2 Kings 15:10

2Ki 15:10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

Ver. 10. And slew him, and reigned in his stead.] After whose death followed these direful calamities foretold by the prophet Amos. {2Ki 7:9} Never did the kingdom of Israel so flourish as under this king’s father - viz., Jeroboam II. The greatest prosperity is oft followed by the greatest misery. Periculosa est, secundum Hippocratem, summe bona corporis valetudo.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 15:10. Shallum the son of Jabesh — Probably one of his chief captains; conspired against him — On what pretence is quite uncertain. And smote him before the people — Openly and impudently, which, it is likely, he presumed to do, either because he remembered that the promise of the kingdom, made to Jehu, was confined to the fourth generation, (2Ki 10:30,) which he observed to be now expired; or because he perceived the people were generally disaffected to their king, and favourable to his attempt.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Zechariah was the last in Israel, that had the kingdom by succession, save only Pekahiah the son of Menahem, who reigned but two years.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 10. Smote him before the people] In some public assembly: he probably became very unpopular.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) Son of Jabesh.—Not man of Jabesh Gilead, as Hitzig explains. The father’s name is always given in the case of usurpers.

Before the people.—Rather, before people—i.e., in public. So all the versions except the LXX. The open assassination of the king is noted, in contrast with the secrecy with which former conspiracies had been concerted. It is a symptom of the rapidly-increasing corruption of morals, which allowed people to look on with indifference while the king was being murdered. (The LXX. puts the Hebrew words into Greek letters thus: κεβλααμ. The word qobol—“before”—is Aramaic rather than Hebrew, and only occurs here. Ewald acutely conjectured that Qobol’âm—“before people”—was really the proper name of another usurper, comparing Zec_11:8, “the third king during that month;” but in that case the narrative is hardly coherent of complete. Grätz suggests the correction “in Ibleam.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Shallum the son of Jabesh] Nothing more is known of him than is given in this verse. The death of the last scion of the house of Jehu by the sword appears to be foretold in Amo_7:9, ‘I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword’.

before the people] i.e. Publicly. Hence it would seem that the conspiracy of Shallum had large popular support. But the LXX. here has plural verbs ‘they conspired’, ‘they smote’ and ‘they slew’ and writes the two words translated ‘before the people’ as though they were one proper name Κεβλαὰμ. Hence some have thought that Shallum had a fellow-conspirator of whom this was the name. The words occur in such a combination and sense nowhere else, and the preposition, rendered ‘before’, is not found except in the Chaldee portions of the Old Testament. But there is nothing in the Hebrew to warrant the changes of the LXX., though Ewald, and after him the late Dean Stanley, adopted them as representing a more correct text. Stanley says (Jewish Church 2:308) ‘Zechariah was, it would seem, succeeded by a king, whose very name is almost lost to us, Kobolam, and Kobolam was succeeded by Shallum’. There needs a great deal of manipulation of even the text of the LXX. to extract any such statement from it. A much more reasonable conjecture is to make Κεβλαὰμ (though found nowhere else) the name of the place where Zachariah was murdered.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah,.... The same with Azariah: he is sometimes called by one name, and sometimes by the other, see Kg2 14:21,

and he reigned a full month in Samaria: and no longer; so soon were the conspiracy against his sovereign, and the murder of him, punished.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Before the people - i. e. openly and publicly. The Septuagint turns the original of the above words into a proper name, Keblaam, and makes him the actual assassin, but without much ground.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Place, having before taken his measures with the conspirators; (ver. 15.) so that he had not to fear the resentment of the people. He cut off the last king of the family of Jehu; (Haydock) probably at Jezrahel, Osee i. 5. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Shallum the son of Jabesh; one of his chief captains.

Before the people openly and impudently; which he presumed to do, either because he remembered that the promise of the kingdom made to Jehu was confined to the fourth generation, 2Ki 10:30, which he observed to be now expired; or because he perceived that the people were generally disaffected to their king, and favourable to his attempt.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Smote him before the people — That is, openly; before the eyes of all. It would seem that Zachariah’s administration was so unpopular as to invite or occasion conspiracy. The Septuagint takes the words rendered before the people as a proper name — in Keblaam — and Ewald thinks we should disregard the in, and understand Keblaam as the name of another conspirator, who sought, like Shallum, to usurp the throne.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him. Josephus calls Shallum Zachariah"s "friend," but otherwise adds nothing to the present narrative. And smote him before the people. The phrase employed is very unusual, and has justly excited suspicion. It was not understood by the LXX, who translate ejpataxan aujtom, which gives no sense. Ewald sought to solve the difficulty by inventing a king, "Zobolam," but other critics have found this expedient too bold. The rendering of our translators is generally accepted, though qobal, "before," only occurs here and in Daniel. If we accept this rendering, we must suppose that the act of violence was done openly, like Jehu"s murder of Jehoram. And slew him, and reigned in his stead (comp. ver. 13).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

smote

As prophesied, Amo 7:9.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shallum ... Jabesh

These are the names of two men. (See: How to Translate Names)

against Zechariah

"against King Zechariah"

Ibleam

This was the name of a city. (See: How to Translate Names)

Then he became king in his place

"Then Shallum became king in Zechariah's place"

they are written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel

This can be stated in active form. AT: "you can read about them in the book of the events of the kings of Israel" (See: Active or Passive)

This was the word of Yahweh

It can be stated clearly that the events described in verse 10 fulfilled the word of Yahweh. AT: "What happened to Zechariah was according to the word of Yahweh" or "What happened to Zechariah fulfilled the word of Yahweh" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation

Sitting on the throne represents being the king. AT: "Your descendants will be the kings of Israel for four generations" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

word of God

Jehu

descend

throne

generation

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And struck him before the people. [Targum Yonoson renders,] he struck him before the people [i.e.,] before the eyes of the people.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.