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Bible Dictionaries
Tiglath-Pileser
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or TIGLATH-PILESER [in 1 Chronicles 5:6; 1 Chronicles 5:26 and 2 Chronicles 28:20 corrupted to the form Tilgath-Pilneser ]. This Assyrian ruler, the Tukulti-apil-çsharra of the monuments, was the third of the name. He began to reign about b.c. 745 (13th of Iyyar), and is supposed to have been a usurper. In the Babylonian chronological list he is called Pulu , the Pul of 2 Kings 15:19 , and the Poros of the Canon of Ptolemy. His reign was a very active and important one. Five months after his accession he marched into Babylonia to overthrow the power of the Aramæan tribes. In b.c. 744 he went to Namri to punish the tribes who harassed the Assyrian border. In b.c. 743 he defeated the forces of Sarduris ii. of Ararat at Arpad. Among those who gave tribute on this occasion were Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre, and Pisiris of Carchemish. Arpad, however, revolted again, and was for three years the objective of Tiglath-pileser’s expeditions (b.c. 742 740). In 739 he went to Ulluba in Mesopotamia, and the presence of his armies there enabled him, in b.c. 738, to make head against Syrian and PhÅ“nician resistance. On this occasion he subjected Kullani, supposed to be the Calno of Isaiah 10:9 . Rost suggests that Azrian or Izrian (Azariah) of Judah played some part in this expedition, and among those who gave tribute was Menahem of Samaria ( 2 Kings 15:19 ). In b.c. 737 his objective was the Medes, in many of whose cities he set up bas-reliefs with the royal image. After this (b.c. 736) his forces were again directed against Mesopotamia, and reached the mountain of Nal. This led the way to the conquest of Ararat in b.c. 735. In b.c. 734 the Assyrian army invaded Pilishta (Philistia) according to Rost, the Mediterranean coastland S. of Joppa. Gaza was captured, and Hanun, the king, having fled, Tiglath-pileser mounted the throne and set up his image in the palace there. In b.c. 733 came the turn of Damascus and also of Israel, the immediate cause being affairs in Judah. Azariah had died, and after the short reign of his son Jotham, Jehoahaz or Ahaz came to the throne. Taking advantage of the change, Pekah of Israel made an alliance with Rezln of Damascus to attack Judah, and captured Elath ( 2 Kings 16:5 ff.). Feeling that Judah would be compelled to submit to the allied powers in the end, Ahaz turned to Assyria, sending the best of his own treasures and those of the Temple at Jerusalem to make a worthy present to the Assyrian king ( 2 Kings 16:8 ), who therefore came to his aid. Pekah and Rezln withdrew their forces from Judah, but, instead of uniting against the common foe, awaited the Assyrian king’s attack each in his own territory. Marching by the coast-route, Tiglath-pileser assured himself of the submission of his vassals in N. PhÅ“nicia, and attacked N. Israel, capturing Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali ( 2 Kings 15:29 ). These names are not preserved in the annals, though ‘the broad (land of) … -li’ may be, as Hommei suggests, the last named. Pekah saved his land from further harm by paying tribute, but things went harder with Rezin, his ally, who shut himself up in Damascus. The siege which followed ended, in 732, in the capture of the city; 591 towns, including Hadara, Rezin’s own city, were razed to the ground. An attack upon Samsi, queen of the Arabians, followed, the result being that a number of tribes Sabæans, Mas’æans, etc., hastened to propitiate the Assyrian king with gifts. Idi-bi’il, a N. Arabian prince, was made governor on the Musrian border. Meanwhile a number of Israelitish nobles, with Hoshea as leader, revolted, and Pekah fled, but seems to have been murdered. Hoshea thereupon mounted the throne, and bought the recognition of the Assyrian king, who had continued to ravage Syria. Mitinti of Ashkelon, seeing the fate of Rezin of Damascus, seems to have gone mad. He was succeeded by his son Rûkipti, who tried to atone for his father’s disaffection by sending tribute and gifts. Metenna of Tyre likewise became tributary. After the fall of the capital, Damascus became an Assyrian province. According to 2 Kings 16:9 , the people were taken captive to Kir, and Rezln was slain. It was in Damascus that Ahaz made homage to the conqueror, and seeing there an altar which took his fancy, had one made like it. Tiglath-pileser, confident, seemingly, of his hold upon Palestine, did not again invade the country. Its States remained for many years more or less tributary to Assyria, according as that power seemed strong or weak. In b.c. 731 Tiglath-pileser was attracted by events in Babylonia. Ukin-zçr, a Chald¿an prince, having seized the Babylonian throne, the Assyrian king besieged him in his capital Sapia, which he captured in b.c. 729, taking Ukin-zçr prisoner. In b.c. 728 Tiglath-pileser became king of Babylon, but beyond ‘grasping the hand of Bel’ (Merodach) as its ruler, took part in no further Important event. He probably died when making an expedition against a city whose name is lost; and Shalmaneser iv. mounted the throne (25th of Tebeth, b.c. 727). When at home, Tiglath-pileser resided in Nineveh or in Caiah, where he restored the central palace in Hittite style, decorating it with bas-reliefs and the annals of his reign. This building was partly destroyed by Esarhaddon.
T. G. Pinches.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Tiglath-Pileser'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/t/tiglath-pileser.html. 1909.
