Bible Strands
2 Kings 15:14
Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, struck down and killed Shallum son of Jabesh, and reigned in his place.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records a violent royal succession in the northern kingdom immediately after Shallum’s one-month reign. Menahem son of Gadi moves from Tirzah to Samaria to seize the throne.
The words — The verb וַ/יַּעַל (va/i.ya.'Al) literally means "and he went up," marking Menahem’s physical ascent to the capital. The verb וַ/יַּ֛ךְ (va/i.Yakh) means "and he struck down," describing the forceful elimination of Shallum.
The thread — The city of Tirzah functions as a recurring royal center in Israel’s history, appearing in 1 Kings 14:17, 1 Kings 15:21, and 1 Kings 15:33. This verse extends that pattern by using Tirzah as the departure point for a new regime change.
Why it lands — The text documents a straightforward military coup without moral commentary or divine intervention. It requires the reader to track the cyclical instability of Israel’s monarchy through concrete geographical and political movements.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For 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.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 14:17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and departed for Tirzah, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died.
- 1 Kings 15:21 When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.
- 1 Kings 15:33 In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years.
- 1 Kings 16:8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.
- 1 Kings 16:15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines,
- 1 Kings 16:17 Then Omri and all the Israelites marched up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah.