Pul, Tiglath-Pileser and Menahem's Silver

The Bible calls him Pul. Assyrian records call him Tiglath-Pileser the Third, and most scholars now conclude Pul is the same king.

Scripture: Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

Menahem was the sixteenth king of northern Israel. He took the throne by killing his rival Shallum, and reigned ten years from Samaria.

Tiglath-Pileser began his reign in 745 BC. Menahem's own dates are debated: Thiele says 752 to 742 BC, Albright 745 to 738.

The passage tells of an Assyrian invasion and a payment. The next verses add that Menahem raised the money from Israel's wealthy men, and the Assyrian king turned back.

The sum is a thousand talents of silver. A talent is an ancient weight, and this comes to about thirty-four metric tonnes.

Each wealthy man paid fifty shekels, about six-tenths of a kilogram. That implies some sixty thousand men of means, though that is an estimate.

Now the Assyrian record. Tiglath-Pileser's annals list tribute from Menahem of Samaria, cited as ANET 3, page 283.

His Annals were found at Nimrud, and this fragment covers an unknown year between 745 and 737 BC. Our sources don't name the finder or say where it is kept today, so we won't guess.

Scripture: Menahem paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser as his overlord, a ruler above him. Assyrian sources also record tribute from Menahem.

Debate remains. Pul may have been the king's personal name, a commonly suggested view. And Wikipedia says the Bible's account was finalized after the Exile, with a Judean bias, making it a secondary source.

One site says Israel then paid tribute to Assyria for years. That site says that when Hoshea later refused to pay, Assyria attacked and carried off many people.

Two records that both mention Menahem and Assyria. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today. Follow the page for more finds beneath the Bible's world.