Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 15:19
[And] 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.
19. And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land ] R.V. There came against the land Pul &c. The sentence has no conjunction, and so R.V. represents the original better. In the LXX. we find ‘In his days’ put as an introduction to the sentence, and the name of Pul represented by , or or .
In his work on ‘the Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament’, Prof. Schrader (p. 133. Engl. Trans. Vol. 1. p. 230) identifies Pul with Tiglath-pileser, and his grounds for so doing may be thus stated. Azariah king of Judah was a contemporary of Menahem king of Israel (2Ki 15:17). The Bible makes them both also contemporaries with Pul king of Assyria, while the inscriptions speak of them as contemporary with Tiglath-pileser the second. In Berosus’ Chaldan history Pul is mentioned as a Chaldan, Tiglath-pileser in the inscriptions calls himself king of Chalda. The name which in Berosus is ‘Phulus’ appears in the canon of Ptolemy as . This Porus became king of Babylon b.c. 731, in which year we learn from the inscriptions that Tiglath-pileser received homage from the Babylonian king, Merodach-baladan, and became thus lord paramount in Babylon. In the year 727 726 Tiglath-pileser dies, and at the same time a change of ruler takes place in Babylonia by the retirement of Porus. Pul or Por does not appear among the Assyrian kings unless it be under another name, and the only prince with whom the history allows him to be identical is Tiglath-pileser. Pul and Por are really the same name, changed by well-known phonetic laws. Hence it seems not improbable that Pul, , and Tiglath-pileser are names of one and the same person.
Another supposition is that Pul is the name of one of Tiglath-pileser’s generals, who was in charge of the expedition against Israel. But he is in this verse very expressly called king of Assyria, and the Bible narrative continually makes it clear when an official person, not the king himself, is in command. For an example cf. Isa 20:1.
came against the land ] i.e. Was making a hostile advance, and would have invaded Israel but for the bribe.
a thousand talents of silver ] This represents a very large sum. Omri only gave two talents of silver (1Ki 16:24) for the ground on which he built Samaria; and in Hezekiah’s time the king of Assyria’s demands were only for 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold (2Ki 18:14). But we can have no doubt from the writings of the contemporary prophets that the northern kingdom was rich at this time. Amos speaks of their houses of ivory (2Ki 3:15), of their houses of hewn stone and their pleasant vineyards (2Ki 5:11), how they lay upon beds of ivory, ate of the choicest, had music in their feasts, drank wine in bowls and anointed themselves with the best ointments (2Ki 6:4-6): all indications of excessive wealth.
that his hand might be with him ] The desire of Menahem was to secure Pul as an ally, and to gain his help against other adversaries; a very natural aim under the circumstances. To obtain this he no doubt acknowledged the Assyrian as his superior, and did homage to him, as well as paying him this large bribe.
to confirm the kingdom in his hand ] These words, which make clear Menahem’s object, are unrepresented in the LXX.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is the first distinct mention which we find in Scripture of Assyria as an aggressive power. From the native monuments we learn that she had been for above a century pushing her conquests beyond the Euphrates, and seeking to reduce under her dominion the entire tract between that river and Egypt. Jehu had paid tribute. Some – arguing from the use of the phrase confirmed the kingdom (here, and in 2Ki 14:5) – think that Jehoahaz had acknowledged Assyrian suzerainty, and consented that her monarchs should receive their investiture from the hands of the Ninevite king. But hitherto there had been no hostile invasion of Jewish or Israelite soil by an Assyrian army. Now, however, the Assyrians are at last formally introduced into the history. A series of aggressions is related in this and the four following chapters, culminating, on the one hand, in the destruction of the northern kingdom, on the other, in the complete failure of Sennacheribs attempt upon Judaea and Egypt.
With respect to the present expedition, there are certain difficulties. The name of Pul does not appear among the Assyrian monumental kings, and it is absent from the copies of the Assyrian Canon, containing the entire list of monarchs from about 910 B.C. to 670 B.C. Assyria Proper, moreover, appears to have been in a state of depression for some 40 years before the accession of Tiglath-Pileser 2Ki 15:29. It is probable that, during the depression of the Ninevite line, Pul, a Chaldaean and not an Assyrian king, established a second monarchy upon the Euphrates, which claimed to be the true Assyria, and was recognized as such by the nations of Syria and Palestine. His invasion was probably provoked by Menahems conquest of Thapsacus, which he would view as a wanton aggression upon his territory.
A thousand talents of silver – Compared with the tribute of Hezekiah soon afterward 2Ki 18:14, this seems a large sum; but it is not beyond the resources of such a State as Samaria at the period. The tie which had bound Samaria to Assyria from the reign of Jehu to that of Jeroboam II, had ceased to exist during the period of Assyrian depression. Menahem now renewed it, undertaking the duties of a tributary, and expecting the support which Assyria was accustomed to lend to her dependencies in their struggles with their neighbors. Hence, the reproaches of Hosea (marginal reference n).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. Pul, the king of Assyria] This is the first time we hear of Assyria since the days of Nimrod, its founder, Ge 10:11.
Dean Prideaux supposes that this Pul was father of the famous Sardanapalus, the son himself being called Sardan; to which, as was frequent in those times, the father’s name, Pul, was added, making Sardanpul of which the Greeks and Latins made Sardanapalus; and this Pul is supposed to be the same that reigned in Nineveh when Jonah preached the terrors of the Lord to that city.
That his hand] That is, his power and influence, might be with him: in this sense is the word hand frequently used in Scripture.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Pul the king of Assyria; called by heathen authors Pulbelochus, who by the help of Arbaces the Mede vanquished Sardanapalus the last monarch of Assyria, and translated the kingdom to Chaldea, and was the first king of Babylon and Assyria; Arbaces being made king of the Medes and Persians.
Against the land, to wit, of Israel, as the context shows.
Menahem gave, i.e. agreed or promised to give, as the next verse explains it.
That his hand might be with him, to confirm the kingdom in his hand; that he might assist him against all that did or should oppose him. By which it appears that his cruelty to Tiphsah was so far from establishing him, as he expected, that it weakened and endangered him so far, that he was forced to call in a foreign prince to his aid.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. Pul the king of AssyriaThisis the first Assyrian king after Nimrod who is mentioned in biblicalhistory. His name has been recently identified with that of Phallukaon the monuments of Nineveh, and that of Menahem discovered also.
came against thelandElsewhere it is said “Ephraim [Israel] went to theAssyrian” [Ho 5:13]. Thetwo statements may be reconciled thus: “Pul, of his own motion,induced, perhaps, by the expedition of Menahem against Thapsacus,advanced against the kingdom of Israel; then Menahem sent him athousand talents in order not only to divert him from his plans ofconquest, but at the same time to purchase his friendship and aid forthe establishment of his own precarious sovereignty. So Menahem didnot properly invite the Assyrian into the land, but only changed theenemy when marching against the country, by this tribute, into aconfederate for the security of his usurped dominion. This theprophet Hosea, less concerned about the historical fact than thedisposition betrayed therein, might very well censure as a going ofEphraim to the Assyrians (Hos 5:13;Hos 7:1; Hos 8:9),and a covenant-making with Asshur” (2Ki12:1) [KEIL].
a thousand talents ofsilverEqual to 262,200. This tribute, which Menahem raisedby a tax on the grandees of Israel, bribed Pul to return to his owncountry (see on 1Ch 5:26).
2Ki15:22-24. PEKAHIAH’SREIGN.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land,…. The land of Israel, he invaded it; a Jewish chronologer u calls him Pulbelicho; and he is generally thought to be the same with Belochus or Belesis, governor of Babylon, who, with Arbaces the Mede, slew Sardanapalus, said to be the last of the Assyrian kings, and translated the empire to the Chaldeans; he ruling over Babylon and Nineveh, and Arbaces over the Medes and Persians; but Pul was not a Babylonian, but an Assyrian w, and the first king of the Assyrians, at least, the Scriptures speak of: we read no more of him; but one Metasthenes, a Persian historian, feigned and published by Annius, and so named by him instead of Megasthenes, calls him Phulbelochus, and says x he reigned forty eight years:
and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver; and a talent of silver, according to Brerewood y was three hundred and seventy five pounds; but Bishop Cumberland z calculates it at three hundred and fifty three pounds eleven shillings and ten pence half penny; 1,000 of them made a large sum of money, according to the former 375,000 pounds; and this he gave to him, not only to desist from the invasion of his land, but
that his hand might be with him; and not against him:
and to confirm the kingdom in his hand; which being got by usurpation, and supported by cruelty, was but tottering.
u David Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 2. fol. 5. 2. w See the Universal History, vol. 4. B. 1. ch. 8. sect. 5. x De Judicio Temp. & Annal. Pers. fol. 221. 2. y De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. z Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 120.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the time of Menahem, Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him 1000 talents of silver – more than two and a half millions of thalers (375,000) – “that his hands might be with him, to confirm the kingdom in his hand.” These words are understood by the majority of commentators from the time of Ephraem Syrus, when taken in connection with Hos 5:13, as signifying that Menahem invited Pul, that he might establish his government with his assistance. But the words of Hosea, “Ephraim goes to the Assyrian,” sc. to seek for help (2Ki 5:13, cf. 2Ki 7:11 and 2Ki 8:9), are far too general to be taken as referring specially to Menahem; and the assumption that Menahem invited Pul into the land is opposed by the words in the verse before us, “Pul came over the land.” Even the further statement that Menahem gave to Pul 1000 talents of silver when he came into the land, that he might help him to establish his government, presupposes at the most that a party opposed to Menahem had invited the Assyrians, to overthrow the usurper. At any rate, we may imagine, in perfect harmony with the words of our account, that Pul marched against Israel of his own accord, possibly induced to do so by Menahem’s expedition against Thapsacus, and that his coming was simply turned to account as a good opportunity for disputing Menahem’s possession of the throne he had usurped, so that Menahem, by paying the tribute mentioned, persuaded the Assyrian to withdraw, that he might deprive the opposing party of the Assyrian support, and thereby establish his own rule.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Anarchy in the Northern Kingdom – Verses 19-31
During the insurgency of Menahem the Assyrians finally penetrated to the land of Israel. They, had been feared, dreaded and anticipated for generations. These were the people to whom Jonah loathed to preach when he was called to go to Nineveh (Jon 1:1-2). At last they had arrived, and it was indeed the beginning of the end for Israel as a kingdom. Pul is not the historical name of any Assyrian king of this period, but scholarly research has shown that it is a name assumed by Tiglath-pileser III who did rule Assyria at that time. Pul could seemingly have subjugated the kingdom of Menahem to himself, but chose instead to take a great indemnity from the king of Israel in return for the guarantee of his royal privileges.
Menahem was assessed a thousand talents of silver, or about twenty-two million dollars in present values. It was raised by a levy on the most wealthy people of Israel at the rate of fifty shekels per person, or about $364 each, an exorbitant tax for the times. It reveals the presence of a very wealthy upper class in Israel at this time, for it would have required the contribution of sixty thousand of Menahem’s rich subjects to raise the assessment. It reminds one of the words of James tothe rich in his epistle (Jas 5:1-6).
Menahem died and was briefly succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who was the victim of conspiratorial intrigue, being assassinated in a well organized plot in the city of Samaria itself after only two years’ reign. The only facts of his reign recorded are the old refrain about evil in God’s sight and sinful following of Jeroboam’s pattern. The instigator of the plot was Pekah, a supposedly loyal captain of the king’s host. The plot had the strong support of the men of Gilead, on the east side of Jordan, perhaps fugitives from the encroachment of the Assyrians in that area of the kingdom. Two other men are named, evidently joined in the actual murder of the young king.
In the last year of old King Uzziah down in Judah Pekah began his reign in Samaria. He lasted for a relatively longer period for the times, twenty years, and continued the evil practices and sinful pattern of “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.” Is not this continued repetition of this man’s wicked influence a sober warning to those who persist in continuing in the sins of the present world to their eventual doom and judgment (Jud 1:14-15)?
City by city, region by region, Pekah lost the outlying areas of his kingdom to the steadily advancing empire of Assyria. First it was the areas nearest Assyria, Ijon and Abel-beth-maachah in the far north in the vicinity of Dan, site of one of Jeroboam’s calf temples. Also Jandah, Kedesh, and Hazor, north and west of the Sea of Chinneroth (Galilee) and eventually the tribal territory of Naphtali itself. Farther east, across Chinneroth and the Jordan the Assyrians annexed Galilee and Gilead in the half-tribe of Manasseh, down to Gad. The inhabitants were carried away by Tiglath-pileser III into captivity.
The people who had helped Pekah in his plot against Pekahiah must have been disillusioned in him, for conditions with the threatening Assyrian encroachment were not bettered but became decidedly much worse. This dissatisfaction evidently contributed to another plot, this time against Pekah himself. This conspiracy was led by a man named Hoshea, whose prior position in the kingdom is unrevealed. He arose against Pekah after twenty years, assassinated him, and made himself king. The flickering flame of life representative of the northern kingdom was destined for extinguishment under this last wicked ruler. God’s true prophets were rejected, and the false prophets of the calves had led them to their destruction (2Pe 2:1-3).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(19) And.As it stands, the verse begins abruptly. But the reading of the LXX. restores the connection: In his days Pul the king of Assyria, &c. (Comp, 2Ki. 15:29.)
Pul.This name has been read in the cuneiform (Pu-u-lu, i.e., Plu, an officer of Sargons). For the identity of Pul, king of Assyria, with Tiglath Pileser II., see Note on 1Ch. 5:26, and Schraders Die Keil-inschr. und das Alt. Test, pp. 227-240 (2nd edit., 1883). Prof. Schrader gives the following as the result of his elaborate and most interesting discussion: (1) Menahem of Israel and Azariah of Judah were contemporaries, according to the Bible as well as the Inscriptions. (2) According to the Bible, both these rulers were contemporary with an Assyrian king Pul; according to the Inscriptions, with Tiglath Pileser. (3) Berosus calls Pul a Chaldean; Tiglath Pileser calls himself king of Chaldea. (4) Pul-Porus became in 731 B.C. king of Babylon; Tiglath Pileser in 731 B.C. received the homage of the Babylonian king Merodach-Baladan, as he also reduced other Babylonian princes in this year, amongst them Chinzros of Amukkan. (5) Poros appears in the canon of Ptolemy as king of Babylon; Tiglath Pileser names himself king of Babylon. (6) Chinzros became king of Babylon in 731 B.C. according to the canon, and, in fact, along with (or, under) a king of the name of Pros; the hypothesis that the vanquished king of Amukkan of the same name was entrusted by Tiglath Pileser with the vassal-kingship of Babylon is suggested at once by the coincidence of the chronological data. (7) In the year 727-726 B.C. a change of government took place in Assyria in consequence of the death of Tiglath Pileser, and in Babylonia in consequence of the death of Porus. (8) No king appears in the Assyrian lists by a name like Pul, which is anomalous as a royal designation; we can only identify Pul with some other name in the lists, and, on historical grounds, with Tiglath Pileser only. (9) Pul and Pros are forms of the same name (comp. Bbiru for Bbilu in Persian inscriptions). (10) From all this, the conclusion is inevitable that Pul and Porus Pul and Tiglath Pileser, are one and the same person.
Came against the land.Rather, came upon the land (Isa. 10:28; Jdg. 18:27). The meaning here is, occupied it.
A thousand talents of silver.About 375,000.
That his hand might be with him.Pul (Tiglath Pileser) came at the invitation of Menahem to establish the latter in the sovereignty against other pretenders as a vassal of Assyria. (Comp. Hos. 5:13; Hos. 7:11; Hos. 8:9.) Tiff lath Pileser had first reduced Rezin king of Syria-Damascus, which was probably much weakened by the victories of Jeroboam II. (See Note on 2Ki. 15:14.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Pul came against the land Perhaps this king of Assyria had become alarmed at Menahem’s successful expedition against Tiphsah, on the Euphrates, on the borders of his own dominion. Or possibly, as Rawlinson thinks, (see note on 2Ki 14:5,) the kingdom of Israel was already in some way dependent on Assyria, and the war against Tiphsah was regarded by Pul as an act of rebellion.
Gave Pul a thousand talents About seventeen thousand dollars. This present turned the Assyrian foe into an ally, and led him at once to confirm the kingdom in his hand, that is, to ratify Menahem’s government, and recognise him as the king of Israel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 15:19. And Pul, the king of Assyria This is the first time we find any mention made of the kingdom of Assyria since the days of Nimrod, who erected a small principality there; see note on Gen 10:11.; and Pul or Phul is the first monarch of that nation who invaded Israel, and began their transportation out of their country. Some are of opinion, that he was the same with Belesis the governor of Babylon; who, together with Arbaces the Mede, slew Sardanapalus the last of the Assyrian monarchs, and translated the empire to the Chaldeans. Bishop Patrick seems to be confident in this; but, according to Dr. Prideaux, Belesis was one generation later; and therefore it is supposed, that this Pul was the father of Sardanapalus, who was called Sardan, with the annexion of his father’s name Pul, in the same manner as Merodach, king of Babylon, was called Merodach Baladan, because he was the son of Baladan. This Pul therefore was the same king of Assyria, who, when Jonah preached against Nineveh, gave great tokens of his humiliation and repentance. See Prideaux’s Connection, A. 747 and Bedford’s Scripture Chronology, book 6:
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 15:19 [And] 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.
Ver. 19. And Pul the king of Assyria. ] By other writers he is called Belosus, and Phul-Belosus: who, together with Arbaces, the Mede, besieged Sardanapalus, the last monarch of Assyria, who desperately burnt himself in his own palace, and left his empire to this Pul, the first Babylonian monarch, and Arbaces, who made himself king of Medes and Persians. Some hold that this Pul was that king of Nineveh which repented at the preaching of the prophet Jonah: and that here also the men of Nineveh rose in judgment against that nation, God stirring up a penitent Ethnic to take vengeance on impenitent Israel.
To confirm the kingdom.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pul. Thought to be the same as Tiglath-pileser (a throne name). But see 1Ch 5:26.
came against. Probably at invitation of Menahern. Compare Hos 5:13; Hos 7:11; Hos 8:9.
talents. See App-51.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
am 3233, bc 771
Pul: Prideaux supposes that this Pul was the father of the famous Sardanapalus, who was called Sardan with his father’s name Pul annexed, as was frequent in those times, making Sardanpul: thus Merodach, king of Babylon, was Merodach-Baladan, because he was the son Baladan. This Pul began to reign according to Usher, am 3237, the fifth year of Menahem; and he is supposed to be the same that reigned in Nineveh, when Jonah preached in that city. 1Ch 5:25, 1Ch 5:26, Isa 9:1
Menahem: 2Ki 12:18, 2Ki 16:8, 2Ki 17:3, 2Ki 17:4, 2Ki 18:16, Hos 5:13, Hos 8:9, Hos 8:10, Hos 10:6
to confirm: 2Ki 14:5, Jer 17:5
Reciprocal: Gen 10:22 – Elam 2Ki 23:35 – taxed 2Ch 30:6 – escaped 2Ch 32:1 – king of Assyria Neh 9:32 – since the time Isa 33:18 – receiver Eze 23:5 – on the Hos 7:9 – devoured Hos 7:11 – they call Hos 8:7 – the strangers Hos 11:5 – but Hos 12:1 – and they Amo 3:11 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 15:19. Pul the king of Assyria came against the land This is the first time that we find any mention of the kingdom of Assyria, since the days of Nimrod, who erected a small principality there, Gen 10:11. And they were no great people, one would suppose, when the eighty-third Psalm was written, in which they are mentioned as auxiliaries to the children of Lot, against the Israelites, together with other small nations. But now they were become very powerful. This Pul, or Phul, was the first monarch of that nation that invaded Israel, and began their transportation out of their country. Some have been of opinion, with Bishop Patrick, Poole, and others, that he was the same with Belesis, the governor of Babylon, who, together with Arbaces the Mede, slew Sardanapalus, the last of the Assyrian monarchs, and translated the empire to the Chaldeans. But, according to Dr. Prideaux, Belesis was one generation later. It is supposed, therefore, that this Pul was the father of Sardanapalus, and the same king of Assyria who, when Jonah preached against Nineveh, gave great tokens of his humiliation and repentance. See Prideauxs Con. A. 747, and Bedfords Script. Chronology. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver A very considerable present indeed, being no less than f450,000 sterling. This sum he gave, not only with a view to turn away the army of Pul from him, but also to purchase his friendship and assistance against those of his own subjects who opposed him, and to confirm the kingdom in his hand. By which it appears, that his cruelty at Tiphsah was so far from establishing him as he expected, that it weakened and endangered him, so that he was obliged to call in a foreign power to his aid.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15:19 [And] Pul the king of Assyria came against the {g} land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand {h} talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
(g) That is, of Israel.
(h) Instead of seeking help from God, he went about by money to purchase the favour of this king being an infidel and therefore God forsook him, and Pul soon afterward broke his promises, destroyed his country and led his people away captive.