Tiglath-Pileser III
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Tiglath-Pileser III was the king of Assyria (reigned c. 745-727 BC) who made Assyria the dominant power of the Near East and drew both Israel and Judah into its orbit. Scripture calls him both Pul and Tiglath-pileser. Menahem of Israel paid him a thousand talents of silver to keep his throne. In Pekah's day he seized Gilead, Galilee, and the land of Naphtali and carried their people captive to Assyria, the first great deportation of the northern tribes. When Syria and Israel attacked Jerusalem, King Ahaz of Judah sent him temple silver and gold, calling himself 'thy servant and thy son.' Tiglath-pileser took Damascus and killed Rezin, but the Chronicler notes that he 'distressed' Ahaz and 'strengthened him not.'
Biography
- Occupation
- King of Assyria
- Era
- Divided Kingdom
- Nationality
- Assyrian
- Also Known As
- Pul, Tilgath-pilneser
Did You Know?
Babylonian records list him under the name Pulu, which is why Scripture can call the same king 'Pul' (2 Kings 15:19) and 'Tiglath-pileser' (2 Kings 15:29).
His own inscriptions name 'Menahem of Samaria' among the kings who paid him tribute, and claim that he placed Hoshea on the throne of Israel after Pekah was overthrown.
He made mass deportation a regular policy, moving conquered peoples across the empire to break national resistance, the policy that began the scattering of the northern tribes (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26).
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Pul Takes Menahem's Silver
2 Kings 15:19-20
Israel buys a few years of security at a ruinous price, and the empire that would destroy it is invited in.
19nd Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
The Captivity of Galilee
2 Kings 15:29
The northern tribes begin to be carried away, as the warnings of the prophets start to come true.
29n the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
Ahaz Appeals to Assyria
2 Kings 16:7-10
Ahaz trusts the king of Assyria rather than the LORD, and even copies an altar he sees at Damascus.
7o Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
He Helped Him Not
2 Chronicles 28:20-21
The Chronicler's verdict: the help Ahaz bought with temple treasure brought him distress, not strength.
20nd Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
Pul and Tilgath-pilneser
1 Chronicles 5:26
The Chronicler sees the hand of God behind the Assyrian king's campaigns against the tribes east of the Jordan.
26nd the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.
