Menahem

Biblical Account

Menahem appears in 2 Kings 15:14-22. His name is generally interpreted to mean "comforter."

• Accession: Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, killed Shallum the son of Jabesh, and became king. Shallum died only a month after taking the throne (2 Kings 15:13-14). Scripture records that Menahem became king in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah (Uzziah), king of Judah, and reigned ten years in Samaria (2 Kings 15:17).
• Attack on Tiphsah: When the people of Tiphsah would not open their gates to him, Menahem struck the city and its surrounding territory. The account records that "all the women therein that were with child he ripped up" (2 Kings 15:16).
• Tribute to Assyria: When Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver. Scripture states that he did so to strengthen his hold on the kingdom. The silver was raised by exacting fifty shekels from each of the wealthy men of Israel (2 Kings 15:19-20).
• Assessment and death: Scripture judges that all his days he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam. After his death his son Pekahiah succeeded him (2 Kings 15:18, 22).

Significance in Scripture

Menahem's reign fell within the turbulent period that led to the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. After the death of Jeroboam II, kings of the northern kingdom were assassinated one after another. Amid this turmoil, Menahem was the last king of the northern kingdom to pass the throne to his son. His payment of tribute to Assyria and his reliance on its power are read as marking the point at which the northern kingdom began to depend on Assyria.

1 Chronicles 5:26 mentions both "Pul" and "Tilgath-pilneser" as kings of Assyria. Scholars generally identify Pul with Tiglath-pileser III. The inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III are also reported to include, among the kings who paid tribute, a name read as "Menahem of Samaria."

The New Testament does not mention Menahem.

Interpretation and Issues

• Dates of reign: Scholars differ in how they reconcile the chronological data of Kings with Assyrian records, so the proposed dates do not agree. His reign is generally placed in the mid-eighth century BC.
• Location of Tiphsah: Tiphsah shares its name with a city on the Euphrates River, but that site lies far from Menahem's sphere of control. For this reason, some scholars, citing certain manuscripts of the Septuagint, read the place name as Tappuah in the region of Ephraim.
• Amount of the tribute: One talent of silver equals 3,000 shekels. By simple calculation, raising a thousand talents of silver at fifty shekels per person would require about 60,000 contributors. Some interpreters use this figure as a basis for estimating the size of Israel's landowning elite at the time.
• Connection with Hosea: Some commentators link the passages in Hosea 7-8 that describe Ephraim going to Assyria with the foreign policy of Menahem's era. The text, however, does not name Menahem.

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, Menahem is seldom treated as a standalone topic in sermons or Sunday school. He is reportedly mentioned mainly in expository series working through 2 Kings, in programs for reading through the Bible, or in surveys of the northern kings following the division of the kingdom.