person · P0433 · bible
Menachem מנחם
Usurper from Tirtzah who cut down Shallum and reigned ten brutal years — Kings records his atrocity at Tifsach. When Pul (Tiglath-Pileser III) came against the land, Menachem bought him off with a thousand talents of silver exacted from Israel's men of means; the Assyrian's own annals list "Menahem of Samaria" among his tributaries. No parent edge: usurper.
Who
- Hebrew
- מנחם
- Also known as
- Menahem, Menachem ben Gadi
- Era
- bible
- Children
- Pekachyah
When
- Traditional
- c. 3134–3174 AM (reigned 3164–3174, ten years)
- Civil (computed)
- 3134–3174 AM · 627–587 BCE (trad.)
- Academic
- reigned c. 747–738 BCE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈40 years
- Precision
- approximate
What
How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the thirty-ninth year of Azaryah king of Yehudah, Menachem ben Gadi became king over Israel — ten years in Shomron.
Directly stated in the cited source.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Pul king of Assyria came against the land, and Menachem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand would be with him to hold the kingdom; he exacted the silver from all the mighty men of wealth, fifty shekels a man, and the king of Assyria turned back. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Tiglath-Pileser III's annals list "Menahem of Samaria" (Me-ni-ḫi-im- me Sa-me-ri-na-a-a) among the kings paying him tribute — the Assyrian side of the very payment Kings reports (Pul is Tiglath- Pileser's Babylonian throne name). | external archaeology | ★★★★★ | |
| The placement (reigned 3164–3174 AM) is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction: the northern kings' regnal years stated in Kings are chained forward from the division of the kingdom in 2964 AM, with sub-year reigns counted as zero; the chain closes exactly at the fall of Shomron in 3205 AM (Chizkiyahu's sixth year, Melachim II 18:10). The cited source states the reign's length, not absolute dates.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |