II Kings 14, Amaziah, A Mere Thistle

Amaziah has become king of Judah after the assassination of his father. The date is about 800 BC. 

2 Kings 14: 1-5, Amaziah

In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem.

He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

Amaziah, son of Joash, is "fairly good" but still lets people worship their idols on the high places.

2 Kings 14: 5-6, Assassins executed

After the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.

 

Yet he did not put the sons of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses where the LORD commanded: "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins."

 

Once Amaziah is in power, he retaliates against the officials he killed his father. Amaziah executes the assassins but not their children.  He follows the commandment in Deuteronomy 24: 16. 

2 Kings 14: 7-10, Challenge to Israel

He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day.

Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: "Come, meet me face to face."

But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: "A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, `Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?"
 

Amaziah wins a battle against the Edomites. He then arrogantly challenges the king of Israel/Samaria but Jehoash refuses to come out to battle with Amaziah. Jehoash correctly accuses Amaziah of being overconfident.

2 Kings 14: 11-14, Israel defeats Judah

Amaziah, however, would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
 

Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate--a section about six hundred feet long. He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.

When overconfident Amaziah attacks the northern kingdom, Jehoash of Israel routs Judah at Beth Shemesh (about 18 miles west of Jerusalem) and captures Amaziah. Jehoash then goes on to Jerusalem and breaks down much of the city wall. (Hubbards says that the identification of the two gates is unknown.) Jehoash captures Amaziah and then takes hostages and returns back north. Hubbard suggests one of the hostages was Amaziah; there is now some obscurity in the remaining details of Amaziah's life.

A parallel passage to this chapter is 2 Chronicles 25. That chapter provides additional details.

The phrase translated here "six hundred feet long" is literally "four hundred cubits".

2 Kings 14: 15-16, Death of Jehoash

As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, what he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehoash rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And Jeroboam his son succeeded him as king.

 

Jehoash "rested with his fathers", as did the kings before him.  The next king of Israel is Jeroboam II, presumably named after the first Jeroboam.

2 Kings 14: 17-20, Killed in Lachish

Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. As for the other events of Amaziah's reign, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. He was brought back by horse and was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the City of David.

We don't hear how Amaziah was freed from Israel.  Hubbard points out that the usual formation "king X reigned for n years" is replaced by "king Amaziah lived for 15 years", as if he did not reign during that time. Was he still a hostage?

Eventually Amaziah king of Judah is killed by others, presumably in his court, just like his father was.

Lachish was a major fortified city about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem. 

2 Kings 14: 21-22, Azariah/Uzziah

Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his fathers.

Azariah, the son of Amaziah, replaces his father on the throne. Hubbard suggests that the strange phrasing -- that the people put Azariah on the throne -- reflects Amaziah's political impotence. Hubbard suggests that Azariah was put on the throne while Amaziah was still alive, possibly a hostage of Israel.

Azariah is also recorded as Uzziah. Uzziah will have one of the longest reigns of Judean kings.

The town of Elath is at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, giving access to the Red Sea.

2 Kings 14: 23-25, Jeroboam II

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

The LORD had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. And since the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

Jeroboam, described as evil like his father, Jehoash, reigns for forty-one years.  One advantage of a long reign is that he is able to restore some of the lost boundaries of Israel.  Even though Jeroboam was not a good king, YHWH had pity on the people of Israel and restored some of their land.

The prophet Jonah, who has his own story in the Old Testament, speaks out during the reign of Jeroboam II.

2 Kings 14: 28-29, Summary of Jeroboam II

As for the other events of Jeroboam's reign, all he did, and his military achievements, including how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Yaudi, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. And Zechariah his son succeeded him as king.

Jeroboam is again noted for recovering some land from surrounding countries, Damascus and Hamath, both important cities to the north and east of Israel.

Yaudi is a variant of Judah.