In the fifty second year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria ,.... Which was the last year of the reign of Azariah: and reigned twenty years ; which was a long reign for an usurper and murderer. read more
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord ,.... Not only in committing the above crimes of usurpation and murder, but idolatry, and particularly the worshipping of the calves, hinted at in the text. read more
In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria ,.... Into the land of Israel; he is called by a Jewish chronologer F3 David Ganz. Ut supra. (Tzemach David, par. 2. fol. 3. 2.) , Pul-Asir; so Phul-Assar by Metasthenes F4 Ut supra. (De Judicio Temp. & Annal. Pers. fol. 221. 2.) , who says he reigned twenty five years; he very probably was the son of Pul the Assyrian king, mentioned 2 Kings 15:19 , and is thought to be the same that Aelianus F5 De... read more
And Hoshea the son or Elab made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead ,.... Did by him as he had done by Pekahiah, 2 Kings 15:28 , this was measure for measure, as the Jews say: and this he did in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah ; and yet Jotham is said to reign but sixteen years, 2 Kings 15:33 , this must be reckoned therefore either from the time of his being viceroy, and judging Israel in his father's... read more
And the rest of the acts of Pekah ,.... Not recorded here, were to be read in the book of chronicles of the kings so often referred to. read more
Came Tiglath-pileser - He is supposed to have been the successor of Sardanapalus: Dean Prideaux makes him the same with Arbaces, called by Aelian Thilgamus, and by Usher Ninus junior; who, together with Belesis, headed the conspiracy against Sardanapalus, and fixed his seat at Nineveh, the ancient residence of the Assyrian kings; as did Belesis, who is called, in Isaiah 39:1 , Baladan, fix his at Babylon. Took Ijon - These places belonged to Israel; and were taken by Ben-hadad,... read more
Hoshea the son of Elah - in the twentieth year of Jotham - There are many difficulties in the chronology of this place. To reconcile the whole, Calmet says: "Hoshea conspired against Pekah, the twentieth year of the reign of this prince, which was the eighteenth after the beginning of the reign of Jotham, king of Judah. Two years after this, that is, the fourth year of Ahaz, and the twentieth of Jotham, Hoshea made himself master of a part of the kingdom, according to 2... 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
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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