14. Tirzah. The early capital of Israel from Jeroboam to Omri (1 Kings 14:17; 16:8, 9, 15, 17, 23). The exact location is not known, but the place is probably to be identified with Tell el-Fâr‘ah, a large mound 6 1/2 (10.4 ) northeast of Shechem where the French have carried out excavations since 1946.
Slew him. Josephus claims that Menahem was the general of the army (Antiquities ix. 11. 1). Men in those days were eager for power and hesitated at nothing to secure their ends. It was a time when the judgments of God were abroad in the land. The commandments of the Lord had been rejected, and now the commandments of men were of little worth (see GC 584).