View source for Menahem

{{Short description|Biblical character}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Menahem
| title        = King of Israel
| image        = Menahem.png
| image_size   =
| caption      = Menahem from [[Guillaume Rouillé]]'s ''[[Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum]]''.
| succession   = [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|King of Israel (Northern Kingdom)]]
| reign        = {{circa}} 752 – {{circa}} 742 BC
| coronation   =
| predecessor  = [[Shallum of Israel|Shallum]]
| successor    = [[Pekahiah]]
| royal house  =
| regent       =
| issue        = [[Pekahiah]]
| father       = Gadi
| mother       =
}}
'''Menahem''' or '''Menachem''' ({{Hebrew Name|מְנַחֵם|Mənaḥēm|Menaḥēm}}, "consoler" or "comforter"; {{langx|akk|𒈪𒉌𒄭𒅎𒈨}} ''Meniḫîmme'' [''me-ni-ḫi-im-me'']; [[Greek language|Greek]]: Μεναέμ ''Manaem'' in the [[Septuagint]], Μεναέν ''Manaen'' in [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]]; {{langx|la|Manahem}}; full name: {{langx|he|מְנַחֵם בֵּן-גדי}}, ''Menahem son of Gadi'') was the sixteenth king of the northern [[Israelite]] [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]]. He was the son of Gadi, and the founder of the dynasty known as the [[House of Gadi]] or House of Menahem.
== In the Bible ==
Menahem's ten-year reign is told in {{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:14-22|HE}}. When [[Shallum of Israel|Shallum]] conspired against and assassinated [[Zechariah of Israel|Zechariah]] in [[Samaria]], and set himself upon the throne of the northern kingdom, Menahem—who, like Shallum, had served as a [[Captain (armed forces)|captain]] in Zechariah's army—refused to recognize the murderous usurper. Menahem marched from [[Tirzah (ancient city)|Tirzah]] to Samaria, about six miles westwards, and laid siege to Samaria. He took the city, murdered Shallum a month into his reign ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:13|HE}}), and set himself upon the throne. ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:14|HE}}) According to [[Josephus]], he was a general of the army of Israel.<ref>''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]''. [[s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book IX|9:11:1]] at WikiSource</ref>
He did brutally suppress a revolt at [[Tiphsah]].<ref>'Tiphsah' is the name in the [[Masoretic]] text. Modern commentators and translators prefer the reading [[List of minor biblical places#Tappuah |Tappuah]], following the [[Lucian recension]] of the [[Septuagint]].</ref> He destroyed the city and put all its inhabitants to death, even ripping open the pregnant women. ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:16|NIV}})
The author of the ''[[Books of Kings]]'' describes his rule as one of cruelty and oppression. The author is apparently synopsizing the "[[Chronicles of the Kings of Israel|annals of the Kings of Israel]]", ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:21|NIV}}) and gives scant details of Menahem's reign.
== Chronology ==
Menahem became king of Israel in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of [[Uzziah|Azariah]], [[king of Judah]], and reigned for ten years. ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:17|HE}}) According to the chronology of Kautsch,<ref>''Hist. of O.T. Literature'', 185</ref> he ruled from 743 BC; according to Schrader, from 745 to 736 BC. [[William F. Albright]] has dated his reign from 745 to 738 BC, while [[Edwin R. Thiele|E. R. Thiele]] offers the dates 752–742 BC.<ref>Edwin Thiele, ''[[The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings]]'', (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951;  2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). {{ISBN|0-8254-3825-X}}, 9780825438257</ref>
Menahem seems to have died a natural death, and was succeeded by his son [[Pekahiah]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:22|NIV}}</ref>
== Tributary of Assyria ==
[[Tiglath-Pileser III]] of [[ancient Assyrians|Assyria]] began his reign in 745 BC, seven years after Menahem had become king of Israel.
During Menahem's reign, the Assyrians first entered the kingdom of Israel, and had also invaded [[Aram Damascus]] to the north-east: "And Pul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land". ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:19|NIV}}) The Assyrians may have been invited into Israel by the Assyrian party. [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] speaks of the two anti-Israelite parties, the Egyptian and Assyrian. ({{bibleverse||Hosea|7:11|NIV}})
To maintain independence, Menahem was forced to pay a [[tribute]] of a thousand [[talent (measurement)|talent]]s of silver  ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:19|NIV}})—which is about 37 tons (about 34 metric tons) of silver. It is now generally accepted that Pul referred to in {{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:19|NIV}} is [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] of the cuneiform inscriptions. Pul was probably his personal name and the one that first reached Israel. Tiglath-Pileser records this tribute in one of his inscriptions (''ANET{{sup|3}} 283'').<ref>[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/anet/283-the-annals-of-tiglath-pileser/ The Annals of Tiglath-pileser]. Livius.org. Translation into English by Leo Oppenheim. Quote: "I [Tiglath Pileser III] received tribute from... Menahem of Samaria...gold, silver, ...".</ref>
To pay the tribute, Menahem exacted fifty [[shekel]]s of silver—about 1{{fraction|1|4}} pounds or 0.6&nbsp;kg—from all the mighty men of wealth of the kingdom. ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|15:20|NIV}}) To collect this amount, there would have had to be at the time some 60,000 "that were mighty and rich" in the kingdom. After receiving the tribute, Tiglath-Pileser returned to Assyria.<ref name=je>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10619-menahem "Menahem", ''Jewish Encyclopedia'']</ref> However, from that time the kingdom of Israel was a tributary of Assyria; and when [[Pekah]] some ten years later refused to pay any more tribute, it started a sequence of events which led to the destruction of the kingdom and the deportation of its population.
== See also ==
*[[List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources]]
*[[Iran Stele]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Manahem|author=Walter Drum}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Gadi]]<br><small>''Contemporary [[Kingdom of Judah|King of Judah]]:''</small> [[Uzziah of Judah|Uzziah/Azariah]], [[Jotham]]||||}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Shallum of Israel|Shallum]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|King of Israel]]|years=752–742 BCE}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pekahiah]]}}
{{end}}
{{IsraeliteKings}}
[[Category:8th-century BC Kings of Israel]]
[[Category:House of Gadi]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[Category:Biblical murderers]]