2 Kings 15:13-38
15:13 a 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 b).15:14 c Tirzah had been capital of the northern kingdom during Israel’s first two dynasties (1 Kgs 14:17 d; 15:21 e, 33 f; 16:8 g).
• Menahem was an army commander.
15:16 h 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 i). See also Hos 10:14 j; 13:16 k; Amos 1:13 l.
Summary for 2Kgs 15:19-20: 15:19-20 m Tiglath-pileser: The NLT uses the Assyrian (see 15:29 n; 16:6 o) 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 p 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 q). Pekah, an army commander, had apparently been a rival for the throne for some time.
15:27 r 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 s 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 t). 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 u 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 v 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 w). He also conquered the rebellious Ammonites (2 Chr 27:5 x), whom Uzziah had forced into subservience (2 Chr 26:8 y).
15:37 z Rezin ... Pekah: See 16:5 aa.
2 Kings 16
Summary for 2Kgs 16:1-2: 16:1-2 ab The seventeenth year of King Pekah’s reign was 735 BC. At that time Ahaz ... began to rule: He had already been co-regent for eleven years, but now he officially acceded to the throne. This marks the transition from subordination to his father, Jotham (743–735 BC), to a position of reigning in his stead (735–732 BC). Ahaz presumably had his official accession ceremony following his father’s death in 732 BC, so the author of Kings reckons Ahaz’s reign of sixteen years from 731 BC, the year after his father died, to 715 BC. See also study note on 17:1.Summary for 2Kgs 16:2-3: 16:2-3 ac Again, his ancestor David serves as the standard for measuring the spiritual character of Judah’s kings (14:3 ad; 1 Kgs 15:3 ae, 11 af).
• the example of the kings of Israel: Ahaz was one of Judah’s most wicked kings. He indulged in the apostate religion of Israel and the pagan practices of other nations to the extent of even sacrificing his own son in the fire (see Jer 19:5 ag; 32:35 ah). Although Levitical regulations prohibited such sacrifices as an abomination detestable to the Lord (Lev 18:10 ai; 20:1-5 aj), the practice was repeated among God’s people (Isa 30:33 ak; Jer 7:31 al) until Josiah’s reforms (2 Kgs 23:10 am).
Summary for 2Kgs 16:5-6: 16:5-6 an Rezin ... Pekah: This alliance between the kings of Aram and Israel was intended to free the area of Assyrian dominance under Tiglath-pileser III (15:29-30 ao; Isa 9:1 ap). The attack against Judah may have occurred to force Judah into the alliance or to replace the Judean king with one of their own choosing (Isa 7:3-6 aq). The result was captivity and widespread death for the people of Judah (2 Chr 28:5-15 ar). Isaiah reports that Rezin and Pekah intended to install a new king on Judah’s throne (Isa 7:3-6 as). Judah also suffered further attacks by the Edomites and Philistines (2 Chr 28:17-18 at). All of this was God’s will due to Ahaz’s detestable spiritual practices, which led to great sin among the people of Judah (2 Chr 28:5 au, 19 av).
16:6 aw The NLT translators have chosen to follow the text of several ancient translations, since the town of Elath is far to the south, nearer to Edom than to Aram.
Summary for 2Kgs 16:7-9: 16:7-9 ax Rather than trusting in God’s provision (Isa 7:7-16 ay), Ahaz petitioned Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria to rescue him from his enemies. Tiglath-pileser was successful, and his victory brought about the death of Rezin, the capture of Damascus, and the deportation of its citizens (732 BC). It also contributed to unseating Pekah as king of Israel in the same year (2 Kgs 15:29-30 az). The cost of the rescue was great, however; Ahaz paid a heavy tribute to Tiglath-pileser, and the Assyrian intervention reduced Judah to vassal status.
16:9 ba The location of Kir is unknown; it was the original home of the Arameans (Amos 9:7 bb).
Summary for 2Kgs 16:10-11: 16:10-11 bc Ahaz ... took special note of the altar of the Arameans and had a copy made so as to emulate their pagan worship.
Summary for 2Kgs 16:12-13: 16:12-13 bd The king initiated the new altar by making the traditional offerings upon it (see Lev 1–3 be; Num 15:1-10 bf; 28:9-15 bg, 24 bh, 31 bi; 2 Kgs 6:8-23 bj; 7:11-20 bk). Sadly, such offerings upon a pagan altar by a leader devoid of spiritual character constituted a mockery of their deep spiritual meaning.
16:14 bl Solomon had originally placed the bronze altar in front of the Temple (see Exod 40:6 bm; 2 Chr 4:1 bn; 7:7-10 bo). At first, Ahaz positioned his new altar so that worshipers would come to it before coming to the bronze altar. Then Ahaz had the bronze altar placed ... on the north side of the new altar, completely replacing the bronze altar as the center of sacrificial activity.
Summary for 2Kgs 16:15-16: 16:15-16 bp Ahaz ordered that standard daily sacrifices (Num 28:1-8 bq) as well as the individual offerings of the king and people would be made on the new altar. Ahaz then restricted the bronze altar to his personal use (literally for seeking/inquiry), probably to use it for pagan divination. This demand displayed a callous insolence against the Lord and his worship. Uriah the priest complied with Ahaz’s demands (2 Kgs 16:10-11 br, 16 bs), rather than resisting the king.
Summary for 2Kgs 16:17-18: 16:17-18 bt Because the side panels and basins from the ... water carts and the Sea were made of bronze (see 1 Kgs 7:25-40 bu), Ahaz might have used them to pay tribute or for some other project.
• In deference: Apparently at the request of the king of Assyria, Ahaz removed the canopy that led to the inner court as well as to the king’s private entrance to the Temple. Judah paid a heavy price in loss of freedom because of Ahaz’s trust in the Assyrian king’s military intervention on their behalf (2 Kgs 16:7-8 bv, 10 bw).
16:19 bx The rest of the events in Ahaz’s reign: In further rejection of the Lord, Ahaz removed the utensils from the Temple “and broke them into pieces” (2 Chr 28:24 by). He then closed the Temple and discontinued services there, instead promoting paganism throughout the land (2 Chr 28:25 bz; 29:7 ca). In redefining the worship of Judah so completely, his apostasy was similar to that of Jeroboam I (cp. 2 Kgs 3:3 cb; 13:2 cc; 16:2-4 cd; 17:21 ce; 1 Kgs 12:25-33 cf; 16:26 cg; 22:52 ch)
2 Kings 17:1-2
Summary for 2Kgs 17:1-23: 17:1-23 ci The report of the northern kingdom’s fall proceeds in two major sections: (1) events in the reign of Israel’s final king, Hoshea, and the circumstances that brought about the capture of Samaria and the deportation of Israel’s citizens (17:1-6 cj); (2) the reasons for Israel’s collapse and conquest by Assyria—Israel’s many sins (17:7-17 ck) that merited God’s judgment (17:18-20 cl) and the great sin of Jeroboam I, who laid the foundation for Israel’s rampant apostasy (17:21-23 cm). 17:1 cn Hoshea ... began to rule over Israel in 732 BC.• Hoshea’s reign is listed as beginning in “the twentieth year of Jotham” (15:30 co) and in the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign in Judah. Ahaz apparently co-reigned with Jotham from about 743 BC, when he was twelve years old, but Ahaz’s official regnal years were calculated from 731 BC (16:2 cp). Thus the references to Ahaz’s reign are in harmony.
17:2 cq Hoshea’s evil deeds were not to the same extent as his forebears, though what this means exactly is not explained.
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