowed worship at pagan shrines to continue.

• rebuilt the upper gate of the Temple: The prosperity of Uzziah’s reign continued during his son Jotham’s reign. Jotham built onto Jerusalem’s wall at the hill of Ophel and did construction at many Judean sites (2 Chr 27:3-4 ^ae). He also conquered the rebellious Ammonites (2 Chr 27:5 ^af), whom Uzziah had forced into subservience (2 Chr 26:8 ^ag).
15:37 ^ah Rezin ... Pekah: See 16:5 ^ai.