Bible Strands
2 Kings 15:20
Menahem exacted this money from each of the wealthy men of Israel—fifty shekels of silver from each man—to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and did not remain in the land.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Menahem of Israel acts during Pul’s invasion to secure his political grip on the throne. He imposes a direct tax on Israel’s wealthy citizens to pay the Assyrian ruler. (2 Kings 15:19-20)
The words — The text highlights מְנַחֵם (Menahem) and וַ/יֹּצֵא (he brought out), describing the king’s action of extracting silver. The literal sense tracks the forced collection of funds from the land’s wealthy class.
The thread — This levy against Israel’s elite parallels later biblical accounts of wealthy patrons funding royal or religious needs. Similar financial support structures appear in Ruth 2:1 and 2 Samuel 19:32.
Why it lands — The passage records a political transaction where national survival is purchased through the redistribution of wealth. It asks the reader to observe how earthly power is maintained through economic pressure rather than military strength.
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
And 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.
Cross-references
- Ruth 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
- 2 Samuel 19:32 Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 17:3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
- 2 Kings 18:14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
- 2 Kings 23:35 So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.
- Job 1:3 and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.