Shallum

Biblical Account

Shallum was a king of the northern kingdom of Israel who appears in 2 Kings 15, where Scripture calls him "Shallum the son of Jabesh." His Hebrew name is often interpreted to mean "recompense" or "reward."

Six months after Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam II, came to the throne, Shallum conspired against him, killed him, and reigned in his place (2 Kings 15:8–10). Scripture records that this took place in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah, king of Judah, and that Shallum reigned for one month in Samaria (2 Kings 15:13). Soon afterward, Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, killed Shallum, and became king (2 Kings 15:14). Scripture gives no further details, stating only that the rest of his acts and his conspiracy are written "in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel" (2 Kings 15:15).

Significance in Scripture

Second Kings presents the end of the Jehu dynasty with Zechariah's death as the fulfillment of the word that Jehu's descendants would sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation (2 Kings 10:30; 15:12). The prophecy in Amos 7:9, "I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword," is also commonly read in connection with this event.

Shallum's brief reign illustrates the turmoil of the northern kingdom's final years. Within a short period after the death of Jeroboam II, Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah the son of Menahem, and Pekah fell one after another to conspiracies, and Israel was ultimately overthrown by Assyria (fall of the northern kingdom of Israel). Many interpreters regard Hosea 8:4, "They have set up kings, but not by me," as reflecting this period. This Shallum is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretive Issues

• Some scholars, following certain Greek manuscripts, read the phrase "before the people" in 2 Kings 15:10 (as rendered in the Korean Revised Version and the KJV) as the place name "in Ibleam." On this reading, Zechariah was killed not publicly but at a specific location.
• Scripture does not reveal Shallum's origins, his motives for the conspiracy, or the faction that supported him. Sermon material describing his character or motives should be recognized as the interpreter's inference rather than the record of the text.
• Several people in the Bible bear the same name. Notably, Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah who became king of Judah, was also called Shallum (1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 22:11). The husband of the prophetess Huldah was likewise named Shallum (2 Kings 22:14). The Shallum of this article is the king of the northern kingdom of Israel and is distinct from these figures.

In the Korean Church

Shallum is rarely the subject of a sermon in his own right. He is usually mentioned in expository preaching on 2 Kings or in whole-Bible reading programs when explaining the series of conspiracies in the northern kingdom's final years. In such contexts he is sometimes presented as an example of the lesson that power seized by force, apart from God, does not endure.