King of Israel: Menahem

Menahem was an 8th century BC ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, reigning for a decade, from ca. 752–742 BC.1 He took the throne in after killing Shallum, a usurper to the throne who had reigned only a month in Samaria after he himself had assassinated Zechariah, the last king of the line of Jehu (2 Kings 15:10).

Shortly after securing the throne, Menahem sought to expand his kingdom. The Bible records, “At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.” (2 Kings 15:16).

We should note Menahem’s brutality against the people of Tiphsah in ripping open the wombs of the pregnant women. On two previous occasions, the Old Testament writers described this atrocity committed by pagan armies against Israel: the Arameans (2 Kings 8:11-12) and the Ammonites (Amos 1:13). For the king of Israel to commit such a heinous crime against humanity was indeed horrible. It may have been the context for the prophet Hosea’s pronouncement, “Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open” (Hosea 13:16).

When the Assyrian King, Tiglath-Pileser III (also known as Pul ) invaded the land, the Bible records that “Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold on the royal power” (2 Kings 15:19). At this time in Israel’s history, there were likely two rival kings reigning simultaneously in the northern Kingdom – Menahem from Samaria and Pekah from Gilead. When Menahem assassinated Shallum, who may have been from Jabesh in Gilead, the Gileadites appear to have chosen Pekah as their king; later the men of Gilead helped Pekah assassinate Menahem’s son Pekahiah to consolidate power over all Israel (2 Kings 15:25).

Evidence of Pekah’s rival kingship come from the book of Hosea, where the two Hebrew kingdoms of the north, Israel and Ephraim, are repeatedly mentioned, in addition to Judah in the south (Hosea 5:5). If this reconstruction of the geopolitical situation during this period is correct, it appears Menahem paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III in order to maintain his royal power over Pekah’s rival kingship.