Shallum’s Brief Usurpation and Murder
2 Kings 15:13-16
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2 K.15.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שלום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יביש: NOUN,prop,sg,abs
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- בשנת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,cons
- שלשים: NUM,m,pl,abs
- ותשע: NUM
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לעזיה: PREP
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- וימלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ירח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בשמרון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 2 Kings 15:10 (verbal): Immediate narrative context: reports the conspiracy/assassination of Zechariah by Shallum (same episode that leads to Shallum's brief reign in Samaria).
- 2 Kings 15:14 (structural): Continues the succession narrative—Menahem assassinates Shallum and succeeds him, showing the rapid turnover introduced in v.13's one‑month reign detail.
- 2 Kings 15:23 (structural): Gives the accession of Menahem and uses the same chronological marker (“in the thirty‑ninth year of Azariah”), connecting the short reigns within the regnal chronology of Israel and Judah.
- 1 Kings 16:15–20 (thematic): Parallel motif of a very short, violently ended reign (Zimri's seven‑day rule) and palace intrigue/assassination as a means of dynastic change in the northern kingdom.
Alternative generated candidates
- In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king over Israel in Samaria; he reigned one month.
- In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king over Israel in Samaria; he reigned one month.
2 K.15.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מנחם: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גדי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- מתרצה: PREP+NOUN,prop,f,sg
- ויבא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- שמרון: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- שלום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יביש: NOUN,prop,sg,abs
- בשמרון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וימיתהו: VERB,hif,impf,3,m,sg,clit:3,m,sg
- וימלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- תחתיו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 2 Kings 15:10 (structural): Describes the prior coup in which Shallum son of Jabesh murdered Zechariah—the immediate sequence of assassinations into which Menahem now intervenes.
- 2 Kings 15:16 (verbal): Records Menahem’s violent suppression (striking Tiphsah) and thus parallels the violent means by which he secured the throne after killing Shallum.
- 2 Kings 15:17-22 (thematic): Summarizes Menahem’s reign (ten years) and political actions, including paying tribute to Pul/Tiglath‑Pileser—shows the aftermath and consequences of his usurpation.
- 2 Kings 12:20 (thematic): Reports the conspiracy and assassination of King Joash in Judah—a parallel example of royal assassination as a means of regime change in the Deuteronomistic narrative.
- 2 Chronicles 24:25 (thematic): Chronicler’s account of Joash’s murder (paralleling 2 Kings 12:20); provides a corroborating example of internal violence and palace coups in Israelite/Judahite history.
Alternative generated candidates
- Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, struck Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him, and reigned in his place.
- Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and struck Shallum son of Jabesh there and killed him, and reigned in his place.
2 K.15.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויתר: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- שלום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וקשרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אשר: PRON,rel
- קשר: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- הנם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- כתבים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- ספר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- הימים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- למלכי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 1 Kgs 14:19 (verbal): Uses the same closing formula—referring readers to the 'book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel' for the rest of the king's deeds (same archival reference and wording).
- 1 Kgs 15:7 (structural): Parallel editorial formula at the end of a royal notice—'the rest of his acts are written in the book of the chronicles'—here applied to a Judahite king, showing the common structural device in the Deuteronomistic history.
- 1 Kgs 11:41 (allusion): Refers readers to an external royal source ('the book of the acts of Solomon') for further details—an analogous practice of citing archival/chronicle sources to abbreviate narrative in Kings.
- 2 Chr 12:16 (verbal): Chronicles repeats the archival referral formula about a king's remaining acts being recorded elsewhere, illustrating the same historiographical practice across Kings and Chronicles.
Alternative generated candidates
- As for the rest of the acts of Shallum, and the conspiracy that he plotted, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
- As for the rest of Shallum's deeds and the conspiracy that he conspired—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
2 K.15.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אז: ADV
- יכה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מנחם: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- תפסח: NOUN,prop,f,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- כל: DET
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- גבוליה: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מתרצה: VERB,hitpael,ptc,ms
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- פתח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- ההרותיה: NOUN,f,pl,def+SUFF,3,f,sg
- בקע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 20:10-12 (structural): Prescribes offering terms to a city and destroying it if it refuses to open its gates — mirrors the situation and motive for Menahem's slaughter of Tiphsah ('because they opened not to him').
- Judges 19:29 (thematic): Narrates extreme sexual violence and mutilation of a woman in a communal atrocity; parallels the brutal treatment of women reported in 2 Kgs 15:16 as an example of wartime atrocity.
- 2 Samuel 12:31 (thematic): After David's capture of Rabbah he subjects captives to severe mutilation and harsh treatment; thematically comparable to Menahem's ruthless violence against the inhabitants of Tiphsah.
- 2 Kings 15:18-22 (structural): Immediate narrative context describing Menahem's consolidation of power and payment to the Assyrian king (Pul); these verses frame the political aftermath of the violent actions recorded in v.16.
- 1 Samuel 15:3 (thematic): God's command to Saul to 'utterly destroy' Amalek, including women and children, parallels the motif of wholesale destruction of populations in warfare as exemplified by Menahem's massacre.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its borders as far as Tirzah; because it did not open to him, he struck it, and he tore open all the women in it who were with child.
- Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its borders as far as Tirzah, because they would not open to him; and he tore open all its pregnant women.
In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king over Israel in Samaria; and he reigned one month. But Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, struck Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him; and Menahem reigned in his stead.
As for the rest of the acts of Shallum and the conspiracy that he plotted—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its border as far as Tirzah, because it would not open to him; and he tore open all the women who were with child.