2 Kings 15

This chapter belongs to the latter part of 2 Kings. It continues the account of 2 Kings 14, which tells of Amaziah's death, Azariah's accession, and the succession of Zachariah, son of Jeroboam II. The narrative alternates between Judah's relatively stable rule and the rapid decline of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Outline

• Verses 1–7 Azariah, king of Judah, comes to the throne at sixteen and reigns fifty-two years. He does what is right, but he does not remove the high places (local sites of worship). The LORD strikes him, and he lives with leprosy in a separate house until the day of his death, while his son Jotham governs the people.
• Verses 8–12 Zachariah becomes king of Israel and reigns six months before he is killed by Shallum. The word that Jehu's dynasty would last to the fourth generation is fulfilled.
• Verses 13–16 Shallum reigns one month and is killed by Menahem. Menahem brutally attacks Tiphsah because it would not open its gates to him.
• Verses 17–22 Menahem reigns ten years. He pays Pul, king of Assyria, a thousand talents of silver to make him withdraw, raising the silver by levying fifty shekels on each wealthy man.
• Verses 23–26 Pekahiah reigns two years and is killed by Pekah, one of his officers.
• Verses 27–31 During Pekah's twenty-year reign, Tiglath-pileser seizes Galilee, Naphtali, and other territory and carries the people captive. Hoshea son of Elah kills Pekah and becomes king.
• Verses 32–38 Jotham comes to the throne at twenty-five and reigns sixteen years; he builds the upper gate of the house of the LORD. Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah begin to attack Judah, and Jotham's son Ahaz succeeds him.

Key Verses

• 2 Kings 15:5 "And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death" — a judgment that falls on an upright king; the reason is explained in 2 Chronicles.
• 2 Kings 15:12 "Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation" — this verse states that the word of 2 Kings 10:30 was fulfilled.
• 2 Kings 15:29 "and carried them captive to Assyria" — marks the beginning of the northern kingdom's exile.

People and Places

• Uzziah: In this chapter he is mostly called Azariah; he appears as Uzziah in verses 13, 32, and 34.
• Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea: kings of the northern kingdom who came to the throne in rapid succession. This Hoshea is a different person from the prophet Hosea.
• Jotham: son of Azariah, who became king of Judah after serving as regent.
• Pul and Tiglath-pileser: kings of Assyria. They also appear together in 1 Chronicles 5:26, and many scholars regard them as the same person.
• Rezin: king of Aram.
• Jehu and Jeroboam son of Nebat: cited as the standards by which the kings of the northern kingdom are evaluated.
• Samaria: the capital of the northern kingdom. Tirzah, Tiphsah, Gilead, and Galilee are also mentioned.

Points for Reflection

• This chapter does not say why Azariah contracted leprosy. 2 Chronicles 26 reports that he became proud and was struck with leprosy when he attempted to burn incense in the temple.
• The Korean Revised Version renders the term as "leper" (문둥이), while the New Korean Revised Version uses "leprosy" (나병). Many scholars hold that the Hebrew word refers to a broader range of skin diseases than modern Hansen's disease.
• Some chronological details appear inconsistent, such as "the twentieth year of Jotham" in verse 30 alongside the sixteen-year reign in verse 33. A widely held interpretation explains these figures as reckonings that include periods of regency and coregency.
• "The year that king Uzziah died" in Isaiah 6 and the alliance of Rezin and Pekah in Isaiah 7 belong to the period of this chapter. Uzziah and Jotham also appear in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.
• The succession of conspiracies in this chapter is read as a stage on the road to the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel.