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TIGLATH-PILESER

(Heb. tiglaṯ pilʿeser;
Akk. Tukultī-apil-ešarra)
(also PUL, TILGATH-PILNESER)

1. Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria (1115-1077 b.c.e.); son of Assur-reša-išši I. Successful campaigns against the powerful Muški and Aramean coalitions to the west and the Babylonians to the south brought prosperity and greatly expanded Assyrian territory.

2. Tiglath-pileser II, king of Assyria, 966-935; son of Assur-reša-išši II and father of Assur-dan II.

3. Tiglath-pileser III (744-727), also referred to as Tilgath-pilneser (1 Chr. 5:6, 26; 2 Chr. 28:20) and Pul (2 Kgs. 15:19; 1 Chr. 5:26) in the OT and Pulu in the Babylonian King List (ANET, 272); a usurper who seized the throne of Assyria during a revolt in the city of Calah in 745. His reign was marked by renewed incursions into the north, where he had to confront the formidable Urartu; the west, where he conquered territories up to the Egyptian border; the east, where he expanded Assyrian sovereignty into Namri and Media; and the south, where he eventually was crowned king of Babylon in 729. Thus, by the time of his death in 727 the Assyrian Empire was at the zenith of its expansion. The Assyrian source material from his reign is impressive (ANET, 282-84) and includes his annals, summary inscriptions, a stela, and a rock relief inscription.

Two events are of significance to the history of Israel and Judah during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III. The first, recorded in 2 Kgs. 15:19-20, occurred during the reign of Menahem of Israel (745-736). Scholars generally interpret this text as referring to an invasion of Israel by Tiglath-pileser, during which Menahem taxed the wealthy classes to pay off the Assyrian king. However, T. R. Hobbs suggests instead that Tiglath-pileser (identified as Pul) went to Israel, presumably at Menahem’s request, to provide Menahem with military assistance at a time when his hold on the kingdom was threatened. In exchange for Tiglath-pileser’s assistance, Menahem gave him “a thousand talents of silver” as payment for the military personnel that the Assyrian king supplied. This event is probably to be located in the context of a major Assyrian campaign in the west during the period of 743-740, where Tiglath-pileser had to deal with an anti-Assyrian movement of Anatolian and northern Syrian states. It is likely that as a result of this aid Menahem remained a loyal subject of Assyria, since the Assyrian king notes in two of his inscriptions that he received the payment of tribute from Menahem (ANET, 283).

The second event is related to the so-called Syro-Ephraimitic crisis (2 Kgs. 16:5-9; cf. Isa. 7:1-9). The inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III reveal that the Assyrian king was involved in an effort to suppress a widespread anti-Assyrian rebellion in Syria-Palestine in 734-731 (ANET, 283-84). Members of the coalition included Rezin of Aram-Damascus (the leader of the coalition), Hiram of Tyre, Pekah of Israel, Samsi of Arabia, Mitinti of Ashkelon, and Hanun of Gaza. The attack on Ahaz of Judah — who decided to remain loyal to Assyria (cf. 2 Chr. 28:16-21) — by Rezin and Pekah was an effort to force Judah to join the coalition. As a result of the Assyrian invasion of the region, the attack by Rezin and Pekah was aborted. During this campaign, Tiglath-pileser dealt with the rebels one after another. In particular, Rezin was soundly defeated and Aram-Damascus turned into an Assyrian province. Israel, however, lost some territories to Tiglath-pileser (2 Kgs. 15:29) but Samaria was spared. In the process, Tiglath-pileser also appointed Hoshea as king over Israel (ANET, 284). The biblical text notes that Hoshea eventually led a conspiracy against Pekah and assassinated him (2 Kgs. 15:30).

Bibliography. T. R. Hobbs, 2 Kings. WBC 13 (Waco, 1985); H. Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III, King of Assyria (Jerusalem, 1994).

Jeffrey K. Kuan

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TIGLATH-PILESER

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)