2 Kings 15 Footnotes

15:1 The “twenty-seventh year” was 767 BC. “Azariah” was also known as “Uzziah.” Isaiah the prophet ministered during his reign (Is 1:1).

15:2 The “fifty-two years” was from 792–740 BC. He was coregent with Amaziah from 792–767 BC.

15:5 Jotham’s coregency with Azariah was from 750–740 BC. The word “quarantined” is literally “house of freedom.” The term freedom may possibly mean “free from responsibility,” that is, “house of retirement.”

15:8 The “thirty-eighth year” was 753 BC.

15:13 The “thirty-ninth year” was 752 BC. “Uzziah” was also known as “Azariah.” Shallum’s record was unique in that there is no evaluation of his actions and attitudes toward idolatry. This omission does not imply he was faithful to the Lord, but that his reign was so short there was nothing by which to evaluate him.

15:17 “Azariah” was also known as “Uzziah.” The “thirty-ninth year” was 752 BC. Menahem reigned ten years, until 742 BC.

15:19 “Pul” is also known as “Tiglath-pileser” (15:29). Assyria replaced Aram (Syria) as the primary perceived threat to the northern kingdom. Menahem tried to buy Assyria off.

15:23 The “fiftieth year” was 742 BC. Pekahiah reigned for “two years” until 740 BC.

15:25 Pekahiah’s assassination occurred in 740 BC.

15:27 The “fifty-second year” was 740 BC. Pekah reigned twenty years, 752–732 BC. He ruled in Gilead from 752–740 BC, overlapping with Pekahiah’s reign in Samaria before he killed Pekahiah in 740 BC.

15:29 This began the deportation of the northern kingdom into exile by Assyria. The purpose of deportation was to destroy political and social structures of the enemy population so they would be easier to rule. At the end of Pekah’s reign, it was only ten years before Samaria was destroyed and the northern kingdom ceased to exist.