2 kings 15

Read 2 Kings 15 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions

2 Kin 15:1-7 {p} Reign of Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah; 52 years, doing right
2 Kin 15:8-12 {p} Reign of Zechariah king of Israel; 6 months, doing evil/ murdered in a conspiracy
2 Kin 15:13-15 {s} Reign of Shallum king of Israel; 1 month/ murdered in a conspiracy
2 Kin 15:16 {p} Menahem attacked Tipshah with cruel slaughter because they did not submit to him
2 Kin 15:17-22 {p} Reign of Menahem king of Israel; 10 years, doing evil + treaty with Assyria
2 Kin 15:23-26 {p} Reign of Pekahiah son of Menahem king of Israel; 2 years, doing evil/ murdered
2 Kin 15:27-31 {p} Reign of Pekah king of Israel; 20 years. doing evil/ Assyria carried some of Israel captive + Pekah murdered
2 Kin 15:32-38 {p} Reign of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah; 16 years, doing right

The chiastic structure for chapter 15 follows along with the paragraph divisions (the Hebrew paragraph divisions help define the chiastic structures throughout Scripture):

1a) 2 Kin 15:1-7 {p} Reign of Azariah king of Judah (52 yrs);

1b) 2 Kin 15:8-12 {p} Reign of Zechariah king of Israel (6 mos.), killed by conspiracy;

1c) 2 Kin 15:13-16 {s+p} Reign of Shallum king of Israel (1 month), killed by conspiracy;

central axis) 2 Kin 15:17-22 {p} Reign of Menaham king of Israel (10 yrs), treaty with Assyria;

2c) 2 Kin 15:23-26 {p} Reign of Pekahiah king of Israel (2 yrs), killed by conspiracy;

2b) 2 Kin 15:27-31 {p} Reign of Pekah king of Israel (20 yrs), killed by conspiracy;

2a) 2 Kin 15:32-38 {p} Reign of Jotham king of Judah (16 yrs).

Concerning the kings of Assyria, in my New King James Bible, it says,

Pul king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. 2 Kin 15:19

with a footnote after Pul’s name, which says,

2 Kings 15:19 That is, Tiglath-Pileser III (compare verse 29).

Verse 29 says,

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. 2 Kin 15:29

Why do they say that Pul and Tiglath-Pileser are the same king? It is the current understanding of modern secular historians that they were the same king. This bias toward modern secular scholarship is repeated in 1 Chr 5:26, which in the NKJV is translated as:

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day.

But what does the Hebrew Bible say? The Hebrew Bible in English says:

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tillegath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river of Gozan, unto this day. 1 Chr 5:26

The original Hebrew treats the two kings as if they were two separate kings, Tiglath-Pileser merely succeeding Pul on the throne. This turn of events is explained from Assyrian and Babylonian history in The Story of the Ancient World, as follows (the repentance of the kings of Nineveh (Assyria) was due to the preaching of Jonah, for all that generation):

“Now Pul, the king of Assyria, came against Israel, and Menahem offered him a tribute of one thousand talents of silver, if he would confirm him on the throne of Israel. Pul agreed, and Menahem obtained this great sum—many millions of dollars in today’s money—by heavily taxing the Israelites (771 BC). But Menahem died after a reign of ten years, and was succeeded by his son, who did not rule long, for one of his captains murdered him, and reigned in his stead (759 BC).

“While these revolts were occurring in Israel, a great change had taken place in Assyria. Pul, the king of Babylon and Assyria, died; and a new king of Babylon arose, who was not of Pul’s family. He collected the chronicles of the kings of Babylon who had reigned before him, and destroyed them all, so that the history of the kings of Babylon must necessarily start with him (747 BC).

“The new king of Babylon was Na-bo-nas´sar, and as usurpers often have difficulty securing their hold on the kingdom, Assyrian affairs were neglected for a time. In the mean while, Asshurnirari, the king of Nineveh—one of those kings who had walked in repentance before the Lord God—also died (745 BC).

“Thus it was that a usurper in Assyria saw his opportunity as well. With Pul dead, and Nabonassar occupied, Asshurnirari’s ambitious gardener rose up and seized the throne of Assyria. This monarch’s name was Tig-lath-pil-e´ser, and he did not walk in repentance before the Lord as had his predecessors.

“Because of the generation of Ninevites who lived in repentance, Assyria had been reduced back to her old national boundaries; but Tiglath-pileser immediately sought to remedy this state of affairs. He mobilized the army, and prepared them so well that the king of Assyria was soon ready once again to embark on a career of conquest.”

This history is confirmed by George Rawlinson (Camden professor of ancient history at Oxford University, 1861-1889) in The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2., pages 122-124:

“One important difficulty presents itself, at this point of the narrative, in an apparent contradiction between the native records of the Assyrians and the casual notices of their history contained in the Second Book of Kings. The Biblical Pul — the “king of Assyria” who came up against the land of Israel … is unnoticed in the native inscriptions [of the Assyrians], and even seems to be excluded from the royal lists by the absence of any name at all resembling his in the proper place in the famous Canon [of Assyrian kings]. … [here he discusses the assertion that Pul and Tiglath-Pileser are the same man, and discards the notion with evidence] … Berosus [the most accurate Babylonian historian from ancient times] represented Pul as a Chaldean king; and the name itself, which is wholly alien to the ordinary Assyrian type, has at least one counterpart among known Babylonian names.”

Pul, who made Assyria tributary to the Babylonian throne, was indeed the “king of Assyria” as Scripture attests, in this epoch. Vassalage to the Babylonians ended with the rise of Tiglath-Pileser.

For further reading:
The Story of the Ancient World by Christine Miller
Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World by George Rawlinson