2 Kings 15:20
in 2 Kings 15Menahem exacted this money from each of the wealthy men of Israel—fifty shekels of silver from each man—to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and did not remain in the land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
KJV
And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
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This verse in 2 Kings 15
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Menahem exacted the money - The kings of Israel had no such ready resource in difficulties as that possessed by the kings of Judah in the temple treasury 2Ki 12:18; 2Ki 16:8. Hence, the forced contribution from the people, the odium of which was diminished by confining the levy to the comparatively rich. Each man fifty shekels - As the silver talent contained 3,000 shekels, the levy of fifty shekels a head must have extended to 60,000 persons.
This site's exposition
Pul the king of Assyria came against the land
on 2 Kings 15:19-22
Pul is the first Assyrian king this scroll names coming against Israel's own soil, the empire that will finish the north at 17:6 entering the story here as a threat bought off rather than fought. The Babylonian king lists identify Pul with Tiglath-pileser the third under his throne name, the same king who returns at verse 29 under his better known name to take Naphtali captive; Menahem's thousand talents only postpones what his successors cannot buy off twice. The tribute falls on every wealthy man at fifty shekels apiece, a land tax raised to pay a foreign king to leave, and the closing formula and Pekahiah's succession follow at once.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth,....
It is repeated concerning him as before that he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam. Still this is mentioned, to show that God was righteous in bringing that destruction upon them which came not long after, because they hated to be reformed,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Each man fifty shekels of silver - Upwards of five pounds sterling a man.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּצֵא֩ | vaiyotze' | and he brought out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מְנַחֵ֨ם | menachem | Menahem | H4505 → | 8 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֶּ֜סֶף | hakesef | the silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַ֚ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גִּבּוֹרֵ֣י | giborei | [the] mighty [men] of | H1368 → | 158 times |
| הַחַ֔יִל | hachayil | <the> wealth | H2428 → | 246 times |
| לָתֵת֙ | latet | to give [it] | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְמֶ֣לֶךְ | lemelekh | to [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁ֔וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| חֲמִשִּׁ֧ים | chamishim | fifty | H2572 → | 163 times |
| שְׁקָלִ֛ים | shekalim | shekels | H8255 → | 88 times |
| כֶּ֖סֶף | kesef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| לְאִ֣ישׁ | leish | to a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶחָ֑ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וַיָּ֙שָׁב֙ | vaiyashov | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁ֔וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָ֥מַד | ʾamad | he remained | H5975 → | 521 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיֹּצֵא֩and he brought out
vaiyotze'H3318 →1067 times
מְנַחֵ֨םMenahem
menachemH4505 →8 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכֶּ֜סֶףthe silver
hakesefH3701 →403 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַ֚לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
גִּבּוֹרֵ֣י[the] mighty [men] of
giboreiH1368 →158 times
הַחַ֔יִל<the> wealth
hachayilH2428 →246 times
לָתֵת֙to give [it]
latetH5414 →2011 times
לְמֶ֣לֶךְto [the] king of
lemelekhH4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
חֲמִשִּׁ֧יםfifty
chamishimH2572 →163 times
שְׁקָלִ֛יםshekels
shekalimH8255 →88 times
כֶּ֖סֶףsilver
kesefH3701 →403 times
לְאִ֣ישׁto a man
leishH376 →1663 times
אֶחָ֑דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וַיָּ֙שָׁב֙and he returned
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
עָ֥מַדhe remained
ʾamadH5975 →521 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
בָּאָֽרֶץ׃in the land
baaretzH776 →2504 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 Samuel 19:32Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 34:7
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.
- 1 Samuel 25:2
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
- Proverbs 16:31
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.
- Job 1:3
and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Deuteronomy 34:7
Through
Ruth 2:1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
it leads to
- Ruth 4:21
Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed,
- Ruth 3:2
Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
- Ruth 3:12
Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
- Ruth 4:21
Through
2 Kings 23:35So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:33
And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and…
- 2 Kings 23:33
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
