In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria — Menahem's ten-year reign, significantly longer than his predecessors Zechariah and Shallum, suggests effective consolidation of power through terror. The synchronism with Azariah's thirty-ninth year (again during Jotham's regency) emphasizes the contrast between Israel's violent instability and Judah's orderly succession. Menahem's decade of rule, established and maintained by brutality, represents a temporary restoration of order through fear rather than legitimacy.

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