^15:1In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Amaziah’s son Azariah became king over Judah. ^15:2He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem.¹ His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. ^15:3He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done.²^15:4But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. ^15:5The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease³ until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,⁴ while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

^15:6The rest of the events of Azariah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.⁵^15:7Azariah passed away⁶ and was buried⁷ with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Jotham replaced him as king.

Zechariah’s Reign over Israel

^15:8In the thirty-eighth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria⁸ for six months. ^15:9He did evil in the sight of⁹ the Lord, as his ancestors had done. He did not repudiate¹⁰ the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. ^15:10Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him; he assassinated him in Ibleam¹¹ and took his place as king. ^15:11The rest of the events of Zechariah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.¹²^15:12His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu,¹³ “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.”¹⁴ That is exactly what happened.¹⁵

^15:13Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah’s¹⁶ reign over Judah. He reigned for one month¹⁷ in Samaria. ^15:14Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to¹⁸ Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh.¹⁹ He killed him and took his place as king. ^15:15The rest of the events of Shallum’s reign, including the conspiracy he organized, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.²⁰^15:16At that time Menahem came from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah. He struck down all who lived in the city and the surrounding territory, because they would not surrender.²¹ He even ripped open the pregnant women.

Menahem’s Reign over Israel

^15:17In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He reigned for twelve years in Samaria.²²^15:18He did evil in the sight of²³ the Lord; he did not repudiate²⁴ the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin.²⁵

During his reign, ^15:19Pul²⁶ king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem paid²⁷ him²⁸ a thousand talents²⁹ of silver to gain his support³⁰ and to solidify his control of the kingdom.³¹^15:20Menahem got this silver by taxing all the wealthy men in Israel; he took fifty shekels of silver from each one of them and paid it to the king of Assyria.³² Then the king of Assyria left; he did not stay there in the land.

^15:21The rest of the events of Menahem’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.³³^15:22Menahem passed away³⁴ and his son Pekahiah replaced him as king.

Pekahiah’s Reign over Israel

^15:23In the fiftieth year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem’s son Pekahiah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria³⁵ for two years. ^15:24He did evil in the sight of³⁶ the Lord; he did not repudiate³⁷ the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. ^15:25His 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.³⁸ Pekah then took his place as king.

^15:26The rest of the events of Pekahiah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.³⁹

Pekah’s Reign over Israel

^15:27In the fifty-second year of King Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria⁴⁰ for twenty years. ^15:28He did evil in the sight of⁴¹ the Lord; he did not repudiate⁴² the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. ^15:29During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor,⁴³ Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people⁴⁴ to Assyria. ^15:30Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He assassinated him⁴⁵ and took his place as king, in the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham son of Uzziah.

^15:31The rest of the events of Pekah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.⁴⁶

Jotham’s Reign over Judah

^15:32In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah, Uzziah’s son Jotham became king over Judah. ^15:33He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.⁴⁷ His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ^15:34He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done.⁴⁸^15:35But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple.

^15:36The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.⁴⁹^15:37In those days the Lord prompted King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah to attack Judah.⁵⁰^15:38Jotham passed away⁵¹ and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son Ahaz replaced him as king.

Ahaz’s Reign over Judah

^16:1In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, Jotham’s son Ahaz became king over Judah. ^16:2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.¹ He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David.²^16:3He followed in the footsteps of³ the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire,⁴ a horrible sin practiced by the nations⁵ whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. ^16:4He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

^16:5At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem.⁶ They besieged Ahaz,⁷ but were unable to conquer him.⁸^16:6(At that time King Rezin of Syria⁹ recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there.¹⁰ Syrians¹¹ arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.) ^16:7Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent.¹² March up and rescue me from the power¹³ of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked¹⁴ me.” ^16:8Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were¹⁵ in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute¹⁶ to the king of Assyria. ^16:9The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request;¹⁷ he¹⁸ attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people¹⁹ to Kir and executed Rezin.

^16:10When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there.²⁰ King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design.²¹^16:11Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus.²² Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus.²³^16:12When the king arrived back from Damascus and²⁴ saw the altar, he approached it²⁵ and offered a sacrifice on it.²⁶^16:13He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar. ^16:14He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new²⁷ altar. ^16:15King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar²⁸ offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.”²⁹^16:16So Uriah the priest did exactly as³⁰ King Ahaz ordered.

^16:17King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea”³¹ down from the bronze bulls that supported it³² and put it on the pavement. ^16:18He also removed the Sabbath awning³³ that had been built³⁴ in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria.³⁵

^16:19The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.³⁶^16:20Ahaz passed away³⁷ and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

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Footnotes

1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which Amaziah his father had done.”
3 Traditionally, “he was a leper.” But see the note at .
4 The precise meaning of בֵית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhoféshit), “house of […?],” is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
5 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Azariah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
6 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
7 Heb “and they buried him.”
8 For location see ; ; ; ; .
9 Heb “in the eyes of.”
10 Heb “turn away from.”
11 The reads, “and he struck him down before the people and killed him” (cf. , , , , , ). However, the reading קָבָל עָם (qaval ’am), “before the people,” is problematic to some because קָבָל is a relatively late Aramaic term. Nevertheless, the Aramaic term qobel certainly antedates the writing of Kings. The bigger problem seems to be the unnecessary intrusion of an Aramaic word at all here. Most interpreters prefer to follow Lucian’s Greek version and read “in Ibleam” (בְיִבְלְעָם, béivle’am). Cf. , .
12 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
13 Heb “It was the word of the Lord which he spoke to Jehu, saying.”
14 “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” See the note at .
15 Heb “and it was so.”
16 Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah.
17 Heb “a month of days.”
18 Heb “and came to.”
19 Heb “went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria.”
20 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he conspired, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
21 Heb “then Menahem attacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, for it would not open, and he attacked.” Instead of “Tiphsah,” the has “Tirzah,” while Lucian’s Greek version reads “Tappuah.” For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
22 For location see ; ; ; ; .
23 Heb “in the eyes of.”
24 Heb “turn away from.”
25 The of v. 18 ends with the words, “all his days.” If this phrase is taken with what precedes, then one should translate, “[who encouraged Israel to sin] throughout his reign.” However, it may be preferable to emend the text to בְיֹמָיו (béyomav), “in his days,” and join the phrase to what follows. The translation assumes this change.
26 Pul was a nickname of Tiglath-pileser III (cf. 15:29). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
27 Heb “gave.”
28 Heb “Pul.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
29 The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75,000 pounds of silver (cf. “about seventy-four thousand pounds”); “thirty-seven tons”; “over thirty tons”; “34,000 kilogrammes.”
30 Heb “so his hands would be with him.”
31 Heb “to keep hold of the kingdom in his hand.”
32 Heb “and Menahem brought out the silver over Israel, over the prominent men of means, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each man.”
33 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Menahem, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
34 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
35 For location see ; ; ; ; .
36 Heb “in the eyes of.”
37 Heb “turn away from.”
38 Heb “and he struck him down in Samaria in the fortress of the house of the king, Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men from the sons of the Gileadites, and they killed him.” The precise identity of Argob and Arieh, as well as their relationship to the king, are uncertain. The usual assumption is that they were officials assassinated along with Pekahiah, or that they were two of the more prominent Gileadites involved in the revolt. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
39 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Pekahiah, and all which he did, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
40 For location see ; ; ; ; .
41 Heb “in the eyes of.”
42 Heb “turn away from.”
43 For location see ; ; ; .
44 Heb “them.”
45 Heb “and struck him down and killed him.”
46 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Pekah, and all which he did, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
47 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
48 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which Uzziah his father had done.”
49 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jotham, and that which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
50 Heb “the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin … and Pekahiah.…”
51 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord his God, like David his father.”
3 Heb “he walked in the way of.”
4 This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
5 Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
6 Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”
7 That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.
8 Heb “they were unable to fight.” The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of לָחָם (lakham) follows the verb יָכֹל (yakhol), the infinitive appears to have the force of “prevail against.” See Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9; and the parallel passage in Isa 7:1.
9 Some prefer to read “the king of Edom” and “for Edom” here. The names Syria (Heb “Aram,” אֲרָם, ’aram) and Edom (אֱדֹם, ’edom) are easily confused in the Hebrew consonantal script.
10 Heb “from Elat.”
11 The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew , the version, and some of the and , read “Syrians” (Heb “Arameans”). The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the , Targums, and , reads “Edomites.”
12 Heb “son.” Both terms (“servant” and “son”) reflect Ahaz’s subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser’s subject.
13 Heb “hand, palm.”
14 Heb “who have arisen against.”
15 Heb “that was found.”
16 Or “bribe money.”
17 Heb “listened to him.”
18 Heb “the king of Assyria.”
19 Heb “it.”
20 Heb “in Damascus.”
21 Heb “the likeness of the altar and its pattern for all its work.”
22 Heb “according to all that King Ahaz sent from Damascus.”
23 Heb “so Uriah the priest did, until the arrival of King Ahaz from Damascus.”
24 Heb “and the king.”
25 Heb “the altar.”
26 Or “ascended it.”
27 The word “new” is added in the translation for clarification.
28 That is, the newly constructed altar.
29 Heb “for me to seek.” The precise meaning of בָּקַר (baqar), “seek,” is uncertain in this context. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
30 Heb “according to all which.”
31 See the note at .
32 Heb “that [were] under it.”
33 The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מוּסַךְ (musakh; Qere) / מִיסַךְ (misakh; Kethib) is uncertain. For discussion see מוּסַךְ and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
34 Heb “that they built.”
35 It is doubtful that Tiglath-pileser ordered these architectural changes. Ahaz probably made these changes so he could send some of the items and materials to the Assyrian king as tribute. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), , .
36 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Ahaz, and that which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
37 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”