Who is King Menahem in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Father: Gadi, 2 Kings 15:14
Predecessor: King Shallum, 2 Kings 15:14
Kingdom: Kingdom of Israel, 2 Kings 15:17
Succession:  16th King
Length of reign: 10 years, 2 Kings 15:17
Morality: evil king, 2 Kings 15:18
Successor: King Pekahiah, 2 Kings 15:22
Bible reference: 2Ki 15:17-22; 2Ki 15:14; 2Ki 15:16

Menahem reigns in Israel

The name Menahem means ‘comforter‘. During the reign of the Jehu dynasty, there was political stability. But that stability was tampered with when Shallum conspired and killed King Zachariah, the last of the kings of the Jehu dynasty (2Ki 15:10). Afterward, he usurped the throne and ruled for a month (2Ki 15:13). Menahem who appeared to be a military commander, conspired against him and matched soldiers from Tirzah to lay a siege to Samaria. He prevailed in taking the city, then he killed King Shallum, and usurped the throne (2Ki 15:14). That sounds like poetic justice, doesn’t it?

Menahem was the 16th king of the Kingdom of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for 10 years. Menahem was one such evil king who perpetuated the sins of Jeroboam like his predissessors. In addition to idolatry, King Menahem set himself up as a wicked king above the rest of the kings of Israel; for he committed an atrocity that could earn him the description tyrant king.  After killing King Shallum and proclaiming himself as a king, the Bible says,

Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up. (2 Kings 15:16)

Tiphsah is a city and in its vicinity were other villages. The people of Tiphsah and its vicinity were Israelites like King Menahem himself. The Bible says, “Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, …. because they opened not to him … ” This suggests that Menahem after having been to Samaria to kill Shallum went to Tiphsah, but the people of the city did not recognize a kingslayer and usurper like Menahem as their king, neither did they want to offer him their allegiance. They expressed their ill feelings for Menahem by refusing to welcome him into their city as a king; more so, they shut the city gate on him, refusing to open it for him to enter.   

King Menahem took offense and interpreted their action as rebellion and then pursued military action to punish the city of Tiphsah and the other settlements around it. King Menahem and his army forced their way into the city, killing, destroying, etc. In the course of the rampage, King Menahem and his army committed a barbaric acts; that is, they seized all the pregnant women and cut open their bellies, killing them and their unborn babies. Perhaps, by committing this barbarity he wanted to send a warning to all so that none would dare to put up a rebellion against him again. (2 Kings 15:16) 

In the course of King Menahem’s bloody reign, Pul king of Assyria invaded Israel. To protect his position as king, Menahem negotiated to pay Pul a heavy tribute of a 1000 talents of silver, so that Pul would not depose him and ruin his kingdom. To get a fortune of a 1000 talents of silver, Menahem levied all the wealthy men of Israel to pay 50 shekels of silver per person. He collected everything together and used it to pay Pul. And Pul left for his kingdom with a fortune, doing little or no harm to Israel. (2 Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 15:20)

Though Menahem was murderous tyrant, he did not end up like the other murderous kings who were also murdered – like King Zimri, King Shallum, etc. King Menahem died of natural causes and the throne was given to his son Pekahiah. (2 Kings 15:22)

Contemporaries of Menahem

  • King Uzziah of Judah had reigned for 39 years when Menahem became a king. (2 Kings 15:17)
  • Pul was reigning in Assyria during Menahem’s regime. He threatened Menahem’s reign. But King Menahem wisely bribed him into friendship. (2 Kings 15:19)

Major events during Menahem’s reign

  • King Menahem attacked his fellow Israelites living in the city of Tiphsah and the settlements around it. There, he intentionally committed the barbarity of cutting open the bellies of all the pregnant women. (2 Kings 15:16)
  • Pul, king of Assyria, invaded Israel. But Menahem bribed him away with 1000 talents of silver such that he did little or no harm, but turned back to his kingdom in peace. (2Ki 15:19; 2Ki 15:20)

Achievement of Menahem

Who can tell what menace Pul and the Assyrian army would have been to Israel if the two sides had fought battles? Certainly, the Assyrians had the upper hand and were in the position to defeat the Israelites and carry them into exile. Maybe the only thing we can credit King Menahem for was that he avoided any bloody warfare with the Assyrians by peacefully settling Pul, the Assyrian king, with a heavy fortune of 1000 talents of silver to send him away from Israel.  

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