by
Damien F. Mackey
Part One:
Menahem to be merged with Hoshea
“Pul king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control”.
2 Kings 15:19
“… Hoshea I placed as ruler over them … I received a tribute of … 1,000 talents of silver”.
Tiglath-pileser III/Pul
If there be any validity to my radical shortening of the Assyrian king lists (‘Middle’ to ‘Neo’):
Folding four ‘Middle’ Assyrian kings into first four ‘Neo’ Assyrian kings
then there must follow a corresponding truncating of those kings of Israel tied to Assyria.
Can Menahem of Israel (749-738 BC, these conventional dates vary), for instance, be merged with Hoshea of Israel (732-722 BC)?
There are indeed some notable similarities between Menahem and Hoshea.
Thus:
Act of assassination
Menahem murdered Shallum (2 Kings 15:14).
Hoshea murdered Pekah (15:30).
Assassinated (previous) king was apostate
“The rest of the history of Shallum … all that is recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel” (15:15).
“The rest of the history of Pekah … is not all this recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel” (15:31).
Ruled in Samaria for about a decade
“[Menahem] reigned for ten years in Samaria” (15:17).
“[Hoshea] … in Samaria … reigned for nine years” (17:1).
Non-Yahwistic ruler
“[Menahem] did what is displeasing to Yahweh” (15:18).
“[Hoshea] did what is displeasing to Yahweh” (17:2).
Attacked by invading King of Assyria
“In [Menahem’s] times, Pul king of Assyria invaded the country …” (15:19).
“Shalmaneser king of Assyria made war on Hoshea …” (17:3).
Mackey’s note: In my “Folding four … Assyrian kings” article above, I have identified “Pul”, i.e., Tiglath-pileser, with Shalmaneser.
And, if Menahem was Hoshea, then this would only serve to reinforce my identification.
King of Israel pays tribute to King of Assyria
“… Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver” (15:19).
“… Hoshea … submitted to him and paid him tribute” (17:3). [Likewise a thousand talents of silver: http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/hoshea.htm]
Part Two:
Need to reduce the later monarchs of Israel
What are the potential biblico-historical ramifications of Menahem, Hoshea,
now being tentatively identified as the one and very same king of Israel,
during the reign of a rampant Tiglath-pileser (“Pul”), king of Assyria?
Logically (if Menahem/Hoshea be just the one king of Israel), it ought to follow, now, that:
- the biblically-unfavoured king Shallum, whom Menahem murdered, was
- the biblically-unfavoured king Pekah, whom Hoshea murdered.
During this most bloody phase in the history of Israel - {though somewhat less bloody if I am correct in reducing the number of bloodthirsty kings}- the king who was murdered was himself, in turn, a king murdered.
This fiendish situation occurred twice according to the standard interpretation of 2 Kings:
- Shallum murdering Zechariah (2 Kings 15:10) and then himself being murdered; and
- Pekah murdering Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:25) and then himself being murdered.
More than likely, though (at least as I am thinking), this despicable double-murder situation happened only the once: i.e., Shallum/Pekah murdered Zechariah/Pekahiah, and then Shallum/Pekah was murdered by Menahem/Hoshea.
Six of the later kings of Israel here reduced to only three – all of whom were contemporaneous with the neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser (“Pul”)/Shalmaneser.
As with Menahem/Hoshea, the combination of Zechariah/Pekahiah is an adequate fit.
Compare the following, word for word in some instances:
2 Kings 15:8-11
Zechariah … became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king. The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
2 Kings 15:23-26
Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king. The other events of Pekahiah’s reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
Less promising a fit, it seems, is my combination Shallum/Pekah, though we know virtually nothing of Shallum. His reign “in Samaria one month” (2 Kings 15:13) is highly doubtful given that (v. 15): “The other events of Shallum’s reign … are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel”.
Of Shallum’s ‘other half’, Pekah (according to my reconstruction), it is likewise written (v. 31): “As for the other events of Pekah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?”
But his length of reign is given far more reasonably as “twenty years” (v. 27).
Modern chronologies cannot cope with this length of time, however, and so reduce Pekah’s reign to less than a decade: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-kings-of-ancient-israel
Reigned over Israel in Samaria for 20 years. Death: Hoshea son of Elah conspired against him and killed him.
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