Shallum

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SHALLUM

SHALLUM (Heb. שַׁלּוּם ,שַׁלֻּם; probably a hypocorism of a name like שֶׁלֶמְיָהוּ – "Yahweh has preserved or requited"), son of Jabesh, one of the last kings of Israel. Shallum came to the throne in the 39th year of the reign of *Uzziah in Judah, after killing *Zechariah son of Jeroboam ii and thus putting an end to the dynasty of Jeroboam (ii Kings 15:10). Shallum ruled Israel from Samaria for one month (15:13), apparently between Elul and Tishri, 747 b.c.e. The throne was taken from him by *Menahem son of Gadi, who formed a conspiracy against him and killed him (15:14). Some scholars interpret the designation "son of Jabesh" as a reference to the city of *Jabesh (-Gilead) and take it as indicating that Shallum was from this city.

bibliography:

Bright, Hist, 253; Tadmor, in: A. Malamat (ed.), Bi-Ymei Bayit Rishon (1962), 180ff.; J.A. Montgomery, The Book of Kings (icc, 1951), 449; J. Gray, i and ii Kings, A Commentary (1963), 562ff.

[Josef Segal]