Were Pul and Tilgathpilneser different Assyrian kings in 1 Chronicles 5:26?
"And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day." (1 Chronicles 5:26, KJV)
Modern translations convey that Pul and Tilgathpilneser (or Tiglath-pileser) were the same person, namely Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria. From a plain reading of the Bible, however, Pul was the king of Assyria during Menahem's reign over Israel (2 Kings 15:17-19) and Tilgathpilneser was the king of Assyria during Pekah's reign over Israel (2 Kings 15:27-29). The context of 2 Kings 15 does not provide anything to suggest that the shift from Pul to Tilgathpilneser was a mere name-change. These separate individuals appear to have been consecutive kings or co-regents during the narrative of 1 Chronicles 5:26. It follows then that the biblical Pul was Ashur-nirari V and only the biblical Tilgathpilneser was Tiglath-Pileser III. Little is known by secular historians concerning when Ashur-nirari V completely withdrew from directing the affairs of the Assyrian government. There is no reason to question the plain reading of the text and the KJV translation.
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