Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 15

Hoshea murders Pekah

2 Kings 15:30-31

It had been Pekah’s great plan to free his nation from the control of the king of Assyria. That plan failed badly. After the army of Assyria had taken control of large parts of Israel, Pekah never regained his authority.

Hoshea, who plotted against him, was at that time a supporter of the king of Assyria. His plan was to kill Pekah, and then to make a peace agreement with the king of Assyria. In that agreement, Assyria kept Galilee (Isaiah 9:1) and Israel paid annual taxes to Assyria (17:4). When Hoshea became king of Israel, he collected those taxes for Assyria. However, Hoshea later turned against the king of Assyria, as we shall see in chapter 17.

The Bible says that Hoshea killed Pekah in the 20^th year of Jotham’s rule over Judah. That seems a strange date, because Jotham only ruled for 16 years (15:33). It might mean 20 years after the start of Jotham’s rule, which was the 4^th year of Ahaz (the next king of Judah). However, 2 Kings 17:1 says that Hoshea’s rule began in the 12^th year of Ahaz. The Bible does not explain these different dates. Perhaps there was a period before the people accepted Hoshea as their king. However, other explanations are possible.

Israel’s people prepared careful records of Pekah’s rule, as they had done for the kings before him. However, the Bible does not say that anyone kept records of Hoshea’s rule. That is probably because Hoshea was the last king of northern and central Israel. He was not as evil as many of the kings before him (17:2). However, he did not turn back to God, and he was unable to prevent God’s judgment against the evil deeds of his nation. It was during his rule that Assyria’s army attacked and destroyed his country. That army forced the people to leave northern and central Israel, and to live abroad (17:1-6).

Next part: King Jotham of Judah (2 Kings 15:32-35)

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