Bible Strands
2 Kings 15:27
In the fifty-second year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty years.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The biblical narrator records Pekah’s accession to the throne of Israel during the final years of King Azariah’s rule over Judah. This chronological marker situates a sudden political shift within the broader timeline of the divided monarchy.
The words — The phrase בִּשְׁנַת חֲמִשִּׁים וּשְׁתַּיִם (bi-shnat chamishim u-shtayim) literally renders "in the fifty-second year," anchoring Pekah’s reign to Azariah’s Judahite timeline. The verb מָלַךְ (ma-lakh) simply states "he became king," marking a direct transfer of power in Samaria.
The thread — This regnal synchronization formula appears in 2 Kings 15:23 and later anchors the prophetic timeline in Isaiah 7:1. The pattern consistently ties Israel’s monarchs to Judah’s chronological framework.
Why it lands — The text demands precise historical tracking of the divided kingdoms’ overlapping reigns. Readers must note how political transitions in Samaria are measured against Judah’s royal chronology rather than an independent Israelite calendar.
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
In 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.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 15:23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel and reigned in Samaria two years.
- Isaiah 7:1 Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
- Isaiah 7:4 and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
- 2 Kings 15:2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 15:8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria six months.
- 2 Kings 15:13 In the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah’s reign over Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king, and he reigned in Samaria one full month.
- 2 Kings 15:25 Then his officer, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him along with Argob, Arieh, and fifty men of Gilead. And at the citadel of the king’s palace in Samaria, Pekah struck down and killed Pekahiah and reigned in his place.
- 2 Kings 15:37 (In those days the LORD began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.)
- 2 Chronicles 28:6 For in one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 valiant men in Judah. This happened because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.
- Isaiah 7:9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”