2 Kings 15:14
in 2 Kings 15Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, struck down and killed Shallum son of Jabesh, and reigned in his place.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
KJV
For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
⋯
This verse in 2 Kings 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Tirzah, the old capital, once more appears as a place of importance, giving birth to the pretender, who alone of all these later kings died a natural death, and left the crown to his son 2Ki 15:22. It would seem from the present passage to have been on lower ground than Samaria.
This site's exposition
he reigned in Samaria one full month
on 2 Kings 15:13-14
Shallum reigned in Samaria one full month, against Zechariah's six, and Menahem ended his reign by force, as it had begun. Menahem came from Tirzah, the old northern capital before Omri built Samaria, so the newer capital fell to a man out of the older one.
This site's exposition
went up from Tirzah
Josephus made Menahem the commander of the army, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown report. Matthew Henry compared him with Omri, the general who marched on Zimri after a reign of seven days at 1 Kings 16:15 to 18. Shallum's month ended as Zimri's week had.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Probably he was general in the army, which then lay encamped at Tirzah, and, hearing of Shallum's treason and usurpation, hastened to punish it, as Omri did that of Zimri in a like case, 1 Kings xvi. Menahem held the kingdom ten years,
For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Shallum . . . reigned a full month--He was opposed and slain by Menahem, who, according to JOSEPHUS, was commander of the forces, which, on the report of the king's murder, were besieging Tirzah, a town twelve miles east of Samaria, and formerly a seat of the kings of Israel.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעַל֩ | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מְנַחֵ֨ם | menachem | Menahem | H4505 → | 8 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| גָּדִ֜י | gadi | Gadi | H1424 → | |
| מִתִּרְצָ֗ה | mitirtzah | from Tirzah | H8656 → | |
| וַיָּבֹא֙ | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שֹׁמְר֔וֹן | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| וַיַּ֛ךְ | vaiyakh | and he struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שַׁלּ֥וּם | shalum | Shallum | H7967 → | 27 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יָבֵ֖ישׁ | yaveish | Jabesh | H3003 → | 24 times |
| בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹן | beshomeron | in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| וַיְמִיתֵ֖הוּ | vaymitehu | and he killed him | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וַיִּמְלֹ֥ךְ | vaiyimlokh | and he became king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ | tachtav | in place of him | H8478 → | 505 times |
וַיַּעַל֩and he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
מְנַחֵ֨םMenahem
menachemH4505 →8 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
גָּדִ֜יGadi
gadiH1424 →
מִתִּרְצָ֗הfrom Tirzah
mitirtzahH8656 →
וַיָּבֹא֙and he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
שֹׁמְר֔וֹןSamaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
וַיַּ֛ךְand he struck down
vaiyakhH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שַׁלּ֥וּםShallum
shalumH7967 →27 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
יָבֵ֖ישׁJabesh
yaveishH3003 →24 times
בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹןin Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 times
וַיְמִיתֵ֖הוּand he killed him
vaymitehuH4191 →839 times
וַיִּמְלֹ֥ךְand he became king
vaiyimlokhH4427 →348 times
תַּחְתָּֽיו׃in place of him
tachtavH8478 →505 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 14:17Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and departed for Tirzah, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 6:4
You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 15:33
In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years.
- 1 Kings 16:23
In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
- 1 Kings 15:21
When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.
- 1 Kings 16:15
In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines,
- Song of Solomon 6:4
Through
1 Kings 16:15In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines,
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:27
Then Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging the city.
- Joshua 19:44
Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
- 1 Kings 15:27
Through
1 Kings 15:21When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:17
Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and departed for Tirzah, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died.
- 1 Kings 14:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
What the record shows
1 entry- Menahem — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed
Tiglath-pileser III Calah Annals and stele
Biblical figure (King of Israel, 749-738 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.
About 2 Kings

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
