Difference between revisions of "Menahem"

<p> [[Menahem]] ( ''Mĕn'A-Hĕm'' ), ''Consoler.'' A king of Samaria. His reign, which lasted ten years, b.c. 771-760, was distinguished for cruelty and oppression. &nbsp;2 Kings 15:14-20. </p>

<p> (Hebrews Menachem', '''''מְנִחֵם''''' , ''Comforting'' [comp. [[Manaen]] , &nbsp;Acts 13:11; Sept. '''''Μαναήμ''''' , Vulg. [[Manahem]] ; Josephus, '''''Μανάημος''''' , [[Ant]] . ix, lj, 1), the seventeenth separate king of Israel, who began to reign BC. 769, and reigned ten years. He was the son of Gadi, and appears to have been one of the generals of king Zachariah. When he heard the news of the murder of that prince, and the usurpation of Shallum, he was at Tirzah, but immediately marched to Samaria, where Shallum had shut himself up, and slew him in that city. He then usurped the throne in his turn, and forthwith reduced Tiphsah, which refused to acknowledge his rule. He adhered to the sin of Jeroboam, like the other kings of Israel. His general character is described by [[Josephus]] as rude and exceedingly cruel ([[Ant]] . 9:11, 1). The contemporary prophets, Hosea and Amos, have left a melancholy picture of the ungodliness, demoralization, and feebleness of Israel; and Ewald adds to their testimony some doubtful references to Isaiah and Zechariah. (For the encounter with the Assyrians, see below.) Menahem died in BC. 759, leaving the throne to his son Pekahiah (&nbsp;2 Kings 15:14-22). There are some peculiar circumstances in the narrative of his reign, in the discussion of which we follow the most recent elucidations. (See [[Kingdom Of Israel]]). </p> <p> '''(1.)''' Ewald ( ''Gesch'' . ''Isr'' . 3:598), following the Sept., would translate the latter part of &nbsp;2 Kings 15:10, "And Kobolam (or Keblaam) smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead." Ewald considers the fact of such a king's existence a help to the interpretation of &nbsp;Zechariah 11:8; and he accounts for the silence of [[Scripture]] as to his end by saying that he may have thrown himself across the Jordan, and disappeared among the subjects of king Uzziah. It does not appear, however, how such a translation can be made to agree with the subsequent mention (&nbsp;Zechariah 11:13) of Shallum, and with the express ascription of Shallum's death (&nbsp;Zechariah 11:14) to Menahem. Thenius excuses the translation of the Sept. by supposing that their MSS. may have been in a defective state, but ridicules the theory of Ewald. (See Kings). </p> <p> '''(2.)''' In the brief history of Menahem, his ferocious treatment of Tiphsah occupies a conspicuous place. The time of the occurrence and the site of the town have been doubted. Keil says that it can be no other place than the remote Thapsacus on the Euphrates, the northeast boundary (&nbsp;1 Kings 4:24) of Solomon's dominions; and certainly no other place bearing the name is mentioned in the Bible. Others suppose that it may have been some town which Menahem took in his way as he went from Tirzah to win a crown in Samaria (Ewald); or that it is a transcriber's error for [[Tappuah]] (&nbsp;Joshua 17:8), and that Menahem laid it waste when he returned from Samaria to Tirzah (Thenius). No sufficient reason appears for having recourse to such conjectures where the plain text presents no insuperable difficulty. The act, whether perpetrated at the beginning of Menahem's reign or somewhat later, was doubtless intended to strike terror into the hearts of reluctant subjects throughout the whole extent of dominion which he claimed. A precedent for such cruelty might be found in the border wars between Syria and Israel (&nbsp;2 Kings 8:12). It is a striking sign of the increasing degradation of the land, that a king of Israel practiced upon his subjects a brutality from the mere. suggestion of which the unscrupulous Syrian usurper recoiled with indignation. (See [[Tiphsah]]). </p> <p> '''(3.)''' But the most remarkable event in Menahem's reign is the first appearance of a hostile force of Assyrians on the. north-east frontier of Israel. King Pul, however, withdrew, having been converted from an enemy into an ally by a timely gift of 1000 talents of silver, which Menahem exacted by an assessment of fifty shekels a head on 60,000 Israelites. This was probably the only choice left to him, as he had not that resource in the treasures of the [[Temple]] of which the kings of Judah availed themselves in similar emergencies. It seems, perhaps, too much to infer from &nbsp;1 Chronicles 5:26 that Pul also took away [[Israelitish]] captives. The name of Pul (Sept. Phaloch or Phalos) appears, according'to Rawlinson ([[Bampton Lectures]] for 1859, Lect. iv, p. 133), in an Assyrian inscription of a [[Ninevite]] king, as Phallukha, who took tribute from [[Beth]] Kumri (=the house of Omri=Samaria), as well as from Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Idumaea, and Philistia; the king of [[Damascus]] is set down as giving 2300 talents of silver, besides gold and copper, but neither the name -of Menahem, nor the amount of his tribute, is stated in the inscription. Rawlinson also says that in another inscription the name of Menahem is given, probably by mistake of the stonecutter, as a tributary of Tiglath- pileser. (See [[Nineveh]]). </p>

<p> ''''' men´a ''''' - ''''' hem ''''' ( מנחם , <i> ''''' menaḥēm ''''' </i> , "one who comforts"; Μαναήμ , <i> ''''' Manaḗm ''''' </i> ; &nbsp; 2 Kings 15:14-22 ): </p> 1. Accession and Reign: <p> Son of [[Gadi]] and 16th king of Israel. He reigned 10 years. Menahem was probably the officer in charge of the royal troops in Tirzah, one of the king's residences, at the time of the murder of Zechariah by Shallum. Hearing of the deed, he brought up his troops and avenged the death of his master by putting Shallum to death in Samaria. He then seized the vacant throne. His first full year may have been 758 Bc (others, as seen below, put later). </p> 2. Early Acts: <p> The country at this time, as depicted by Hosea and Amos, was in a deplorable condition of anarchy and lawlessness. Menahem, with a strong hand, enforced his occupation of the throne. One town only seems to have refused to acknowledge him. This was Tiphsah, a place 6 miles Southwest of Shechem, now the ruined village of <i> ''''' Khurbet ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Tafsah ''''' </i> . As Menahem is said to have attacked this enclosed city from Tirzah, lying to its North, it is probable that he took it on the way to Samaria, before proceeding to do battle with Shallum. If this was so, it is some explanation of the cruelty with which he treated its inhabitants (&nbsp; 2 Kings 15:16 ). One such instance of severity was enough. The whole kingdom was at his feet. He proved to be a strong and determined ruler, and during the 9 or 10 years of his governorship had no further internecine trouble to contend with. </p> 3. Menahem and Assyria: <p> But there was another source of disquiet. Assyria, under Pul, had resumed her advance to the West and threatened the kingdoms of Palestine. Menahem resolved on a policy of diplomacy, and, rather than risk a war with the conqueror of the East, agreed to the payment of a heavy tribute of 1,000 talents of silver. To raise this sum he had to assess his wealthier subjects to the extent of 50 shekels each. As there are 3,000 shekels in a talent of silver, it is obvious that some 60,000 persons, "mighty men of wealth," must have been laid under contribution in this levy - an indication at once of the enormity of the tribute, and of the prosperity of the country at the time. However short-sighted the policy, its immediate purpose was attained, which was that the hand of the Assyrian king "might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand" (&nbsp;2 Kings 15:19 ). </p> 4. A C onflict of Dates: <p> A difficulty attaches to the dates of this period. The Pul of &nbsp;2 Kings 15:19 and &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 5:26 is now identified with Tiglath-pileser III, who took this title on ascending the throne of Assyria in 745 BC. In an inscription of Tiglath-pileser, Menahem appears as <i> ''''' Minehimmu ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Samarinâ ''''' </i> (Menahem the Samarian), together with <i> ''''' Raṣunnu ''''' </i> (Rezin) of Damascus and <i> ''''' Hirûmu ''''' </i> (Hiram) of Tyre. The date given to this inscription is 738 BC, whereas the last year we can give to Menahem is 749, or 10 years earlier. </p> 5. Proposed Solutions: <p> The chronological difficulty which thus arises may be met in one of two ways. [[Either]] the inscription, like that on the black obelisk of Kurkh (see [[Jehu]] ), was written some years after the events to which it refers and contains records of operations in which Tiglath-pileser took part before he became king; or [[Pekah]] - who was on the throne of Israel in 738 (?) - is spoken of under the dynastic name Menahem, though he was not of his family. The former of these hypotheses is that which the present writer is inclined to adopt. (By others the dates of Menahem are lowered in conformity with the inscription.) See [[Chronology Of The Old Testament]] . </p> 6. Character: <p> Menahem attempted no reformation in the national religion, but, like all his predecessors, adhered to the worship of the golden calves. On this account, like them, he incurs the heavy censure of the historian. </p>