2 Kings 15:16-22

2 KINGS—NOTE ON 2 Kings 15:16 Menahem sacked Tiphsah. This attack on an important city on the Euphrates River is the last, brutal action of an Israelite king claiming control of a Solomon-like empire (compare 1 Kings 4:24). Such a campaign would probably have taken place early in Menahem’s reign. It probably happened either before the campaigns of Pul the king of Assyria in 743–740 B.C. began, or during these years as part of the anti-Assyrian struggle in the region. “Pul” is a short name for Tiglath-pileser III. Pul’s goal was apparently to establish an Assyrian trading center on the border with Egypt, and he needed to control the area north of Egypt in order to achieve that goal. Menahem’s tributary payment of a thousand talents of silver makes him Assyria’s friend for the time being.