Bible Strands
2 Kings 15:30
Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The biblical narrator records a dynastic coup in the northern kingdom of Israel during the twentieth year of Judah’s King Jotham, immediately following Assyrian territorial conquests and preceding the official chronicle of Pekah’s reign.
The words — The text highlights וַ/יִּקְשָׁר־ (va/i.yik.shor-) meaning "and he conspired" and קֶ֜שֶׁר (ke.sher) meaning "a conspiracy," framing Hoshea’s actions as a coordinated political takeover rather than a legitimate succession.
The thread — This pattern of regicide and usurpation repeats in the northern monarchy, appearing in 2 Kings 15:10 with Shallum against Zechariah, 2 Kings 15:25 with Pekah against his predecessor, and 2 Kings 17:1 where Hoshea’s kingship is formally noted in relation to Judah’s Ahaz.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition of the violent political instability that characterized the northern kingdom’s leadership, where military officers overthrew reigning kings to seize the throne without divine sanction or hereditary right.
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 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.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.
- 2 Kings 15:10 Then Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah, struck him down and killed him in front of the people, and reigned in his place.
- 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 15:32 In the second year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah over Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah.
- 2 Kings 16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 28:4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- 2 Chronicles 28:16 At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria.
- 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 8:6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
- Hosea 10:3 Surely now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?”