15:13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah’s 6 reign over Judah. He reigned for one month 7 in Samaria. 15:14 Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to 8 Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh. 9 He killed him and took his place as king.
1 tc The MT reads, “and he struck him down before the people and killed him” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). However, the reading קָבָל עָם (qaval ’am), “before the people,” is problematic to some because קָבָל is a relatively late Aramaic term. Nevertheless, the Aramaic term qobel certainly antedates the writing of Kings. The bigger problem seems to be the unnecessary intrusion of an Aramaic word at all here. Most interpreters prefer to follow Lucian’s Greek version and read “in Ibleam” (בְיִבְלְעָם, bÿivle’am). Cf. NAB, TEV.
2 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”
3 tn Heb “It was the word of the
4 tn “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.”
sn See the note at 2 Kgs 10:30.
5 tn Heb “and it was so.”
6 sn Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah.
7 tn Heb “a month of days.”
8 tn Heb “and came to.”
9 tn Heb “went up from Tirzah and arrived in Samaria and attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria.”
10 tn Heb “and he struck him down in Samaria in the fortress of the house of the king, Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men from the sons of the Gileadites, and they killed him.”
sn The precise identity of Argob and Arieh, as well as their relationship to the king, are uncertain. The usual assumption is that they were officials assassinated along with Pekahiah, or that they were two of the more prominent Gileadites involved in the revolt. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 173.
11 tn Heb “and struck him down and killed him.”