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Zachariah and Shallum in Israel
v. 8. In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah, king of Judah, after an interregnurn or a state of anarchy lasting eleven years, did Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam, reign over Israel in Samaria six months, the affairs of the nation at that time being in a state of turmoil.
v. 9. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done, there was no change of policy with reference to the calf-worship. He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, thus inaugurating this era of idolatry.
v. 10. And Shallum, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him, and smote him before the people, not in secret, but in public, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
v. 11. And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
v. 12. This was the word of the Lord which He spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. It was in accordance with this promise, 2Ki_10:30, that Zachariah, who represented the fourth generation, had at least a short reign before he was assassinated.
v. 13. Shallum, the son of Jabesh, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah, king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria, enjoying the rule gained by his murder of the king for only a very brief season.
v. 14. For Menahem, the son of Gadi, who seems to have been the commander-in-chief of Israel's army, went up from Tirzah, only a few miles from Samaria, where the army was stationed, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, usurping the throne by force.
v. 15. And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, how he planned to make his conspiracy a success, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. God does not sanction conspiracies and assassinations, but He sometimes makes use of them for the ends He has in mind.