In the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam II succeeded his father Jehoash. He behaved honorably toward the kingdom of Judea even after winning a battle against its king Amaziah. Although he followed the pagan ways established before him, he respected the Israelite prophets as divine messengers. God blessed him with a long reign of 41 years. As for Amaziah, the king of Judea, he lost popular support and had to flee to the city of Lachish in the south of the kingdom. His son Azariah was still too young to ascend the throne, but as soon as he reached the age of 16, a squad was sent to Lachish to execute his father Amaziah so that his son could begin to reign in his place.
Let's look at the continuation of the historical and biblical chronologies (for earlier dates, refer to the previous articles since Adam):
year 2873 (887 BCE): end of the dynasty of Omri and Ahab; Jehu king of Israel
year 2900 (860 BCE): death of Jehu, king of Israel; Death of Elisha the prophet
(853 BCE): Battle of Qarqar, won by Salmanazar III, king of Assyria
year 2913 (847 BCE): death of Jehoahaz king of Israel; his son Jehoash succeeds him
year 2914 (846 BCE): Death of Hazael, king of Aram; his son Ben-Hadad II succeeds him
year 2915 (845 BCE): death of Joash, king of Judea; his son Amaziah succeeds him
year 2929 (831 BCE): death of Jehoash king of Israel; his son Jeroboam II succeeds him
(824 BCE): death of Shalmaneser III
year 2944 (816 BCE): Amaziah flees Jerusalem and takes refuge in Lachish
year 2956 (804 BCE): Amaziah is assassinated in Lachish; reign of his son Azariah
year 2960 (800 BCE): prophecy of Amos
year 2994 (766 BCE): end of Jehu’s dynasty in the kingdom of Israel
year 3000 (760 BCE): solar eclipse
It was during the reign of Jeroboam II that God ordered Jonah to go to Nineveh to prophesy their doom:
He (Jeroboam II) restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. (II Kings 14:25)
But Jonah shied away from the divine order and tried to flee by sea. This was the episode of “the great fish" (usually translated as a whale). Jonah would ultimately prophesy against Nineveh but later, after a second divine injunction.
It was also during the reigns of Jeroboam II and Azariah that Amos prophesied the destruction of all the kingdoms of the Levant, including Israel and Judea. This was in the year 2960 (800 BCE). But he was hardly listened to. So, he prophesied an eclipse that took place 40 years later, exactly to the day. The choice of 40 years is not fortuitous because, like the Hebrews in the desert, God granted 40 years of respite to allow their return to the right path (to know more about Jewish symbolism in numbers, click here). But, after 40 years have passed, in the year 3000 (760 BCE), God was ready to carry out the prophesied punishments:
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. (Amos 8:9)
Now this eclipse was well recorded in the Assyrian annals because it was also visible there. It is noted on the date 763 BCE of the Assyrian calendar, during the reign of Assur-Dan III between 773 BCE and 755 BCE. Ashur-Dan III was the first Assyrian king to strike against the kingdom of Israel, while that of Aram had already been subjugated. The Bible tells us:
There came against the land [of Israel] Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So, the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land. (II Kings 15:19-20)
This campaign against the kingdom of Israel took place in the year 765 BCE. The heavy tribute allowed the kingdom to maintain its independence during the reign of this "Pul". Who was he? Pul or Pal means heir or prince in Assyrian, like for example the name of King Ashurnasirpal in English which was Assur-Nasir-Pal in Assyrian which means "Assur is the creator of an heir". So why was the king of Assyria designated as "heir" in the biblical text? Because, after the death of the powerful king Adad-Nirari III, the kingdom of Assyria went through a series of succession crises during which three of his sons successively reigned. It was undoubtedly important to declare oneself as "heir" to avoid any conflict of succession or claim of legitimacy. So Pul is a common nickname that was used by rulers of this period. When Ashur-Dan III ascended the throne, he was the third heir to succeed. His legitimacy may have been questionable and, thus, a victorious military campaign in the Levant allowed him to increase his prestige and confirm his authority. After receiving the heavy tribute from the Israelite king, he turned back as the biblical text says:
Thus, as God had willed, the total eclipse of the sun, visible throughout the Assyrian empire and the Levant, was considered a bad omen with this first Assyrian campaign against Israel.
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Albert Benhamou
Private tour guide in Israel
February 2025
