{"id":63895,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-324\/"},"modified":"2023-05-04T09:24:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T06:24:38","slug":"wall-324","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-324\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-II Kings-15"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"324","date":"20261125","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"63705","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - 2 Kings Chapter 15 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - 2 Kings Chapter 15","slug":"jps-audio-bible-2-kings-chapter-15","old_id":"63705","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"324","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"2 Kings Chapter 15","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_2_Kings_Chapter_15","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"114589","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Comparing Timelines ","post_title":"Comparing Timelines","slug":"comparing-timelines","old_id":"114589","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"324","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Some interesting solutions to some thorny chronological quandaries\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 15 opens with the familiar verse comparing the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign (verse 1)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This seems pretty straightforward. The problem is the timeline does not match verses from the previous chapter:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria (14:23)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son Jehoachaz king of Israel for fifteen years (14:17).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeroboam began his reign in the 15<\/span>th<\/span> year of Amaziah. Amaziah reigned for an additional 15 years after the death of Jeroboam\u2019s father. But, according to verse 1, Azariah, son of Amaziah, became king in the 27<\/span>th<\/span> year of Jeroboam\u2019s reign. What happened to the middle 12 years?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Seder Olam chapter 19 explains that Azariah was stricken with <\/span>tzara\u2019at<\/span><\/em> in the 27<\/span>th<\/span> year of Jeroboam\u2019s reign. Ostensibly the text is missing an additional phrase here that explains this discrepancy. The problem with this explanation is that it seems out of context with how the kingly timeline is usually introduced. Why start with the middle of Azariah\u2019s reign here and jump right into his <\/span>tzara\u2019at<\/em> <\/span>only to go back to the standard introduction and then talk about his <\/span>tzara\u2019at<\/span><\/em> again?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The commentators try to rectify this issue, but run into the problem that the timeline of the kings of both Judah and Israel continue beyond this with their own numbers. Any solution that shifts the timeline a little bit creates havoc somewhere else. Malbim has an interesting opinion. Perhaps the reference to Jeroboam II returning cities to Judah in chapter 14 actually means that, for a certain period of time, Jeroboam controlled the Southern kingdom as well. Therefore the timeline mentioned here is when Judah broke away from Israel again. This is quite an interesting read, but has its own problem beyond the timeline. One would think that the unification of the two kingdoms would warrant explicit mention in the text. Perhaps because this unification happened under the auspices of Israel and not Judah meant that the text did not want to highlight it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are two other possibilities. One is simply that there is an error in the text. It could be a result of a combination of different royal chronicles. Finally, it is of course\u00a0 possible that Azariah was \u201cstudying at the Yeshiva of Shem v\u2019Ever\u201d (the sons of Noah, a sort of mythological-midrashic idea applied elsewhere) during\u00a0 those 12 years\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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It was not so safe to be a king of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Eight kings of the northern kingdom of Israel were murdered: Nadab, Elah, Zimri, Jehoram, Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah and Pekah. Half of them were murdered in one chapter of the Bible \u2013 our chapter (10, 14, 25, 30).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Four kings and one queen of Judah were murdered too: Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah and Amon. But the stories about their regicides are scattered throughout five chapters (2 Kings 9, 27; 11, 16; 12, 22; 14, 19; 21, 23).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our chapter tells not only about four regicides but also about three kings that died naturally: Kings Azariah and Jotham of Judah and King Menahem of Israel (7, 22, 38).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems that the more the kings that are murdered, the nearer the end of the kingdom itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Actually not long after the 8th regicide took place in the northern kingdom of Israel, the kingdom lost its freedom. The king (that committed the murder) was prisoned by the Assyrian King and its citizens were deported to Assyria (2 Kings 17, 3-6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64111,"alt":"","title":"2kings15-regicide","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"More Regicides Than Ever","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The beginning of the end...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64111,"alt":"","title":"2kings15-regicide","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-regicide-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"432","name":"Exile","old_id":"832"},{"term_id":"762","name":"Murder","old_id":"1162"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":4,"id":"64178","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The House of Freedom or Detention? ","post_title":"The House Of Freedom Or Detention?","slug":"the-house-of-freedom-or-detention","old_id":"64178","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. 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King Azariah (aka Uzziah) ascended the throne at the age of 16 and is credited with a reign of 52 years, even though at some point he was stricken with leprosy. (Since that must have severely limited his ability to function as king, and some of those 52 years were explicitly shared by his successors, the task of determining the duration of the First Temple gets complicated, as we will note when we get to its destruction.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this point, I would like to tackle a singular lexicographical issue. Verse 5 stipulates that upon becoming a leper, the king took up residence in a <\/span>beit ha-hophsheet<\/span><\/em>. The Hebrew verbal root h-p-sh<\/em> connotes the idea of release or freedom, but what is a \u201cHouse of Freedom\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One line of investigation takes it as a euphemism. In other words, it was actually a House of Detention to which he was confined, consistent with the Torah\u2019s provision for a leper: \"Being unclean, he shall dwell apart; his dwelling shall be outside the camp\" (Lev. 13:46).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another line of inquiry utilizes information drawn from the language of the Canaanite port city of Ugarit, extensive portions of whose Semitic language were deciphered by scholars after its discovery in 1928. In Ugaritic (as the language is known), <\/span>beit ha-hophsheet<\/span><\/em> is a synonym for <\/span>she\u2019ol<\/span><\/em>, the netherworld or the grave, the only place where a leper might find \u201cfreedom\u201d from his affliction. Support for this interpretation is also drawn from two biblical verses: Job 3:19: \u201cSmall and great alike are there [in the grave] and the slave is free (<\/span>hophshi<\/span><\/em>) of his master,\u201d and Psalms 88:6: \u201cabandoned (<\/span>hophshi<\/span><\/em>) among the dead, like bodies lying in the grave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Both interpretations take it to be the designation for a leprosarium, which is also consistent with the rabbinic declaration: \u201cFour [in life] are regarded as though they were dead\u201d (BT Nedarim 64b): the destitute, the blind, the childless, and the leper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: The King Uzziah Stricken with Leprosy, by Rembrandt, 1635 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64179,"alt":"","title":"2kings15-uzziah leprosy rembrandt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","width":800,"height":999,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-768x959.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":959,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":999,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":999,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":999,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":999,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The House Of Freedom Or Detention?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The status of the leper king","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64179,"alt":"","title":"2kings15-uzziah leprosy rembrandt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","width":800,"height":999,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-768x959.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":959,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":999,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":999,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":999,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":999,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-uzziah-leprosy-rembrandt-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"755","name":"Leprosy","old_id":"1155"}]},{"order":5,"id":"114599","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-IIKings15","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-IIKings15","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-iikings15","old_id":"114599","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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Why did some kings rule for decades, while others didn\u2019t even last a full year?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like many questions, this one can have multiple answers. On the human level, sometimes a reign was cut short by a successful rebellion; however, perhaps those rebellions got a helping Hand.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For instance, Abarbanel asserts that Shallum son of Jabesh was replaced by Menahem son of Gadi after just a month (15:13-14) because \u201che was punished measure for measure: he killed Zechariah, and Menahem son of Gadi killed him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is a very neat explanation, but it raises some questions. After all, Shallum was far from the only king to gain his throne through a bloody coup. Why punish him but not others?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This question, too, is open to multiple answers \u2013 including a study of what motivated each of those bloody coups. E.g., Jehu annihilated Ahab\u2019s family and was rewarded rather than punished \u2013 despite his ensuing transgressions \u2013 because God had commanded those deaths.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the same time, perhaps the apparent inconsistency itself contains an important message.\u00a0<\/span>The Tanach is full of divine providence, sometimes in the form of general promises of reward and punishment, and sometimes through narratives about specific instances.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, this perspective can lead one down some troubling mental paths. For instance, if we start trying to guess which <\/span>mitzvah <\/span><\/i>or transgression might have led to various events in our or others\u2019 lives, we would wrongly be assuming we can read God\u2019s mind, and be in danger of violating Antigonus ish Socho\u2019s dictum against \u201cserving our Master for the sake of reward\u201d (Avot 1:3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How do we look at Tanach and NOT conclude that everything that happens is a direct reward or punishment? How do we avoid concluding that a tsunami, for instance, must be someone\u2019s fault, and perhaps speculating about whose fault and why?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps by realizing Providence is not so linear in Tanach \u2013 and neither is it straightforward in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes the Bible tells us why, as when God promised Jehu his dynasty would last four generations because he followed instructions so well (10:30) \u2013 presumably to convey the notion of divine justice in the world.\u00a0<\/span>Sometimes it doesn\u2019t tell us but we can infer, by applying that notion to events in this finite body of information that we know is shared with a didactic goal \u2013 as Abarbanel does regarding Shallum.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But sometimes, the bad guy rules for decades or the good guy doesn\u2019t, and we have no idea why \u2013 perhaps to convey the message that reward and punishment are only two pieces of an infinite puzzle, and that if cause and effect aren\u2019t in the book with God's stamp, then there must be pieces we can never presume to know.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64115,"alt":"","title":"2kings15-puzzle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1056,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-300x165.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":165,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-768x422.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":422,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-1024x563.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":563,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":845,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1056,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-1200x660.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":660,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-764x420.jpg","home_baner-width":764,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Pieces Of An Infinite Puzzle","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"There may be reward and punishment - for some","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64115,"alt":"","title":"2kings15-puzzle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1056,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-300x165.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":165,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-768x422.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":422,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-1024x563.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":563,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":845,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1056,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-1200x660.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":660,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-764x420.jpg","home_baner-width":764,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"460","name":"Evil","old_id":"860"},{"term_id":"466","name":"Goodness","old_id":"866"},{"term_id":"531","name":"Reward","old_id":"931"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"}]},{"order":7,"id":"63907","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Biblical Snapshots: King Azariah In The \"Free\" House ","post_title":"Biblical Snapshots: King Azariah In The \"Free\" House","slug":"biblical-snapshots-king-azariah-in-the-free-house","old_id":"63907","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"324","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/IyW2b8Duhhs ","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Biblical Snapshots","tile_main_caption":"2 Kings 15 - King Azariah In The \"Free\" House","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/IyW2b8Duhhs","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":8,"id":"64106","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"It Takes A King To Serve A King? ","post_title":"It Takes A King To Serve A King?","slug":"it-takes-a-king-to-serve-a-king","old_id":"64106","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"324","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But a king should know his limits\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Uzziah's story takes a startling turn when he is stricken with leprosy. In Kings, this event is left unexplained, but Chronicles offers a more detailed account:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhen he was strong, he grew arrogant [lit., his heart was lifted up] to the point of destruction. He trespassed against the Lord, his God, and entered the Temple of the Lord to offer incense on the incense altar. The priest Azariah, with eighty other brave priests of the Lord, followed him in, and confronting King Uzziah, said to him: \"It is not for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord, but for the Aaronite priests who have been consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have trespassed; there will be no honor in it for you from the Lord God.\"
\r\nUzziah got angry as he held the censer and made ready to burn the incense, and as he became enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in front of all the priests in the house of the Lord beside the incense altar.... So they rushed him out of there; he too made haste to get out, for the Lord had struck him with a plague. Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death; he lived in isolated quarters as a leper, for he was banned from the house of the Lord. (II Chr. 26:16-21)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why did Uzziah offer incense in the Temple? And why was he punished by leprosy (tzaraat<\/em>) in particular? Chronicles pinpoints Uzziah's arrogance or overblown pride: his \"heart was lifted up.\u201d If we place Uzziah's formidable accomplishments in context, his hubris is quite understandable. Uzziah had inherited a humiliated and destitute kingdom. His two forebears \u2014 Joash and Ahaziah \u2014 both suffered disastrous military campaigns, leaving their kingdom impoverished and weak, and both kings were assassinated by their courtiers. Uzziah generated a spectacular turnaround both domestically and internationally. Possibly it was precisely this eminence that generated the idea:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cOne day [Uzziah] came to the beit midrash<\/em>. He asked them: What are you discussing? They replied: The law that \"any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death\" (Num. 1:51). Said Uzziah: God is a King, and I am a king. It is appropriate that the king serve the King by offering incense before Him. Immediately, \u2018He entered the Temple of the Lord to offer incense.\u2019\" (Midrash Tanhuma, Noah 13)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Uzziah views himself as citizen number one, as the figure most fitting to represent the nation before God. He can approach God because he, like God, embodies sovereignty, and as such, is the appropriate designate to encounter God!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind,<\/em> Maggid Books, 2019, The Best of Times: Jeroboam II and Uzziah\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63310,"alt":"","title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Excerpts from: II Kings - In A Whirlwind","tile_main_caption":"It Takes A King To Serve A King?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But a king should know his limits","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63310,"alt":"","title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"533","name":"Ego","old_id":"933"},{"term_id":"631","name":"Priests","old_id":"1031"},{"term_id":"755","name":"Leprosy","old_id":"1155"}]},{"order":9,"id":"64105","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Extreme Political Instability In The North ","post_title":"Extreme Political Instability In The North","slug":"extreme-political-instability-in-the-north","old_id":"64105","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"324","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"As evidenced by King Shallum - king for a month\u2026.","post_main_content_content":"

15:13 \u201cShallum son of Jabesh had become king in the thirty-ninth year of Uziah king of Judah, and he was king in Samaria for a month.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The northern kingdom by this point in history, in the eighth century BCE, exhibits extreme political instability -- monarch after monarch is assassinated as coup follows coup. The Deuteronomistic editor makes some attempt to provide a theological explanation for these upheavals -- \u201cThis was the word of the Lord that he spoke to Jehu\u201d -- but he cannot encompass all the rapid challenges in this way. Thus no reason is given for the fact that Shallum reigns for only a month before he is murdered by Menahem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/i>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Extreme Political Instability In The North","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"As evidenced by King Shallum - king for a month\u2026.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"63757","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- 2 Kings 15 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- 2 Kings 15","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-2-kings-15","old_id":"63757","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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    \r\n\t
  1. Uziah (Azariah)<\/em> - The (as yet) untold story. What was his reign like? What did he manage to do, until he was struck with leprosy? And most mysteriously - why leprosy? Wait until 2 Chronicles 26, a mere 595 chapters from now. Or you can take a peek at Alex Israel\u2019s post on today\u2019s page.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Jeroboam II - The critique of the (as yet) untold story.<\/em> Just half a year after Jeroboam\u2019s death, his son was murdered, and the dynasty of the house of Jehu descends from the stage of history for good. The short time it took for this seemingly stable kingdom to crumble raises the suspicion that the internal fissures were already there. Some of these can be seen in the prophecy of Amos, who criticizes the economic gaps in the society.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. The height of cruelty<\/em>. Menachem. Not entirely clear who the horrific practice described in verse 16 (and common in the ancient Near East) was targeted at: \u201che massacred [its people] and ripped open all its pregnant women.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. The height of chaos<\/em>. Four rebellions in one chapter, all of which are in the kingdom of Israel. There is deep internal tension in Israel between Samaria and Gilead. The end is nigh.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Mama\u2019s kings<\/em>. If you didn\u2019t notice before, now is the time. The Judean kings have a mother, mentioned by name. In verse 33, Yotam\u2019s mother is listed as \u201cYerusha bat Zadok.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  6. Assyria.<\/em> The Assyrian empire enters the biblical historiography in verse 19. In the book of Kings we will hear more about it, as part of the histories of Israel and Judah. But it\u2019s probably worth getting to know them a bit more. Not so much because of their fun-loving nature, but because they had such a dramatic influence over the entire region, and our history as part of that. The biblical account deals not only with the existential threat they posed because of their great military strength, but also with the theological threat that their very existence presented. Details to follow - stay tuned!<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"2 Kings 15","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"324","date":"20261125","wall_id":"324"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/63895"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}