House of Shallum

The House of Shallum or Shallum's dynasty was an ephemeral dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel, represented only by the monarch Shallum of Israel (reigned 752 BCE).[1]

In the Books of Kings (2 Kings, Chapter 15, verses 10, 13-14) Shallum's father is identified as Jabesh. However, the passage may instead mention a toponym, identifying that Shallum was "the son" of a city called Jabesh.[2] In this view, Shallum may have originated from Jabesh-Gilead. The city is mentioned several times in the Biblical texts. In the Book of Judges (Chapter 21), the male inhabitants of the city are murdered and their virgin girls are given as brides to the men of the Tribe of Benjamin.[2]

In the Books of Samuel, Jabesh-Gilead is under siege by Nahash of Ammon and his army. The siege is lifted when Saul leads an Israelite army to rescue the city. The victory allows Saul to be recognized as the legitimate King of Israel, as his claim to the throne was previously rejected.[2] When Saul died, his corpse was taken by the Philistines and hunged from the city walls of Beth-shan. The men of Jabesh-Gilead eventually managed to retrieve the corpses of Saul and his sons. The city cremated the corpses and buried their bones.[2]

Sources
  • Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (2000), "Jabesh", Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Amsterdam University Press, ISBN 978-9053565032
  • Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (2000), "Jabesh-Gilead", Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Amsterdam University Press, ISBN 978-9053565032
  • Kaiser, Walter C., Jr; Wegner, Paul D. (2017), "Index", A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars, B&H Publishing Group, ISBN 978-1433643170

References
  1. Kaiser, Wegner (2017), Index
  2. Freedman, Myers (2000), p. 664
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