2 Kings 15:19
in 2 Kings 15Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
KJV
And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
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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)
This is the first distinct mention which we find in Scripture of Assyria as an aggressive power. From the native monuments we learn that she had been for above a century pushing her conquests beyond the Euphrates, and seeking to reduce under her dominion the entire tract between that river and Egypt. Jehu had paid tribute. Some - arguing from the use of the phrase “confirmed the kingdom” (here, and in 2Ki 14:5) - think that Jehoahaz had acknowledged Assyrian suzerainty, and consented that her monarchs should receive their investiture from the hands of the Ninevite king.
This site's exposition
Pul king of Assyria invaded the land
on 2 Kings 15:19-22
Pul is the first Assyrian king this book names coming against Israel's own soil. The empire that ends the north at 17:6 enters here as a threat bought off. The Babylonian king lists identify Pul with Tiglath-pileser the third, who returns at verse 29 and takes the land of Naphtali.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), which Menahem exacted, it is probable, by military execution, of all the mighty men of wealth, very considerately sparing the poor, and laying the burden (as was fit) on those that were best able to bear it; being raised, it was given to the king of Assyria, as pay for his army, fifty shekels of silver for each man in it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Pul the king of Assyria--This is the first Assyrian king after Nimrod who is mentioned in biblical history. His name has been recently identified with that of Phalluka on the monuments of Nineveh, and that of Menahem discovered also. came against the land--Elsewhere it is said "Ephraim [Israel] went to the Assyrian" [Ho 5:13].
Pul, the king of Assyria - This is the first time we hear of Assyria since the days of Nimrod, its founder, Gen 10:11. Dean Prideaux supposes that this Pul was father of the famous Sardanapalus, the son himself being called Sardan; to which, as was frequent in those times, the father’s name, Pul, was added, making Sardanpul of which the Greeks and Latins made Sardanapalus; and this Pul is supposed to be the same that reigned in Nineveh when Jonah preached the terrors of the Lord to that city. That his hand - That is, his power and influence, might be with him: in this sense is the word hand frequently used in Scripture.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He did not stay there but returned to his home seeing that he recived the money and no longer protect him from other enemies
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּ֣א | ba' | he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| פ֤וּל | ful | Pul | H6322 → | |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁוּר֙ | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וַיִּתֵּ֤ן | vaiyiten | and he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| מְנַחֵם֙ | menachem | Menahem | H4505 → | 8 times |
| לְפ֔וּל | leful | to Pul | H6322 → | |
| אֶ֖לֶף | ʾelef | a thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| כִּכַּר־ | kikar- | talent[s] of | H3603 → | 68 times |
| כָּ֑סֶף | kasef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| לִהְי֤וֹת | lihyot | to be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| יָדָיו֙ | yadav | hands his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אִתּ֔וֹ | ʾito | with him | H854 → | 929 times |
| לְהַחֲזִ֥יק | lehachazik | to strengthen | H2388 → | 291 times |
| הַמַּמְלָכָ֖ה | hamamlakhah | the kingdom | H4467 → | 117 times |
| בְּיָדֽוֹ׃ | beyado | in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
בָּ֣אhe came
ba'H935 →2568 times
פ֤וּלPul
fulH6322 →
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁוּר֙Assyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וַיִּתֵּ֤ןand he gave
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
מְנַחֵם֙Menahem
menachemH4505 →8 times
לְפ֔וּלto Pul
lefulH6322 →
אֶ֖לֶףa thousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
כִּכַּר־talent[s] of
kikar-H3603 →68 times
כָּ֑סֶףsilver
kasefH3701 →403 times
לִהְי֤וֹתto be
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
יָדָיו֙hands his
yadavH3027 →1618 times
אִתּ֔וֹwith him
ʾitoH854 →929 times
לְהַחֲזִ֥יקto strengthen
lehachazikH2388 →291 times
הַמַּמְלָכָ֖הthe kingdom
hamamlakhahH4467 →117 times
בְּיָדֽוֹ׃in hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 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
2 Kings 12:18So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:18
So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this…
- 2 Kings 18:15–16
Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
- 1 Kings 15:18
Through
2 Kings 16:8Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 16:2
So Asa withdrew the silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent it with this message to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who was…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 12:17–18
At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 16:2
Through
2 Kings 14:5As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 25:3–4
As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.
- 2 Kings 12:20–21
And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.
- Numbers 35:33
Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the…
- Genesis 9:6
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- 2 Chronicles 25:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
What the record shows
1 entry- Tiglath-pileser III (Pul) — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed
Multiple Assyrian royal inscriptions
Biblical figure (King of Assyria, 744-727 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); F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); 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.