2 Kings 15
By the time we reach 2 Kings 15, the northern kingdom of Israel has begun its final decline. Three centuries after Solomon's death split the kingdom in two, the Ten Tribes are falling into a spiral of violence, idolatry, and political collapse. In this single chapter, the northern throne passes through five hands. Three of those kings are murdered by men they trusted. The pattern is one of doom: each king "did evil in the sight of the Lord," and each is overturned or destroyed in turn.
Meanwhile, in the south, Judah is more stable - the Davidic covenant continues to hold. Even the good kings, however, do not fully turn the people from idolatry. High places remain. The worship of God is compromised by the worship of idols. And when a powerful foreign king, Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, demands tribute, Israel pays in both gold and blood: cities are lost, and people are deported. The exile has begun.
This chapter shows us the consequence of turning away from God. Kingdoms built on anything less than His foundation crack and collapse. But it also shows us the faithfulness of God: the Davidic line is preserved even as Israel shatters. Through all the chaos, a remnant remains. And that remnant is where the promise of a coming King rests.
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2 Kings 15:1-7Azariah's Presumption and Plague
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 Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
The narrative shifts from prophet to king, showing God working through different vessels.
1234Save 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 household, 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.
Azariah (also called Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26) is one of Judah's better kings. He "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord." His long reign - 52 years - brought periods of prosperity and strength. Yet like many good kings before him, he left the high places standing. The compromise persists. The people worship God, but they also worship on the mountaintop shrines where idolatry thrives.
In 2 Chronicles 26, we learn more: Azariah burned incense in the temple - a priestly act reserved for the Levitical priesthood. He presumed on the office that belonged to another. The high priest Azariah confronted him: "It appertaineth not unto thee, Azariah, to burn incense unto the Lord." But Azariah grew angry and refused to listen. Then, suddenly, leprosy broke out on his forehead. He was stricken in the temple itself. His presumption cost him his reign and his health. He lived the rest of his life cut off from his own city, his own palace, his own people.
2 Kings 15:8-12Zachariah and the End of Jehu's Line
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 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 is 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.
Zachariah is the fourth generation from Jehu - the son of a son of a son of Jehu. He reigns for only six months before Shallum assassinates him publicly, "before the people." The dynasty of Jehu, which lasted nearly 100 years, ends in violence. With his death, God's word given to Jehu is fulfilled: four generations would sit on the throne, no more (2 Kings 10:30). After Zachariah, the throne becomes unstable. Murder begets murder. No king is safe.
Jehu was anointed to destroy the house of Ahab and to root out Baal worship. He was zealous - perhaps too zealous, perhaps not quite sincere. The Lord promised him that his sons would sit on the throne for four generations. But He did not promise that those sons would be righteous. Each of Zachariah's forefathers in Jehu's line "departed not from the sins of Jeroboam." They continued the worship of the golden calves. They did evil. And now the promise is complete, the dynasty is over.
2 Kings 15:13-16Shallum's One-Month Reign
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.
Shallum murders Zachariah to take the throne. But his reign lasts only one month. Menahem, a military commander, raises an army from Tirzah and marches on Samaria. He kills Shallum and takes the throne. The pattern is vicious: conspiracy, murder, replacement, and then the cycle repeats. The throne itself becomes a death sentence.
Menahem's brutality is staggering. The city of Tiphsah refuses to open its gates to him, so he destroys it utterly - killing even the women who are pregnant, ripping open their wombs. This is not war; it is terror. Menahem uses slaughter to consolidate power and send a message: resistance will be met with annihilation. The kingdom of Israel is descending not just into political chaos, but into moral collapse.
2 Kings 15:17-22Menahem's Tribute and Subjugation
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 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.
Pul is not attacking Israel with an army bent on conquest - not yet. He is demanding tribute, a tax for not destroying the kingdom. Menahem pays 1,000 talents of silver - an enormous sum. To raise it, he taxes every wealthy man in Israel 50 shekels of silver. It is a crushing burden. Israel is being drained to support a foreign king.
The tribute to Pul marks a turning point. Israel is no longer an independent kingdom. It is now a subject state, paying homage to Assyria. Pul accepts the payment, confirms Menahem in power, and moves on - for now. But the message is clear: Israel's days as a free nation are numbered. The great powers of the world have noticed the small kingdom, and they are hungry.
2 Kings 15:23-28Pekahiah and the Rise of Pekah
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 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 stead. 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 evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
Pekahiah reigns for only two years - long enough to be seen as weak, not long enough to consolidate power. Pekah, one of his captains, assassinates him in the palace with the help of fifty Gileadite soldiers. The coup is swift and brutal. Pekahiah had inherited the throne from his father Menahem, but he had not inherited the strength to hold it.
Pekah reigns for twenty years - the longest reign of any king mentioned in this chapter's survey of Israeli kingship. Yet those twenty years are not years of stability or strength. They are years of further decline, culminating in the loss of vast territories to Assyria.
2 Kings 15:29-31The First Deportation
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 away 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.
Tiglath-pileser does not come as a tributary-taker this time. He comes as a conqueror. He takes the northern and eastern territories of Israel - all of Galilee, Gilead, and Naphtali. The tribes who lived there are deported to Assyria. It is the first deportation of Israel. Many of these people will never return. They will be absorbed into the Assyrian empire and their identity will be lost. They become the "Lost Tribes of Israel."
With Israel falling to Assyria, Hoshea assassinates Pekah and takes the throne. It is another coup, another murder. But Hoshea's reign marks the beginning of the end for the northern kingdom. Israel will not last another generation.
2 Kings 15:32-38Jotham: Good King in a Declining South
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; howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord. 35Now 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? 36In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. 37And 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.
Jotham is a good king. He does right in the sight of the Lord. He follows the pattern of his father Azariah. He even undertakes a building project - the high gate of the house of the Lord - that shows his commitment to strengthening the temple. During his reign, Judah appears to enjoy relative peace and prosperity.
Yet even Jotham does not remove the high places. This is the pattern throughout Judah's history: even the best kings tolerate idolatry. They do not fully commit to God. They allow the worship of idols to continue alongside the worship of the Lord. This compromise is the flaw that will eventually undo the southern kingdom as it has already undone the north.
The chapter ends with an ominous note: "In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah." Enemies gather at Judah's borders. The kingdom is stable and prosperous under Jotham, but the storms are gathering. His son Ahaz will face the full force of these enemies, and Ahaz will not have Jotham's wisdom to meet them.
Further study
- Elisha the ProphetSefariaElisha's ministry of miraculous healing and prophecy succeeding Elijah.
- Elisha: Miracles and MinistryBible Odyssey/SBLElisha's role as prophet in Israel's northern kingdom during the period of decline.
- Archaeology of Northern KingdomIsrael Antiquities AuthorityExcavation evidence for cities and settlements in the northern kingdom of Israel.