Interest in this subject was created when our attention was drawn to Edwin Thiele's "Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings" and his extensive work on fitting the Biblical kings of Israel, to synchronize with the archeological records of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
His work is highly regarded by many conservative Christians, with his insights into ancient timelines that have added much to understanding the reality of the Biblical accounts in actual history.
However when it comes to the end of the Northern kingdom and down to the time of king Hezekiah, there just seems to be something not right.
That's what we will explore in this thread.
Thiel's time line for these kings basically piles these kings on top of each other in order to synchronize them all into the reign of the Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III. Is this a correct synchronization we ask?
Is this really what scripture says?
Thiel's chronology of these kings is illustrated below. (rough depiction as his synchronizes to the year)
2 Kings 15:8In the 38th year of Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
15:10And Shallum the son of Jabesh, killed Zachariah…. 15:13Shallum began to reign in the 39th year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.
15:14For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and killed Shallum 15:17In the 39th year of Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
15:19[And] Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
15:20And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, [even] of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
“The words spoken against the apostate tribes were literally fulfilled; yet the destruction of the kingdom came gradually. In judgment the Lord remembered mercy, and at first, when "Pul the king of Assyria came against the land," Menahem, then king of Israel, was not taken captive, but was permitted to remain on the throne as a vassal of the Assyrian realm. "Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria." 2 Kings 15:19, 20. The Assyrians, having humbled the ten tribes, returned for a season to their own land.{PK 287.1}Menahem, far from repenting of the evil that had wrought ruin in his kingdom, continued in "the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."
15:22And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead. 15:23In the fiftieth year of Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah Pekahiahthe son of Menahem began to reign, he reigned two years.
15:25But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and killed him (Pekahiah) in Samaria, 15:27In the 52nd year of Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah Pekahthe son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] twenty years.
Judah’s king Uzziah – 38th year---in Israel, Zacchariah seizes the throne Judah’s king Uzziah – 38th year ---in Israel, Shallum seizes the throne
Judah’s king Uzziah – 39th year--- in Israel, Menahem seizes the throneREIGNS 10 years Judah’s king Uzziah – 50th year--in Israel, Pekahiah inherits the throne from his father REIGNS 2 years. Judah’s king Uzziah – 52nd (last year) --in Israel Pekah seizes the throne and REIGNS 20 years.
Judah’s king Jotham-- first year ---in Israel’s king Pekah’s 2nd year.
Judah’s king Ahaz – first year ----------- in Israel’s king Pekah’s 17the year.
15:32In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign. 15:33Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem
Jotham bore heavy responsibilities during the later years of his father's reign and succeeded to the throne after Uzziah's death. Of Jotham it is written: "He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord: PK 305
The year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah got his prophetic call: Isaiah 6:1In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
6:1In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
16:5Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome [him].
16:7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I [am] thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him
"In the days of Pekah," who reigned twenty years, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, invaded Israel and carried away with him a multitude of captives from among the tribes living in Galilee and east of the Jordan. "The Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh," with others of the inhabitants of "Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali" (1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Kings 15:29), were scattered among the heathen in lands far removed from Palestine.{PK 287.2}
"Only one more ruler, Hoshea, was to follow Pekah. Soon the kingdom was to be swept away forever.
17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
"In the third year of Hoshea's reign, good King Hezekiah began to rule in Judah and as speedily as possible instituted important reforms in the temple service at Jerusalem. A Passover celebration was arranged for, and to this feast were invited not only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, over which Hezekiah had been anointed king, but all the northern tribes as well. A proclamation was sounded "throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. {PK 287.3}
About two years later, Samaria was invested by the hosts of Assyria under Shalmaneser; and in the siege that followed, multitudes perished miserably of hunger and disease as well as by the sword. The city and nation fell, and the broken remnant of the ten tribes were carried away captive and scattered in the provinces of the Assyrian realm. {PK 291.2}
1. The issue with Pekah. A whole speculative scenario is created that has no foundation in scripture or history, which thinks maybe the Northern kingdom split into two parts after the Zachariah, Shallam, Menahem takeovers. The idea is that when Menahem finally achieved the throne (by force) he only gained half the kingdom, while Pekah ruled over the other half. Then when Menahem's son, Pekahiah ruled, Pekah assassinated him and ruled over the whole kingdom -- thus 12 years of his 20 year reign overlap both Menahem and Pekahiah's reigns.
However -- that is all pure speculation.
Scripture does say Pekah assassinated Pekahiah, took the throne and reigned 20 years, but says nothing what-so-ever that would lead a person to think 12 of his 20 years took place before this.
2. The issue with Jothram The scriptures do say he was "judging over the people" while his father was a leper. It also says he reigned for 18 years. However it takes some major adjusting to "force' a goodly number of his 16 years into a co-regency with his father and still be true to what the texts are saying.
3. The issue of Hezekiah and the Passover.
Thiel's chronology basically ignores the texts showing the synchronism of Hezekiah's first years as kings, while Hoshea was king in Israel.
This was actually the greatest problem that alerted me that something was wrong with Thiel's chronology. Hezekiah, began to reign in the third year of Hoshea. In his very first year Hezekiah started to restore the temple services -- he brought reforms to Judah, and turned the nations focus back to God. He called all Judah and the northern tribes to come to the cleaned and restored temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast BEFORE the northern kingdom fell.
Some tried to cover this "error" in Thiel's chronology by saying "Hezekiah was co-reigning with his father Ahaz for 10 or so years before becoming king and reigning his 29 years. But that couldn't be -- for the Bible plainly states that Ahaz first desecrated the temple, and finally locked it's doors. There is no way Hezekiah could have initiated his drastic reforms in his first year, as a co-regent.
Others tried to explain that the Passover was after the northern kingdom had fallen and there were still a scattering of Israelites living in the northern kingdom and they were invited. But again that isn't really what the inspired writings tell us.
4. Finally, the "Pul" Issue The Assyrian king Pul, literally pulls and skews the whole chronology, and is the cause of all this adding to scripture to pull all the kings into Tiglath-pileser's time period.
Isreal's king, Menahem, paid tribute to the Assyrian king, Pul, say the scripture.
Someone, sometime ago, discovered that the Babylonians called the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser, by the name of Pulu. OH! the scholars surmised that must be the "Pul" of the Bible.
So then they tried to fit everything, from the time of King Menahem, to the beginning of king
Hoshea's reign, and from the Judean king, Uzziah to Ahaz, to be (at least partly) in the time period of 18 years while Tiglath-pileser reigned in Assyria ((745-727 BC),
So the question to consider -- is Pul that obtained tribute from the Israelite King, Menahem, the same person as Tiglath-pileser III? There are many who say, "Yes" but there are others who say, "No,"
Is the "Assyrian king Pul" of scripture, the same as Tiglath-pilneser III?
2 Kings 15:19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
2 Chron. 5:26 And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.
There is a general consensus among scholars that the Assyrian annals record Tiglath-pileser III as receiving tribute from Menahem, king of Israel. But this is based on filling in a fragmented tablet with information from the Bible, or from one other tablet that does mention Menahem's name, but there is no verification who wrote it, and then using it to say Tiglath-pileser said he received tribute from Menahem!
Things aren't as clear as it is presented. Most tablets that are prescribed as being from Tiglath-pileser, were found in a mutilated condition that required an enormous piecing together. Excavators unearthed what they later called the Southwest Palace of Nimrod, and found a portion of one wall still fairly intact. It was paneled with slabs brought from elsewhere. The slabs didn't all come from the same place. Most of these slabs had chiseled writing on them. The moving and trimming of the stone resulted in fragmenting the text, and making it difficult to know who actually wrote that particular piece.
The fragment concerning Menahem giving tribute is fragmented, It is quoted below, but mark that everything in [] was either missing or extremely difficult to decipher.
"I imposed upon th[em tribute]. [As for Menahem, I ov]er whelmed him and he ....fled like a bird, alone, [and bowed at my feet] I returned him to his place [and imposed tribute upon him to wit] gold, silver, linen garments with multicolored trimmings....great...[I re]ceived from him. Omri-Land (Israel) bit Humria...all its inhabitants, their possession I led to Assyria. They overthrew their king Paqaha and I placed Ausi (Hoshea) as king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold, 1000 talents of silver as their tribute and brought them to Assyria."
Did you notice what was in brackets? Menahem's name appears in brackets! That means the annals were unreadable at that point and the name has been supplied by the translator. Thus it is seen that there is no compelling Assyrian data demanding the placing of the king Menahem in the same time frame as Tiglath-pileser.
Notice as well the context -- a few lines down you will see the name Paqaha (Pakah) the king of Israel who scriptures tell us began his reign two years after Menahem's death. The context and biblical chronology indicates the missing name should be Pekah, not Menahem.
Another point --
"Pul" is a title, not a proper name. It means "lord' and could refer to any Assyrian ruler. It could be added to any Assyrian kings name.
Another point --
The second verse quoted above (1 Chron. 5:26) shows they were two different oppressors of Israel, not one and the same. If they were one and the same why use the title "king of Assyria" after each of them. There is Pul, king of Assyria, and tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. If they were the same the original wording would have the title "king of Assyria" once. As to who carried them away -- of course the language will revert to the singular "he" because only one of the two mentioned "kings of Assyria" carried huge numbers of Israelites away.
Finally, the Assyrian kings timeline would indicate that Ashur-dan III is the "Pul" referred to in scripture. His complete name may have been Ashur daninpal. Pul is the Hebrew form of the Akkadian name "Pal"
If you pick up a new Bible translation that makes "Pul" the same as Tiglath-pileser, know it is not a translation, but an interpretation. It is an interpretation that is false if one believes the chronology the Bible presents.
ASHER-DAN III
The Assyrian records contain very little information concerning the three kings prior to Tiglath-pileser, Of interest an alabaster stele was discovered in 1894 in which the name Tiglath-pileser was imprinted over that of Shalmaneser IV, (Ashur-dan's father). This and the fact we have very little information on Asher-dan III, implies that Tiglath-pileser as an usurper of the throne destroyed or claimed for himself the activities of at least the last three kings before him.
Now the question:
What source do we credit as the most reliable? Assyrian findings, or Biblical writings?
Scripture shows this progression of the kings Menahem -- rules 10 years beginning in the 39th year of Judah's Uzziah Pekahiah -- rules 2 years beginning in the 50th year of Judah's Uzziah
Then Pekah seizes the throne by killing Pekahiah in the 52nd year of Judah's Uzziah Pekah rules 20 years.
During Pekah's 20 year rule, Jothram rules in Judah for 16 years During Pekah's 17th year in Israel Ahaz begins to reign in Judah.
Now Ahaz and Pekah were NOT friends. Pekah makes an alliance with Rezin, king of Syria. Pekah and Rezin came up against Jerusalem where Ahaz is now king.
Ahaz sends off messengers to Tiglath-pileser III who is king of Assyria, to come and help him in this difficulty with Pekah and Rezin (see 2 Kings 16, Isaiah also tells this story in Isaiah 7)
Tiglath-pileser III responds by - 1. Over running Syria, killing their king Rezin and deporting Syrians. 2. Over running Israel's northern kingdom, deporting many Israelites, from all the outlying tribes but leaving the central area of the Northern kingdom and Pekah alive 3. Taking a huge tribute from Ahaz
Hoshea leads a conspiracy against Pekah, kills him, but does not become king at this time.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THIS DEVASTING EVENT BY TIGLATH PILEZER III
The Bible seems to leave an eight or nine year gap between Israelite kings at this point. Pekah dies in the fourth year of Judah's king Ahaz. But Hoshea doesn't become king until the 12th year of Ahaz.
What happened during those years?
What is interesting at this point is that scriptures refers to Ahaz not only as the king of Judah, but also as the "king of Israel" (2 Chron. 28:19, 26-27
Contrast those verse with 2 Kings 16 where it says Ahaz was buried with his fathers in the city of David, with 2 Chron 28 where it says Ahaz was NOT buried with the kings of Israel. Why the distinction? Judah's kings were buried in Jerusalem, not in Israel. Apparently Ahaz was claiming to be king of Israel!
Another confirmation of this is seen in the statement that his deeds were "written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel! (2 Chron 28:26)
Those 8/9 years following Pekah (king of Israel) death, when it appears no king rules in Israel, were filled by Ahaz (the vassal king of Assyria in Judah) filling in.
This also answers one of Thiels dilemmas, as he had a hard time fitting in all the nations that came against Ahaz in 2 Chron. 28. They came against Ahaz as he was acting king of all Israel, and he was calling on Tiglath Pileser III for help. Tiglath Pileser III was happy to help against when the problem was Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria, because it was in his plan to put them in there places anyway. But now scripture says Tiglath Pileser did not strengthen Ahaz. Of course not -- he never wanted a strong united Israel. He wanted to keep them divided and under his control.
In the 12th year of Ahaz Tiglath-pileser III returns and instead of "strengthening Ahaz" (see 2 Chron. 28:20) he makes Hoshea (the one who killed Pekah) king of Israel.
So now the northern kingdom is once again established (though seriously reduced in power and population).
God is giving them one more chance to turn to him, and continue as a kingdom! Hoshea isn't a "good king" but he is not as bad as the "bad kings" either.
God is giving them a huge chance to repent and turn to Him. If they do, God can render those Assyrians powerless to do his people any harm.
In the 3rd year of Hoshea (king of Israel) Hezekiah becomes king in Judah -- reforms start to happen! All Israel -- north as well as Judah in the south are invited to the Passover. It is a time for "new beginnings" --
BUT the northern kingdom does not respond. They do not turn to God. (A few individuals do, but not the re-established northern northern kingdom or it's king.
A year or so latter Hoshea rebells against Assyria and the Assyrians attack -- and after a three year siege, this time ending the northern kingdom.
In Thiel's chronology (which Vilis followed) these kings, from Menaham to Hoshea are all lumped together to fit into a preconceived idea that they all reigned while Tiglath-pileser III was king of Assyria, which means a lot of things had to be surmised to have their reigns overlapping and crowd them into a very limited time period. One of those things wiped out by that chronology was this "last call of mercy" to the northern kingdom.
"How shall I give thee up" -- God yearns for his people to turn back to Him, He can do great things for them and they would not have suffered the terrible years just ahead of them. But they would not.
So lets try to put this in chart form -- (dates may be out a year or two as every time kings change there is the problem of what time of year, etc. etc. which can make a difference, also they didn't measure years from Jan - Jan like we do) but it does give the main picture.
King of Judah King of Israel Other kings
771
39 Uzziah
Shallum
0Menahem
770
40 Uzziah
1Menahem
Ashur-dan III king of Assyria
769
41 Uzziah
2Menahem
Uzziah (reigns total of 52 years) Menahem (a total of 10 years)
760
50 Uzziah
1 Pekahiah
759
51 Uzziah
2 Pekahiah
758
52 Uzziah
1 Pekah
Pekah assassinates Pekahiah to gain throne in Israel
757
1 Jotham
2 Pekah
Ashur Nirari V king of Assyria
756
2 Jotham
3 Pekah
Jotham (reigns total of 16 years) Pekah (a total of 20 years) Rezin in Syria
746
12 Jotham
13 Pekah
Tiglath-pileser, seizes Assyrian throne.
745
13 Jotham
14 Pekah
744
14 Jotham
15 Pekah
743
15 Jotham
16 Pekah
742
16 Jotham/ 1 Ahaz
17 Pekah
741
2 Ahaz
Rezin king of Syria & Pekah king of Israel war against Jerusalem/ Ahaz calls Tiglath-pileser for help.
18 Pekah
740
3 Ahaz
Ahaz builds pagan alter in temple , pays huge tribute to Tiglath-pileser.
Seeks to win Assyrian favor and support.
19 Pekah
Tiglath-pileser,king of Assyria over-ran Israel and Syria, kills Syrian Rezin
Tiglath-pileser, deports many Israelites from outlying tribes, but
Pekah and central Northen kingdom left alive.
739
4 Ahaz
20 Pekah
Hoshea kills Pekah in what would have been Jotham’s 20th year.
For eight to nine years there is no actual king in Israel. Scriptures call Ahaz "king of Israel" 2 Chron. 28:19, though he reigned from Jerusalem. Scriptures also say Ahaz was buried with his fathers in the city of David BUT "They brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel" (2 kings 16:20, 2Chron. 28:27). So he was buried with the kings of Judah, not the kings of Israel -- why should that even be an issue EXCEPT he claimed to be king of Israel.
Scriptures also say: his deeds were "written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel! (2 Chron 28:26) However, Tiglath-pileser put an end to Ahaz's aspirations in the northern kingdom, and restored a king to the Northern kingdom -- making Hoshea, king in the 12th year of Ahaz.
Hoshea, it was written, was bad, but not like the former kings
Thus a last chance was being given by God to the northern kingdom, as we discussed in earlier posts.
730
12Ahaz
Closes sanctuary
0 Hoshea
Tiglath-pileser, makes Hoshea king
729
13 Ahaz
1 Hoshea
728
14 Ahaz
2 Hoshea
727
15/16Ahaz 0 Hezekiah
Opens sanctuary as soon as his father dies
3 Hoshea
726
1 Hezekiah
Restores sanctuary
4 Hoshea
725
2 Hezekiah
Passover
5 Hoshea
724
3 Hezekiah
6 Hoshea
Hoshea conspires against Assyria
723
4 Hezekiah
7 Hoshea
Assyrians besiege Samaria
Shalmaneser kingAssyria
722
5 Hezekiah
The Northern Kingdom falls in the ninth year of Hoshea, (which was the 6th year of Hezekiah.
-- Edited by Dedication on Wednesday 6th of April 2016 12:20:15 AM
