This king first appears in the Bible account as “Pul.” (2Ki 15:19) First Chronicles 5:26 also states that God “stirred up the spirit of Pul the king of Assyria even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser the king of Assyria, so that he took into exile” peoples of certain tribes of Israel. The ancient secular records apply both names to the same individual, the name “Pulu” appearing in what is known as “The Babylonian King List A,” while “The Synchronistic Chronicle” lists “Tukultiapilesharra” (Tiglath-pileser). (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by J. Pritchard, 1974, pp. 272, 273)

The Assyrian inscriptions prominently mention Azriau of Ia-ú-da-a-a (Judah) in connection with a campaign by Tiglath-pileser III in Syria. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, pp. 282, 283) This would seem to be a reference to King Azariah of Judah, more commonly known as Uzziah (829-778 B.C.E.), but the matter is a debated one, because some hold that the small kingdom of Samʼal in Syria was on occasion also called Judah. The likelihood of such a pagan king having a name including the name of Jah (the abbreviated form of Jehovah) and living at the same time as the Judean king of the same name seems slight; however, the Bible does not mention Tiglath-pileser III in connection with Azariah (Uzziah), and the Assyrian records are considerably mutilated.

During the reign of King Menahem of Israel (c. 790-781 B.C.E.), Tiglath-pileser III (Pul) advanced into Palestine, and Menahem sought the Assyrian’s favor by paying him tribute to the amount of “a thousand talents of silver” ($6,606,000 in current values). Temporarily appeased, Tiglath-pileser withdrew his forces. (2Ki 15:19, 20) The Assyrian documents refer to Me-ni-hi-im-me (Menahem), along with Rezon (Rezin) of Damascus and Hiram of Tyre, as tributary to Tiglath-pileser.

Subsequently, in the time of King Ahaz of Judah (761-746 B.C.E.), King Pekah of Israel formed a confederation with King Rezin of Damascus and attacked Judah. (2Ki 16:5, 6; Isa 7:1, 2) Though assured by the prophet Isaiah that within a short time the two conspiring kingdoms would be wiped off the scene, King Ahaz chose to send a bribe to Tiglath-pileser to come to his rescue. (2Ki 16:7, 8; Isa 7:7-16; 8:9-13) An Assyrian inscription describes the tribute paid by Ia-u-ha-zi (Jehoahaz, or Ahaz) of Judah and other kings of that area as follows: “gold, silver, tin, iron, antimony, linen garments with multicolored trimmings, garments of their native (industries) (being made of) dark purple wool . . . all kinds of costly objects be they products of the sea or of the continent, the (choice) products of their regions, the treasures of (their) kings, horses, mules (trained for) the yoke.” (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 282)

Tiglath-pileser III, in his inscriptions, says concerning the northern kingdom of Israel: “They overthrew their king Pekah (Pa-qa-ha) and I placed Hoshea (A-ú-si-ʼ) as king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold [$3,853,500], 1,000(?) talents of silver [$6,606,000] as their [tri]bute and brought them to Assyria.” (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 284) Thus the Assyrian king assumes credit for the assumption of the kingship of Israel by Hoshea following his conspiratorial assassination of Hoshea’s predecessor, Pekah (c. 758 B.C.E.).​—2Ki 15:30.

In ancient Assyrian records Tiglath-pileser III is assigned a reign of 18 years. Biblical references, however, seem to indicate that his kingship was of longer duration, inasmuch as references to him appear from the time of Menahem down to that of Hoshea. But the Hebrew Scriptures do not set forth all the details needed for one to state positively that the Assyrian records are in error in this case. This is so for several reasons: There is some uncertainty regarding the manner in which the reigns of the Israelite kings are to be fitted into a chronological framework. It is also worth noting that the period prior to the time generally assigned for the start of Tiglath-pileser’s reign is one of relative obscurity as far as the ancient records are concerned and is considered to have been a time of great decline for the Assyrians. Thus the French scholar, Georges Roux, in his book Ancient Iraq, states that “for thirty-six years . . . Assyria was practically paralysed.” As for Ashurnirari V, considered to have been the predecessor of Tiglath-pileser III, the same author observes: “He hardly dared leave his palace and was probably killed in a revolution which broke out in Kalhu and put upon the throne his younger brother [?], Tiglath-pileser III.” (1964, p. 251) In view of this it seems entirely possible that Tiglath-pileser may have exercised the power of kingship for a longer period of time than commonly credited to him, even perhaps as a coregent.