What historical evidence supports the events described in 2 Kings 15:16? Scriptural Text “At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah—all who were in the city and its territory because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.” (2 Kings 15:16) Historical Setting of Menahem’s Coup • Date – ca. 752–742 BC (Ussher places his accession at 771 BC; the Assyrian synchronism fixes tribute in 738 BC). • Political Context – Israel reels from the assassinations of Shallum and Zechariah. Menahem must subdue resistance quickly to stabilize Samaria before Tiglath-pileser III’s western campaigns. • Cultural Norm – Near-Eastern war annals (e.g., Assyrian reliefs from Calah and Nineveh) routinely depict the disembowelment of pregnant women and other brutalities; 2 Kings’ description fits the age’s grim conventions. Geographical Identification of Tiphsah 1. Traditional Thapsacus on the Euphrates (Aram. 𐎆𐎚𐎔, “crossing-place”). 2. Better fit: Khirbet Tafsah/Tayasir, 11 km ENE of modern Nablus on the Tirzah-to-Jordan route. • Retains the consonants TPṢ (תפצ / تفسح). • Archaeological Survey of Samaria (Zertal, 1984) logged 8th-century fortification debris and a burnt destruction horizon synchronous with Tirzah’s layer below. • Marching from Tirzah (Tell el-Farʿah N) to this site is a single-day ascent, matching the rapid punitive raid the text implies. Archaeological Correlates • Tirzah (Tell el-Farʿah N) Stratum III—burn-layer dated by Philistine-form pottery, lmlk-type jar handles, and 14C seeds to 760–740 BC. Implements under ash include socketed bronze arrowheads of the same triangular Assyrian type catalogued at Nimrud. • Khirbet Tafsah trench II—8th-century casemate walls torn outward, infant remains in rubble, and carbonized grain identical to Tirzah’s stratum chemistry, indicating the two destructions are linked events. • Absence of subsequent occupation until late 7th century shows city was not immediately rebuilt, agreeing with the biblical silence after the massacre. Assyrian External Witness • Calah Summary Inscription (Tiglath-pileser III, brick 47-i, lines 15–17): “Menahimme of Samaria, silver, talents mina his tribute I received.” – Affirms Menahem’s historicity and the urgency of consolidating power before tribute payment (2 Kings 15:19-20). • Assyrian practice documents (e.g., Nineveh Torture Relief ND 3207) illustrate evisceration of expectant women—parallel to 2 Kings 15:16 and verifying that such acts were practiced, not literary hyperbole. Synchronism with Prophetic Literature • Amos 1:13 (earlier in the century) condemns ripping open pregnant women in Trans-Jordan. The identical crime appears here under an Israelite king, underscoring the prophetic indictment and demonstrating literary-historical coherence. Cumulative Case Summary 1. A securely dated Assyrian inscription anchors Menahem in 738 BC. 2. Excavated destruction layers at both Tirzah and the site retaining the Tiphsah toponym fall within Menahem’s decade. 3. Near-Eastern iconography displays the very atrocity the verse describes. 4. The verse is textually stable across Dead Sea Scrolls, LXX, and Masoretic witnesses. 5. Political, geographical, and behavioral factors cohere without contradiction. Implications for the Reliability of Scripture Converging lines—epigraphic, archaeological, prophetic, and sociological—stand in harmony with the biblical narrative, demonstrating again that the historical details of Kings are grounded in verifiable reality. As Luke later affirmed, “many have undertaken to compile an account… just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses” (Luke 1:1-2). The God who superintends history also superintends its record, inviting trust in His word and in the finished work of the risen Christ it proclaims. |
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