starting from Tirzah
Tirzah was an ancient city in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, previously serving as the capital before Samaria. It was known for its beauty and strategic location. The mention of Tirzah indicates Menahem's base of operations and highlights the internal strife within Israel, as Tirzah was a significant city in the kingdom's history.

attacked Tiphsah
Tiphsah, likely located on the Euphrates River, was a significant trade city. Menahem's attack on Tiphsah suggests a strategic move to control trade routes and assert dominance. This action reflects the broader geopolitical struggles of the time, as Israel sought to maintain power amidst Assyrian expansion.

and everyone in its vicinity
The phrase indicates the widespread nature of Menahem's campaign, affecting not just the city but the surrounding areas. This reflects the brutal tactics often employed by ancient Near Eastern kings to instill fear and ensure submission.

because they would not open their gates
Refusal to open the gates was a common act of defiance against invading forces. In ancient times, cities were fortified with walls and gates, and closing them was a means of protection and resistance. Menahem's response to this defiance underscores the harsh realities of ancient warfare and the lengths to which leaders would go to secure their objectives.

So he attacked Tiphsah
The repetition emphasizes the severity and determination of Menahem's actions. It highlights the aggressive nature of his campaign and the lengths he was willing to go to achieve his goals.

and ripped open all the pregnant women
This brutal act is a stark reminder of the violence and inhumanity that characterized much of the ancient world. Such actions were intended to terrorize and demoralize the population. This phrase also serves as a poignant illustration of the moral decline in Israel, contrasting with the values and laws given to the Israelites in the Torah, which emphasized the sanctity of life.

“At that time” anchors the event in the turbulent days of Israel’s northern kingdom. The northern kings were cycling rapidly (see 2 Kings 15:8–15), and Assyria was rising in power (2 Kings 15:19–20). The phrase reminds us that God rules over specific moments in history just as He did when He raised up “deliverers” in the days of the judges (Judges 3:9). Every headline in Israel’s annals sits under His sovereign timeline.

Tirzah had earlier served as Israel’s capital under Jeroboam I (1 Kings 14:17). Menahem, now king, uses this former seat of authority as his staging ground. His roots in Tirzah suggest political savvy—he is appealing to nostalgia for past power, similar to how Omri once shifted the capital to Samaria for strategic reasons (1 Kings 16:23–24). Yet political calculation without righteousness merely recycles rebellion (see Hosea 8:4).

Tiphsah likely lay on the northern frontier near the Euphrates (1 Kings 4:24). Its strategic position made it valuable for trade and defense. Menahem’s total assault mirrors earlier warnings that if Israel persisted in covenant unfaithfulness, “your gates shall be broken down” (Deuteronomy 28:52). National sin invites national turmoil; leadership void of God’s fear becomes oppressive (Proverbs 28:15–16).

Refusal to open gates was refusal to submit. Throughout Scripture, open gates symbolize welcome and peace (Nehemiah 7:3; Revelation 21:25). Closed gates signal mistrust and resistance. Menahem interprets defiance as treason, reacting with disproportionate cruelty. Where godly leaders would seek counsel (2 Samuel 5:19), Menahem chooses force.

The repetition emphasizes deliberate escalation. Like Jehu’s purge earlier (2 Kings 9–10), this is not defensive warfare but calculated terror. The chronicler of Kings records it without comment, letting the brutality underline the prophecy that “the sword shall whirl against their cities” (Hosea 11:6).

This atrocity, echoed later in Amos 1:13 and Hosea 13:16, illustrates how far Israel’s leadership had descended. Such acts were condemned even among pagan nations (cf. Deuteronomy 21:10–14’s protection for captives). The covenant people now mirror the cruelty they were to drive out (Leviticus 18:24–25). God’s Word records the horror unflinchingly, warning that unchecked sin breeds unspeakable violence (Romans 1:28–31).

2 Kings 15:16 exposes the depth of Israel’s moral collapse under Menahem. A king who should have shepherded God’s flock (Ezekiel 34:2–4) becomes a predator, fulfilling prophetic warnings that national rejection of the LORD would unleash internal ruin. The verse calls readers to recognize God’s sovereign oversight of history, the destructive momentum of sin, and the urgent need for righteous leadership that reflects His heart.

Tiphsah.--The name means ford, and elsewhere denotes the well-known Thapsacus on the Euphrates (1Kings 4:24). Here, however, an Israelite city in the neighbourhood of Tirzah is obviously intended. The course of events was apparently this: after slaying Shallum, Menahem returned to Tirzah, and set out thence at the head of his entire army to bring the rest of the country to acknowledge him as king. Tiphsah resisting his claims, he made an example of it which proved efficient to terrorise other towns into submission. [Thenius would read Tappuah for Tiphsah by a slight change in one Hebrew letter. This agrees very well with the local indications of the text (comp. Joshua 17:7-8), though, of course, there may have been an otherwise unknown Tiphsah near Tirzah.]

The coasts thereof.--Literally, her borders (or, territories). (Comp. Joshua 17:8.)

From Tirzah--i.e., starting from Tirzah. This shows that the districts of Tirzah and Tiphsah (or, Tappuah) were conterminous.

Because they opened not to him.--Literally, for one opened not; an impersonal construction. The meaning is: the gates were closed against him. The to him is added by all the versions except the Targum.

And all the women.--Comp. 2Kings 8:21; Hosea 13:16; Amos 1:13. . . .

(1) His capture of Tiphsah, and severe treatment of the inhabitants (ver. 16).

(2) The invasion of his land by an Assyrian monarch, called "Pul" or "Phul," and his submission to that monarch's authority. Pul's retirement was bought by a large sum of money, which Menahem collected from his subjects (vers. 19, 20). Verse 16. - Then Menahem smote Tiphsah. The only town of this name known to history or geography is the famous city on the Euphrates (1 Kings 4:24), called by the Greeks Thapsacus. It has been thought that Menahem could not have pushed his conquests so far, and a second Tiphsah has been invented in the Israelite highland, between Tirzah and Samaria, of which there is no other notice anywhere. But "Tiphsah," which means "passage" or "fordway," is an unsuitable name for a city in such a situation. The view of Keil is clearly tenable - that Zachariah had intended to carry on his father's warlike policy, and had collected an army for a great Eastern expedition, which had its head-quarters at the royal city of Tirzah, and was under the command of Menahem. As the expedition was about to start, the news came that Shallum had murdered Zachariah and usurped the throne. Menahem upon this proceeded from Tirzah to Samaria, crushed Shallum, and, returning to his army, carried out without further delay the expedition already resolved upon. The Assyrian records show that, at the probable date of the expedition, Assyria was exceptionally weak, and in no condition to resist an attack, though a little later, under Tiglath-pileser, she recovered herself. And all that were therein, and the coasts thereof, from Tirzah. "From Tirzah" means "starting from Tir-zah," as in ver. 14. It is to be connected with "smote," not with "coasts." Because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it. Determined resistance on the part of a city summoned to surrender has always been regarded as justifying an extreme severity of treatment. It is not clear that Menahem transgressed the ordinary usages of war in what he did, however much he transgressed the laws of humanity. And all the women therein that were with child he ripped up (comp. 2 Kings 8:12, with the comment; and see also Isaiah 13:18; Hosea 10:14; Hosea 13:16; Amos 1:13).

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