2 Kings 15:17
in 2 Kings 15In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
KJV
In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
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This verse in 2 Kings 15
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign
on 2 Kings 15:17-18
Menahem's ten years are the north's longest stretch of stability in this chapter, bought by the very violence that opened his reign, and the formula returns for a second time in nine verses, he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. A usurper who murders his way to the throne still inherits the same one sin every king before him inherited. The text measures kings by covenant loyalty, not by how they came to power or how long they kept it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
31 ), this Menahem (the scandal of his country) was so prodigiously cruel to those of his own nation who hesitated a little at submitting to him that he not only ruined a city, and the coasts thereof, but, forgetting that he himself was born of a woman, ripped up all the women with child,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel,.... Shallum reigning but one month, both their reigns began the same year.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Because it would not open. The governor of the city did not open the city for him, to accept him as king over them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּשְׁנַ֨ת | bishnat | in year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֤ים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| וָתֵ֙שַׁע֙ | vatesha' | and nine | H8672 → | 58 times |
| שָׁנָ֔ה | shanah | year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| לַעֲזַרְיָ֖ה | laazaryah | of Azariah | H5838 → | 49 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוּדָ֑ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| מָ֠לַךְ | malakh | he became king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| מְנַחֵ֨ם | menachem | Menahem | H4505 → | 8 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| גָּדִ֧י | gadi | Gadi | H1424 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עֶ֥שֶׂר | ʾeser | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| שָׁנִ֖ים | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| בְּשֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃ | beshomeron | in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
בִּשְׁנַ֨תin year
bishnatH8141 →877 times
שְׁלֹשִׁ֤יםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
וָתֵ֙שַׁע֙and nine
vatesha'H8672 →58 times
שָׁנָ֔הyear
shanahH8141 →877 times
לַעֲזַרְיָ֖הof Azariah
laazaryahH5838 →49 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יְהוּדָ֑הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
מָ֠לַךְhe became king
malakhH4427 →348 times
מְנַחֵ֨םMenahem
menachemH4505 →8 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
גָּדִ֧יGadi
gadiH1424 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עֶ֥שֶׂרten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
שָׁנִ֖יםyears
shanimH8141 →877 times
בְּשֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃in Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
This page draws on 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.