Who is King Shallum in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Father: Jabesh, 2 Kings 15:10
Length of reign: 1 month, 2 Kings 15:13
Reign: 752 BC
Succession: 15th King
Predecessor: King Zachariah, 2 Kings 15:10
Successor: King Menahem, 2 Kings 15:14
Kingdom: Kingdom of Israel, 2 Kings 15:13
Morality: evil king, 2 Kings 15:10
Biblical history: 2 Kings 15:10-15

Shallum reigns in Israel

The name Shallum means ‘a requital‘. The political climate of the Kingdom of Israel was very tremulous because coups and king slayings were very frequent. However, because of what King Jehu did against the house of Ahab, God promised him that his descendant to the 4th generation would be kings of the Kingdom of Israel (2Ki 10:30). Therefore, during the reign of Jehu’s first three descendants, Jehoahaz of Israel, Joash of Israel, and King Jeroboam II, no rebel tried to usurp the throne.

However, the house of Jehu exhausted their time on the throne during the reign of King Zachariah, the fourth-generation descendant of King Jehu. It was during the regime of King Zachariah that Shallum arose. He conspired, attacked, and killed Zachariah in public to usurp the throne of Israel. (2 Kings 15:10)

So Shallum was a kingslayer who became a king by conspiracy and coup. He began to reign in the 39th year of King Uzziah’s reign (2Ki15:13). He reigned in Samaria for just a month in the year 752 BC. Nothing good was recorded to Shallum’s credit save his bad deed of conspiracy. It is certain that he too did nothing different from pursuing the religion called the sins of Jeroboam, which was the worship of the two golden calves.

Shallum’s death came too soon. Jesus once said that all who draw the sword will die by the sword (Mt 26:52). This saying was fulfilled in the life of King Shallum in that, a month into his reign, just as he conspired to overthrow and kill King Zachariah, he too died by violence at the hands of Menahem who conspired against him in Samaria (2Ki 15:14).

Achievement of Shallum

Nothing good is recorded about King Shallum except his bad deed of staging a coup d’état to overthrow and kill King Zachariah. However, God used Shallum’s thirst for power to fulfill His own will, which is the overthrow of the Jehu dynasty. (2 Kings 15:10)

Contemporaries of Shallum

King Uzziah had reigned for 39 years when Shallum began to reign. Nothing happened between these two kings. (2 Kings 15:13)

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Who is King Zachariah in the Bible?
Who was a kingslayer in the Bible?
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Who is King Menahem in the Bible?
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