What follows Manahem’s payment to Phul, and what happens under Phacee?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

After Manahem pays Phul and taxes Israel’s mighty and rich men, the Assyrian king turns back and does not stay in the land. Later, under Phacee, Theglathphalasar takes the named towns and regions and carries them captive to Assyria. The chapter reports both events without saying the payment causes the later captivity.

Chapter breakdown

In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azarias, son of Amasias, begins to reign as king of Juda.

The Challoner note says Azarias is also called Ozias. This name explanation belongs to the edition’s commentary.

Azarias is sixteen years old when he begins to reign and reigns fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother is Jechelia of Jerusalem. He does what is pleasing before the Lord, following all his father Amasias did. He does not destroy the high places, where the people sacrifice and burn incense.

The Lord strikes the king, and he remains a leper until the day of his death. He lives apart in a free house. His son Joatham governs the palace and judges the people of the land.

Challoner explains the leprosy as punishment for the king taking over the priestly function and cites 2 Par. 26. That reason and reference belong to the note; the Scripture here reports the affliction and Joatham’s duties.

The account asks whether the rest of Azarias’s acts and all he did are written in the book of the words of the days of Juda’s kings. Azarias dies and is buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Joatham reigns in his place.

In Azarias’s thirty-eighth year, Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, reigns over Israel in Samaria for six months. He does evil before the Lord as his fathers did and does not leave the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. Sellum, son of Jabes, conspires against him, strikes him publicly, kills him and reigns in his place. The account refers Zacharias’s remaining acts to the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings. It then recalls the Lord’s word to Jehu: his children to the fourth generation would sit on Israel’s throne. The account says this came to pass.

Sellum, son of Jabes, begins to reign in Azarias’s thirty-ninth year and reigns one month in Samaria. Manahem, son of Gadi, goes up from Thersa into Samaria, strikes and kills Sellum there and reigns in his place. The account refers Sellum’s remaining acts and his conspiracy to the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings.

Manahem destroys Thapsa, all who are in it, and its borders from Thersa because they will not open to him. He kills all its pregnant women and rips them open.

In Azarias’s thirty-ninth year, Manahem, son of Gadi, begins a ten-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He does evil before the Lord and does not leave the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin, throughout his days.

Phul, king of the Assyrians, enters the land. Manahem gives him a thousand talents of silver to aid him and establish him in the kingdom. Manahem lays a tax on Israel’s mighty and rich men: each man pays fifty sicles of silver to give to the Assyrian king. The king turns back and does not stay in the land.

The account refers Manahem’s remaining acts and all he did to the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings. Manahem dies, and his son Phaceia reigns in his place.

In Azarias’s fiftieth year, Phaceia, son of Manahem, begins a two-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He does evil before the Lord and does not leave the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. His captain Phacee, son of Romelia, conspires against him and strikes him in Samaria, in the tower of the king’s house, near Argob and Arie. Fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites are with Phacee. He kills Phaceia and reigns in his place. The account refers Phaceia’s remaining acts and all he did to the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings.

In Azarias’s fifty-second year, Phacee, son of Romelia, begins a twenty-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He does evil before the Lord and does not leave the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. In Phacee’s days, Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, comes and takes Aion, Abel Domum Maacha, Janoe, Cedes, Asor, Galaad, Galilee and all the land of Nephthali. He carries them captive into Assyria.

Osee, son of Ela, conspires and forms a plot against Phacee, son of Romelia. He strikes and kills him, then reigns in his place in the twentieth year of Joatham, son of Ozias.

Challoner explains the twentieth year as counted from the beginning of Joatham’s reign. The note says the sacred writer chooses this date rather than the years of Achaz, who has not yet been mentioned. This explanation belongs to the commentary.

The account refers Phacee’s remaining acts and all he did to the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings.

In the second year of Phacee, son of Romelia and king of Israel, Joatham, son of Ozias, begins to reign as king of Juda. He is twenty-five years old and reigns sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother is Jerusa, daughter of Sadoc. He does what is right before the Lord, following all his father Ozias did. He does not remove the high places, where the people still sacrifice and burn incense. He builds the highest gate of the Lord’s house.

The account refers Joatham’s remaining acts and all he did to the book of the words of the days of Juda’s kings. In those days the Lord begins to send Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, son of Romelia, into Juda. Joatham dies and is buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father. His son Achaz reigns in his place.

The story inside

The chapter follows several reigns, preserving their dates against the reigns in the other kingdom. Azarias’s long reign includes continuing high places, the Lord’s striking him with leprosy, and his son Joatham governing the palace and judging the land’s people while he lives apart. Challoner supplies the alternate name and an explanation of the affliction. In Israel, Sellum kills Zacharias after a six-month reign; the account relates this to the Lord’s word that Jehu’s children to the fourth generation would sit on the throne. Sellum reigns one month before Manahem kills and replaces him. Manahem destroys Thapsa and its people because they will not open to him, including the reported killing of pregnant women. During his ten-year reign he pays Phul a thousand talents of silver for aid and establishment in the kingdom, taxing mighty and rich men fifty sicles each. Phul turns back and does not stay. Manahem’s son Phaceia follows him, but his captain Phacee kills him with the fifty Galaadite men present and takes his place. In Phacee’s reign, Theglathphalasar captures every named town and region and carries them captive to Assyria. Osee then plots against and kills Phacee; the source gives his succession date and Challoner explains the date’s wording. The account finally details Joatham’s reign in Juda, his mother, conduct, continuing high places and construction of the highest temple gate. It says the Lord begins to send Rasin and Phacee into Juda, then records Joatham’s burial and Achaz’s succession. Repeated references to other royal records are retained without adding their contents. The earlier payment and later captivity are distinct reported events; no causal connection between them is stated.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The short reigns have particular endings and successors. Sellum publicly strikes and kills Zacharias, then reigns only one month before Manahem kills him. The account explicitly says the Lord’s word to Jehu about the fourth generation came to pass. That statement should be kept with the named events, without turning it into a broader claim that political collapse is inevitable.
2
The Assyrian episodes have different stated details. Manahem pays Phul a thousand talents of silver for aid and establishment in the kingdom, levying fifty sicles on each mighty and rich man; Phul turns back and does not remain. Later Theglathphalasar takes the listed towns and regions and carries them captive. The chapter does not say the earlier payment causes the later captivity or give a general rule about payment to an enemy.
3
The royal summaries preserve qualifications alongside conduct. Azarias does what pleases the Lord but leaves the high places; his affliction lasts until death while Joatham governs and judges. Joatham later does right but also leaves the high places, builds the highest temple gate, and reigns during the beginning of the Lord’s sending Rasin and Phacee into Juda. Challoner’s name, leprosy and date explanations stay separate from these Scripture statements.

Test your recall

Why does Manahem destroy Thapsa, what payment and tax precede Phul’s departure, and how does the later account under Phacee describe the towns and regions taken and their captivity?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 39723–39729
4 Kings Chapter 15 The reign of Azarias, and Joatham in Juda: and of Zacharias, Sellum, Manahem, Phaceia, and Phacee in Israel. 15:1. In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda.
Lines 39731–39732
Azarias.... Otherwise called Ozias.
Lines 39733–39741
15:2. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia, of Jerusalem. 15:3. And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to all that his father, Amasias, had done. 15:4. But the high places he did not destroy, for the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places.
Lines 39743–39745
15:5. And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the king’s son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.
Lines 39747–39748
A leper.... In punishment of his usurping the priestly function. 2 Par. 26.
Lines 39750–39756
15:6. And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 15:7. And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his stead.
Lines 39758–39773
15:8. In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months: 15:9. And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 15:10. And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and struck him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place. 15:11. Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:12. This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying: Thy children, to the fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.
Lines 39775–39785
15:13. Sellum, the son of Jabes, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda: and reigned one month in Samaria. 15:14. And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he came into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. 15:15. And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
Lines 39787–39789
15:16. Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it, and the borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him: and he slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped them up.
Lines 39791–39796
15:17. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria. 15:18. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, all his days.
Lines 39798–39805
15:19. And Phul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land, and Manahem gave Phul a thousand talents of silver to aid him and to establish him in the kingdom. 15:20. And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sicles of silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the land.
Lines 39807–39812
15:21. And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:22. And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia, his son, reigned in his stead.
Lines 39814–39827
15:23. In the fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phaceia, the son of Manahem, over Israel, in Samaria, two years. 15:24. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 15:25. And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king’s house, near Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead. 15:26. And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
Lines 39829–39838
15:27. In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years. 15:28. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 15:29. In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe, and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephthali: and carried them captives into Assyria.
Lines 39840–39842
15:30. Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias.
Lines 39844–39847
In the twentieth year of Joatham.... That is, in the twentieth year, from the beginning of Joatham’s reign. The sacred writer chooses rather to follow here this date than to speak of the years of Achaz, who had not yet been mentioned.
Lines 39849–39851
15:31. But the rest of the acts of Phacee, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
Lines 39853–39865
15:32. In the second year of Phacee, the son of Romelia king of Israel, reigned Joatham, son of Ozias, king of Juda. 15:33. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa, the daughter of Sadoc. 15:34. And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all that his father Ozias had done, so did he. 15:35. But the high places he took not away: the people still sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest gate of the house of the Lord.
Lines 39867–39878
15:36. But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 15:37. In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia. 15:38. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father; and Achaz, his son, reigned in his stead.