2 Kings 15

• The name Uzziah means Yahweh is my strength.

• fifty-two years: Uzziah reigned from 792 to 740 BC. During this time, Assyria was weakening, and Israel and Judah had friendly relations. Uzziah's strong faith brought God's blessing, leading to Judah's greatest prosperity since Solomon's time (2 Chronicles 26:9–10).

Even though Uzziah had a positive spiritual evaluation, he still allowed worship at the pagan shrines (2 Kings 14:4).

Because Uzziah took over the duties meant for priests (2 Chronicles 26:16–21), the Lord punished him with leprosy. His son Jotham became co-ruler around 750 BC. Although Uzziah was isolated and could not perform public duties, he might have still held political power. King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria, who ruled from 744 to 727 BC, during his first western campaign from 744 to 743 BC, mentioned an opponent named Azariau, who many scholars believe was Uzziah.

Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam II, was not as skilled as his father. Zechariah continued the wrongdoings that the first Jeroboam had led Israel to commit. God had promised Jehu a royal line lasting four generations (2 Kings 10:30). Zechariah's six-month reign completed that promise.

Jabesh was a town east of the Jordan River in northern Gilead. It may have been the hometown of Shallum, whose reign was even shorter than Zechariah’s. Shallum was killed in the same way he had killed Zechariah (2 Kings 15:10).

• Tirzah was the capital of the northern kingdom during Israel’s first two royal families (1 Kings 14:17; 15:21, 33; 16:8).

• Menahem served as an army commander.

• In Tirzah, Menahem learned that Shallum had assassinated King Zechariah. Menahem gathered his troops and marched toward Samaria.

• ripped open all the pregnant women: This horrible wartime atrocity was also recorded in Assyrian and Babylonian texts. This act is also linked to King Hazael of Aram (2 Kings 8:12). See also Hosea 10:14; 13:16; Amos 1:13.

• Pul: This is another name for the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III (see 2 Kings 15:29; 16:6). The name Pul is taken from the Babylonian language. Tiglath-pileser III took the throne of Assyria in 744 BC and led effectively until he died in 727 BC.

• When Tiglath-pileser started the western campaign to reclaim land from Aram, Menahem paid him a large tribute of thirty-seven tons of silver to prevent him from invading Israel.

• Although Menahem’s name means comfort, the unstable conditions in the northern kingdom offered little relief for God's people during his rule from 752 to 742 BC.

Menahem’s son Pekahiah ruled for only two years before Pekah plotted to kill him. Pekahiah followed the sinful religious practices started by Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:26–33). Pekah, an army commander, had likely been competing for the throne for a while.

fifty-second year of Azariah’s reign: Pekah became king in the last year of Uzziah’s rule, 740 BC. Due to the relationship between Tiglath-pileser and Menahem, Pekah limited his influence to Gilead while Menahem ruled from 752 to 742 BC. After Menahem died, Pekahiah appointed Pekah as an army commander. This role gave Pekah more support and allowed him to make himself king of Israel in 740 BC.

• During his second western campaign from 734 to 732 BC, Tiglath-pileser attacked Israel again. Pekah had joined forces with King Rezin of Aram in a poorly planned anti-Assyrian alliance (see Isaiah 9:1). As a result, Tiglath-pileser captured much of Israel’s northern and eastern lands.

• Pekah’s failed political strategies caused unrest in Israel, leading to his assassination by Hoshea. Hoshea likely acted to appease the Assyrian king and save the northern kingdom. In his records, Tiglath-pileser claimed he placed Hoshea on the throne and received a large tribute from him.

• The twentieth year of Jotham, starting from his co-regency with his father Uzziah in Judah, was 732 BC, the year he died.

In the second year of King Pekah's reign, Jotham began his first full year as an independent ruler. He had been co-ruler with his father for the previous ten years.

sixteen years: This period spans from when Jotham began co-ruling with his father Uzziah in 750 BC until his son Ahaz became the main ruler of Judah in 735 BC.

• Jotham did what pleased the Lord, but he let people continue worshiping at pagan shrines.

• rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD: The prosperity from Uzziah’s reign continued under Jotham. Jotham expanded Jerusalem’s wall at the hill of Ophel and worked on many sites in Judea (2 Chronicles 27:3–4). He also defeated the rebellious Ammonites (2 Chronicles 27:5), whom Uzziah had previously subdued (2 Chronicles 26:8).

Rezin … Pekah: See 2 Kings 16:5.