The big picture
Azariah, also called Uzziah here, rules Judah, the southern kingdom, for many years. His son Jotham helps govern when illness forces him apart. Israel, the northern kingdom, passes through a much less stable series of rulers. Killers seize its throne, foreign armies demand payment, and people are carried away. Judah has more continuity, but its kings still leave local worship sites untouched. Neither a long reign nor a successful seizure of power makes a ruler fully faithful.
In this chapter
- Azariah Rules Apart Because of Illness 2 Kings 15:1-7
Azariah is sixteen when he takes Judah's throne and reigns for fifty-two years.
- Zachariah Ends Jehu’s Royal Line 2 Kings 15:8-12
Zachariah rules Israel for only six months.
- Menahem Takes Power and Attacks Civilians 2 Kings 15:13-16
Shallum holds the throne for one month.
- Menahem Buys a Foreign King’s Support 2 Kings 15:17-22
Menahem reigns ten years and does not leave Jeroboam's sins.
- Coups Continue as Assyria Takes People Away 2 Kings 15:23-31
Pekahiah keeps Israel's false worship during his two-year reign.
- Jotham Leaves Local Worship Sites Standing 2 Kings 15:32-38
Jotham reigns sixteen years in Judah and does what is right, following his father Uzziah.
Central truth
Violent changes of king weaken Israel as foreign pressure grows, while Judah's longer reigns still leave failures of worship unresolved.
Scripture beside the summary
2 Kings · King James Version · 382 Kings 15:1-7
Azariah Rules Apart Because of Illness
Azariah is sixteen when he takes Judah's throne and reigns for fifty-two years. He follows his father's good conduct, but the high places, local sites of sacrifice, remain. God strikes him with leprosy, a serious skin condition that sets him apart. He lives in a separate house until death. Jotham, his son, manages the royal household and judges the people. The account does not explain here why the disease comes. After Azariah's burial, Jotham becomes king in his own right.
In everyday life
A hotel owner gives her son the daily keys when illness keeps her in a separate flat. He hears staff concerns and runs the desk while her name remains on the deed. The work continues through another pair of hands. Azariah's illness is attributed to God, which this family's management change cannot explain.
Notice
2 Kings 15:5 Jotham judges the people while his father is still alive. Practical rule has already shifted before the formal account of succession at the king's death.
2 Kings 15:1-7
King James Version1In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
2Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
3And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
4Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
5And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land.
6And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
7So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 15:8-12
Zachariah Ends Jehu’s Royal Line
Zachariah rules Israel for only six months. Like the rulers before him, he keeps the sins begun by Jeroboam. Shallum plots against him, kills him before the people and takes his place. The short reign closes the fourth generation of Jehu's sons on Israel's throne. God had promised Jehu that length of rule for his family, and the account marks its completion. A violent rival brings the reign to an end, but that end also fits the stated limit on the dynasty.
In everyday life
An archive volunteer marks the fourth and last family director on a company wall chart. The next entry belongs to an outsider, and the line linking fathers and sons stops. An earlier deed had named those four generations as its limit. Jehu's limit comes from God's word and ends amid murder, not a corporate handover.
Notice
2 Kings 15:12 The four-generation promise is recalled at the family's end. The king's brief rule still counts within the span God had named to Jehu.
2 Kings 15:8-12
King James Version8In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
9And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
10And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
11And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
12This was the word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.
2 Kings 15:13-16
Menahem Takes Power and Attacks Civilians
Shallum holds the throne for one month. Menahem comes from Tirzah to Samaria, kills him and becomes king. He then attacks Tiphsah and the surrounding district because the town will not open to him. His violence reaches the people inside. He cuts open the pregnant women. The account states this atrocity without calling it a command from God. A refusal to admit the new ruler is met with brutal harm to civilians. His power is gained and enforced through killing.
In everyday life
A maternity ward clerk takes a call from frightened relatives after violence closes the road to their town. She writes the names of those nobody can reach and leaves spaces for news. Silence becomes part of the fear shared around her desk. This waiting only approaches the dread of Menahem's deliberate assault on pregnant women.
Notice
2 Kings 15:16 The town's refusal to open is given as Menahem's reason for attacking. That explains his action without making the harm to pregnant women right.
2 Kings 15:13-16
King James Version13Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.
14For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
15And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
16Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.
2 Kings 15:17-22
Menahem Buys a Foreign King’s Support
Menahem reigns ten years and does not leave Jeroboam's sins. When Pul, king of Assyria, enters the land, Menahem pays him a thousand talents of silver. He wants this foreign power to secure his throne. Wealthy Israelites must supply the money, each paying fifty shekels. Pul then leaves without staying in the land. Menahem has bought support at his subjects' expense. After he dies, his son Pekahiah succeeds him, but the payment has tied the kingdom's safety to a stronger ruler.
In everyday life
A warehouse manager pays a large supplier to keep backing his contract. He raises the sum by charging each stallholder inside the building a fixed fee. The supplier withdraws his threat, while the stallholders count what they have lost. Menahem buys the support of an invading empire, not continued service from a business partner.
Notice
2 Kings 15:20 The wealthy men pay the silver that secures Menahem's position. His bargain with Assyria places a cost on people who did not negotiate it.
2 Kings 15:17-22
King James Version17In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
18And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
19And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
20And 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.
21And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
22And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 15:23-31
Coups Continue as Assyria Takes People Away
Pekahiah keeps Israel's false worship during his two-year reign. His captain Pekah kills him in the palace with a band of armed supporters and takes the throne. Pekah also follows the same sins. During his rule, Tiglath-pileser of Assyria captures northern towns and regions, carrying their people into exile. Then Hoshea plots against Pekah, kills him and becomes king. New names on the throne do not bring new faithfulness. While rivals fight for control, Israel loses both land and people.
In everyday life
The ferry dispatcher replaces another supervisor's name on the rota while cancelled routes spread across the board. Staff argue over who will lead them, but whole crews have already been transferred away. Changing the name does not restore the missing service. Israel suffers conquest and forced exile, not cuts to a transport network.
Notice
2 Kings 15:29 The captured places are named along with the people carried away. Assyria's advance removes communities, not merely lines from a map of the kingdom.
2 Kings 15:23-31
King James Version23In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
24And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
25But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
26And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
27In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
28And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
29In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
30And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
31And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
2 Kings 15:32-38
Jotham Leaves Local Worship Sites Standing
Jotham reigns sixteen years in Judah and does what is right, following his father Uzziah. Yet people continue sacrificing at the high places. He builds the upper gate of God's temple, improving its structure without ending those practices. In these years God begins sending Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel against Judah. The account leaves this growing pressure in view as Jotham dies. He is buried among the kings, and his son Ahaz receives a kingdom already facing danger from its neighbours.
In everyday life
A school governor opens a new entrance built to make the grounds safer. At the same time, an old unchecked gate remains in daily use behind the sports field. One visible improvement has not dealt with every known weakness. Jotham's unresolved problem concerns worship of God, not the security of school grounds.
Notice
2 Kings 15:35 Building a temple gate and leaving high places both belong to Jotham's reign. Care for one part of worship does not mean all its failures have ended.
2 Kings 15:32-38
King James Version32In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
33Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
34And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
35Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.
36Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
37In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
38And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
2 Kings 15:1 begins with “In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.”
Where the chapter turns
2 Kings 15:21 forms a natural hinge: “And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?”
The final note
2 Kings 15:38 leaves the reader with “And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Israel, king, reigned, Judah, LORD, began help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thy
- your
- spake
- spoke
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
