"Menahem"

Menachem (r. 747-737 B.C.E.) – The son of Gadi, who arose from the old capital of Tirzah and went to Samaria where he killed and usurped the usurper Shallum. He then assaulted the town of Tifsach (possibly identical with Ein Tapuach on the Ephraim-Menashe border) which defied him, and cruelly ordered all its pregnant women to be ripped up.

He perpetuated the calf worship of his predecessors. Late in his reign, Menachem was forced to pay the invading king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser III, a hefty protection bribe that was exacted from Israel’s wealthy citizens. He is mentioned in a contemporary Assyrian inscription as a subjugated tributary. He died a natural death, a rare feat in this period of monarchical anarchy. He does not appear in the Chronicles.