25 And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, his captain, made a secret design against him, attacking him in the king's great house in Samaria; and with him were fifty men of Gilead; and he put him to death and became king in his place. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all he did, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for twenty years. 28 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do. 29 In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali; and he took the people away to Assyria. 30 And Hoshea, the son of Elah, made a secret design against Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and, attacking him, put him to death and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. 31 Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all he did, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.
32 In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Uzziah, became king of Judah. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. 34 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Uzziah had done. 35 But he did not take away the high places, and the people still went on making offerings and burning them in the high places. He was the builder of the higher doorway of the house of the Lord. 36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? 37 In those days the Lord first sent against Judah, Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 15:25-37
Commentary on 2 Kings 15:8-31
(Read 2 Kings 15:8-31)
This history shows Israel in confusion. Though Judah was not without troubles, yet that kingdom was happy, compared with the state of Israel. The imperfections of true believers are very different from the allowed wickedness of ungodly men. Such is human nature, such are our hearts, if left to themselves, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. We have reason to be thankful for restraints, for being kept out of temptation, and should beg of God to renew a right spirit within us.
Commentary on 2 Kings 15:32-38
(Read 2 Kings 15:32-38)
Jotham showed great respect to the temple. If magistrates cannot do all they would, for the suppressing of vice and profaneness, let them do the more to support and advance piety and virtue.