The Histories · Old Testament

2 Kings 14

2 Kings 14: Amaziah challenges Jehoash, and Jeroboam restores Israel's border

General context

Amaziah the son of Joash begins to reign in Judah in the second year of Joash of Israel, aged twenty-five, and reigns twenty-nine years; his mother is Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. The narrator says he does right, yet not like David, and the high places remain. Once his kingdom is confirmed he kills the servants who murdered his father, but spares their children, which the narrator says follows what is written in the book of the law of Moses. He kills ten thousand of Edom in the valley of salt, takes Selah and renames it Joktheel. He then sends to Jehoash king of Israel to meet face to face. Jehoash answers with a parable of a thistle and a cedar and tells Amaziah to stay at home. Amaziah refuses; the kings meet at Beth-shemesh, Judah is defeated, and Jehoash takes Amaziah, breaks down four hundred cubits of Jerusalem's wall, and carries off the gold, silver, temple vessels and hostages to Samaria. Jehoash dies and Jeroboam succeeds him. Amaziah lives fifteen more years, then a conspiracy in Jerusalem drives him to Lachish, where he is killed; he is buried in the city of David. The people make sixteen-year-old Azariah king, and he builds Elath. Jeroboam the son of Joash reigns forty-one years over Israel, does evil, and restores Israel's coast from Hamath to the sea of the plain according to the word spoken through Jonah the son of Amittai. The narrator says the Lord saw Israel's bitter affliction and saved them by Jeroboam. Jeroboam dies and Zachariah reigns.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 14:1, 2 Kings 14:2, 2 Kings 14:3, 2 Kings 14:4, 2 Kings 14:5, 2 Kings 14:6, 2 Kings 14:7, 2 Kings 14:8, 2 Kings 14:9, 2 Kings 14:10, 2 Kings 14:11, 2 Kings 14:12, 2 Kings 14:13, 2 Kings 14:14, 2 Kings 14:16, 2 Kings 14:17, 2 Kings 14:19, 2 Kings 14:20, 2 Kings 14:21, 2 Kings 14:22, 2 Kings 14:23, 2 Kings 14:24, 2 Kings 14:25, 2 Kings 14:26, 2 Kings 14:27, 2 Kings 14:29

2 Kings 14 (KJV)

¹In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.

²He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

³And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.

⁴Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.

⁵And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father.

⁶But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

⁷He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

⁹And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

¹⁰Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

¹¹But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.

¹²And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.

¹³And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

¹⁴And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁶And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁷And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

¹⁸And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

¹⁹Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

²⁰And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

²¹And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

²²He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.

²⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

²⁵He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.

²⁶For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.

²⁷And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁹And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.

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Historical context

The chapter uses similar names for different men, and the text itself keeps them apart. Amaziah's father is Joash king of Judah, whom verse 13 calls Jehoash the son of Ahaziah; the king of Israel he challenges is Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, spelled Joash in verse 1. Two Jeroboams also appear: Jeroboam the son of Joash, who reigns in this chapter, and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, whose sins are the narrator's standard of comparison. The law Amaziah follows in sparing the murderers' children is quoted as written in the book of the law of Moses; the same command appears in Deuteronomy. Jonah the son of Amittai is named as a prophet of Gath-hepher, but the chapter reports only that his word concerned the restored border; it gives no other content of his message. Israel's saving by Jeroboam is stated as the Lord's act despite the evaluation that Jeroboam did evil. The conspirators who kill Amaziah are not named and no motive is given. The wall breach, the plunder and the hostages are stated plainly. The chapter does not say why Amaziah wanted to confront Israel, and the phrase about Damascus and Hamath belonging to Judah is left unexplained.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 14:1, 2 Kings 14:13, 2 Kings 14:8, 2 Kings 14:23, 2 Kings 14:24, 2 Kings 14:6, Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 14:25, 2 Kings 14:27, 2 Kings 14:19, 2 Kings 14:14, 2 Kings 14:28

Literary context

The chapter follows the standard frame of Kings, with accession notes, a verdict, a reference to the chronicles and a death notice for each king, but its center is a speech and reply. Amaziah's invitation to look one another in the face is answered by Jehoash's parable of the thistle, the cedar and the wild beast, and the phrase returns when the two kings actually meet. Jehoash names the cause as Amaziah's heart lifted up by the victory over Edom, so the narrator has placed the Edom success immediately before the challenge. The result reverses the order of the chapter's opening: the king who executed his father's killers and conquered Selah is himself captured, and the city wall is broken. Amaziah's own death by conspiracy echoes the murder of his father that opened his reign. The Jeroboam section closes the chapter with a tension the narrator states rather than resolves: an evil king through whom the Lord saves Israel because he has not said he would blot out Israel's name.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 14:8, 2 Kings 14:9, 2 Kings 14:10, 2 Kings 14:11, 2 Kings 14:7, 2 Kings 14:13, 2 Kings 14:5, 2 Kings 14:19, 2 Kings 14:18, 2 Kings 14:24, 2 Kings 14:27

Key moments

The murderers' children spared (2 Kings 14:6). Amaziah kills his father's murderers but not their children, following the law of Moses.
Edom defeated at the valley of salt (2 Kings 14:7). Amaziah kills ten thousand of Edom, takes Selah and renames it Joktheel.
The thistle and the cedar (2 Kings 14:9). Jehoash answers Amaziah's challenge with a parable and a warning to stay home.
Defeat at Beth-shemesh (2 Kings 14:12). Judah is defeated before Israel and the men flee to their tents.
Jerusalem's wall broken (2 Kings 14:13). Jehoash captures Amaziah and breaks down four hundred cubits of the wall.
Amaziah killed at Lachish (2 Kings 14:19). A conspiracy in Jerusalem pursues Amaziah to Lachish and kills him there.
Jeroboam restores the border (2 Kings 14:25). Jeroboam restores Israel's coast according to the word spoken through Jonah the son of Amittai.

For reflection

Jehoash tells Amaziah to be content with his victory over Edom and stay home, and the narrator says Amaziah would not hear. What in the chapter shows the difference between a real success and the confidence that grows out of it?

People in this chapter

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