And Menahem slept with his fathers ,.... Died a natural death, and in peace, though an usurper and a tyrant: and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead ; the kingdom he had usurped continued in his family. read more
In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria ,.... As it was in the thirty ninth of Azariah that his father began his reign, and he reigned ten years, they must end in the forty ninth of Azariah, and therefore there must be an interregnum of a year; perhaps the title of Pekahiah might be disputed, and it was a year before he could get settled on the throne: and reigned two years ; being slain by one of his captains, as... read more
And he did that which was evil ,.... Besides other sins, he cleaved to that of worshipping the calves, a piece of state policy all the kings of Israel gave into. read more
But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his ,.... The word signifies a "third" man, the third to the king, as some think; Josephus F1 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 11. sect. 1.) calls him a "chiliarch", one that had the command of a thousand men: conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house ; Josephus F2 Ibid. says it was at a banquet: with Argob, and Arieh ; whom, according to Abarbinel, Pekah slew with the king, being mighty men,... read more
And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah ,.... The same form of expression is used as before, 2 Kings 15:21 , of all the kings. read more
Smote him in Samaria , in the palace of the king ' s house , with Argob and Arieh - Who Argob and Arieh were we know not; some make them men, some make them statues. Pekah had fifty Gileadites in the conspiracy with him. read more
REIGNS OF AZARIAH AND JOTHAM OVER JUDAH ; AND OF ZACHARIAH , SHALLUM , MENAHEM , PEKAHIAH , AND PEKAH OVER ISRAEL . read more
Some lessons from the history of kings. "In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam," etc. The mighty Governor of the universe is represented as saying to the Jewish nation, "I gave thee a king in mine anger" ( Hosea 13:2 ). And truly, with a certain number of exceptions here and there through the ages, kings have proved malific scourges of the race. In this chapter there are mentioned no less than seven of those men who are called kings, but who, instead of having one grain of moral... read more
Anarchy in Israel. With rapid descent the kingdom of Israel, which had risen to great external prosperity under Jeroboam II ; hastened to its fall. The prophets give us vivid pictures of the corruption of the times. The bonds of social life were loosened, oppression was rampant, the fear of God seemed to have died out of the land; there was no confidence, peace, or good will among any classes, in the nation. As a consequence, the throne was a prey to any adventurer who had power to seize... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 15:8-31
The best days of the kingdom of Israel were while the government was in Jehu's family. In his reign, and the next three reigns, though there were many abominable corruptions and miserable grievances in Israel, yet the crown went in succession, the kings died in their beds, and some care was taken of public affairs; but, now that those days are at an end, the history which we have in these verses of about thirty-three years represents the affairs of that kingdom in the utmost confusion... read more