2 Kings 15:27 - Exposition

In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah King of Judah ; rather, in the thirty-ninth or thirty-eighth year (see the comment on verse 23). Pekahiah's "two years" may not have been complete. Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. The Assyrian records make this number impossible. Tiglath-pileser's entire reign lasted only eighteen years, yet it more than covered the entire reign of Pekah. When he first invaded the kingdom of Samaria, Menahem was upon the throne; when he last attacked it, probably in B.C. 730—two years before his death in B.C. 728—he set up Hoshea, or, at any rate, sanctioned his usurpation. Pekah's entire reign must have come in the interval, which is certainly not more than one of fifteen, probably not more than one of ten years.