And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him ,.... A friend of his, as Josephus F17 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 11. sect. 1. calls him, encouraged by the dissatisfaction of the people to him: and smote him before the people, and slew him ; in a public manner, the people consenting to it, and approving of it, not liking Zachariah to be their king: and reigned in his stead ; though but a very short time. read more
Smote him before the people - In some public assembly: he probably became very unpopular. 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
REIGN OF ZACHARIA OVER ISRAEL . FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE MADE JEHU . The writer has nothing to record of Zachariah but his murder by Shallum after a reign of six months. 2 Kings 15:8 , 2 Kings 15:9 , and 2 Kings 15:11 contain the usual formula. 2 Kings 15:10 gives the only event that needed record. 2 Kings 15:12 recalls to the reader's attention a previous passage, in which a prophecy had been mentioned, whereof Zachariah's reign was the fulfillment. 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
Worldly prosperity not infrequently the ruin of kingdoms. I. EXAMPLE OF SAMARIA . Scarcely ever was there a more prosperous reign than that of Jeroboam II .—a reign of forty-one years of continual success, uncheckered by a misfortune-Syria defeated, the old border everywhere recovered, Hamath occupied, Damascus brought into a subject condition. As usual, where there is military success, wealth flowed in, and with wealth, luxury. "Great houses" were built ( Amos 3:15 ), "ivory... read more
And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him. Josephus calls Shallum Zachariah's "friend," but otherwise adds nothing to the present narrative. And smote him before the people. The phrase employed is very unusual, and has justly excited suspicion. It was not understood by the LXX ; who translate ἐπάταξαν αὐτὸν κεβλαάμ , which gives no sense. Ewald sought to solve the difficulty by inventing a king, "Zobolam," but other critics have found this expedient too bold. The... read more
Before the people - i. e. openly and publicly. The Septuagint turns the original of the above words into a proper name, Keblaam, and makes him the actual assassin, but without much ground. read more
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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