2 Chronicles 25:1-28

10. THE REIGN OF AMAZIAH (Chapter 25)

TEXT

2 Chronicles 25:1. Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem. 2. And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, but not with a perfect heart. 3. Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established unto him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father. 4. But he put not their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.

5. Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and ordered them according to their fathers-' houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upward, and found them three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. 6. He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver. 7. But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for Jehovah is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 8. But if thou wilt go, do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God will cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down. 9. And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, Jehovah is able to give thee much more than this. 10. Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger. 11. And Amaziah took courage, and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. 12. And other ten thousand did the children of Judah carry away alive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they were all broken in pieces. 13. But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon, and smote of them three thousand, and took much spoil.
14. Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 15. Wherefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, who said unto him. Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of thy hand? 16. And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Have we made thee of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
17. Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. 18, And Joash 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 trod down the thistle. 19. Thou sayest, -Lo, thou hast smitten Edom;-' and thy heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
20. But Amaziah would not hear; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom. 21. So joash 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. 22. And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. 23. And Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehdahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. 24. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
25. And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehohaz king of Israel fifteen years. 26. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27. Now from the time that Amaziah did turn away from following Jehovah they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. 28. And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

PARAPHRASE

2 Chronicles 25:1. Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years, in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jeho-addan, a native of Jerusalem. 2. He did what was right, but sometimes resented it! 3. When he was well established as the new king, he executed the men who had assassinated his father, 4. However, he didn-'t kill their children but followed the command of the Lord written in the law of Moses, that the fathers shall not die for the children's sins, nor the children for the father's sins. No, everyone must pay for his own sins.

5, 6. Another thing Amaziah did was to organize the army, assigning leaders to each clan from Judah and Benjamin. Then he took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 men twenty years old and older, all trained and highly skilled in the use of spear and sword. He also paid $200,000 to hire 100,000 experienced mercenaries from Israel. 7. But a prophet arrived with this message from the Lord: sir, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with them. 8. If you let them go with your troops to battle, you will be defeated no matter how well you fight; for God has power to help or to frustrate. 9. But the money! Amaziah whined. What shall I do about that? And the prophet replied, The Lord is able to give you much more than this! 10. So Amaziah sent them home again to Ephraim, which made them very angry and insulted. 11. Then Amaziah took courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, and there killed 10,000 men from Seir. 12. Another 10,000 were taken alive to the top of a cliff and thrown over, so that they were crushed upon the rocks below. 13. Meanwhile, the army of Israel that had been sent home raided several of the cities of Judah in the vicinity of Beth-horon, toward Samaria, killing 3,000 people and carrying off great quantities of booty.
14. When King Amaziah returned from this slaughter of the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir, and set them up as gods, and bowed before them, and burned incense to them! 15. This made the Lord very angry and he sent a prophet to demand, Why have you worshiped gods who couldn-'t even save their own people from you. 16. Since when have I asked your advice? the king retorted. Be quiet now, before I have you killed. The prophet left with this parting warning: I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have worshiped these idols, and have not accepted my counsel.
17. King Amaziah of Judah now took the advice of his counselors and declared war on King Joash of Israel (son of Jehoahaz, grandson of Jehu). 18. King Joash replied with this parable: out in the Lebanon mountains a thistle demanded of a cedar tree. -Give your daughter in marriage to my son.-' Just then a wild animal came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it! 19. You are very proud about your conquest of Edom, but my advice is to stay home and don-'t meddle with me, lest you and all Judah get badly hurt.
20. But Amaziah wouldn-'t listen, for God was arranging to destroy him for worshiping the gods of Edom. 21. The armies met at Beth-shemesh, in Judah, 22. and Judah was defeated, and its army fled home. 23. King Joash of Israel captured the defeated King Amaziah of Judah and took him as a prisoner to Jerusalem. Then King Joash ordered two hundred yards of the walls of Jerusalem dismantled, from the gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate. 24. He carried off all the treasures and golden bowls from the Temple, as well as the treasures from the palace; and he took hostages, including Obed-edom, and returned to Samaria.
25. However, King Amaziah of Judah lived on for fifteen years after the death of King Joash of Israel. 26. The complete biography of King Amaziah is written in The Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27. This account includes a report of Amaziah's turning away from God, and how his people conspired against him in Jerusalem, and how he fled to Lachishbut they went after him and killed him there. 28. And they brought him back on horses to Jerusalem and buried him in the royal cemetery.

COMMENTARY

The parallel of this record is in 2 Kings 16:1-20. Amaziah came to the throne in Judah during the crisis which resulted in his father's death. The new king was twenty five years old. He should have been very capable as Judah's king. Jehoaddan, his mother, probably had been selected by Jehoiada as a wife for Joash. She was always associated with Jerusalem. Amaziah was to reign over Judah for twenty nine years. The historian cannot altogether approve or disapprove Amaziah's kingship. The king could have done much better in approaching Jehovah's ideal. He concerned himself with avenging his father's death. He may have been fearful of his own safety as long as the conspirators, Zabad and Jehozabad, lived. The children of the murderers were spared because they posed no real threat to Amaziah. The chronicler reminds the reader that Moses (Deuteronomy 24:16) had said that children should not die for their fathers-' sins. Amaziah, most likely, was not too concerned about Moses-' instructions in this regard.

Military conflict too often was the order of the day. On numerous occasions the Edomites revolted against Judah. Amaziah organized his army and was able to mobilize three hundred thousand men out of Judah and Benjamin. To qualify for service, a man had to be twenty years of age and physically capable of doing all that would be expected of men in a walking army that used spears and shields. In addition to his own forces, Amaziah paid one hundred talents of silver (about two hundred thousand dollars) to hire the services of one hundred thousand men from the northern kingdom. There may have been other considerations in addition to the silver talents. Jehovah's will was not sought in these matters because it was necessary for a man of God, a true prophet, to come to Amaziah. Jehovah's word was that Judah could go to war against Edom with the assurance of victory if Amaziah would obey God. In order to secure Jehovah's approval, Amaziah had to release the soldiers of the northern kingdom from their contract. Such a release would cost Amaziah a hundred talents of silver. The king of Judah was assured that God had power to help and that He was able to give much more than a hundred talents of silver. Against his better judgment, the king sent the hired soldiers home. He then led his army to the Valley of Salt at the extreme southern end of the Dead Sea. The children of Seir, the Edomites, were defeated. They lost ten thousand men on the battlefield and another ten thousand were taken captive and brought to Petra in Edom. When the Israelites (soldiers from the northern kingdom) were sent home at the prophet's word, they became very angry. They vented their wrath by attacking several cities in Judah while Amaziah was occupied with Edom. Beth-horon was about twelve miles northwest of Jerusalem. At least three thousand people of Judah were slain by their brethren from the north and much of their goods was taken.
Amaziah's idolatry cannot be excused. Jehovah had just given him a thorough victory over Edom. Judah's king sought out the gods of Edom, packed them up, brought them back to Jerusalem and worshipped them. We are amazed at Jehovah's mercy. Why would He even allow Amaziah to live? Jehovah sent a prophet (not otherwise identified) with a biting indictment. The gods of the Edomites (Baal, Molech, Chemosh and others) were powerless to prevent Edom's defeat in battle. Why would Amaziah concern himself with these idols? On a previous occasion the king had questioned Jehovah's word and then grudgingly obeyed. Now, he dared to insult the prophet by reminding him that he was not a member of the king's cabinet. In addition to the insult, he threatened the prophet's life. Bringing Edom's idols to Jerusalem sealed Amaziah's destiny. He would be destroyed.

Apparently encouraged by his military success against Edom, Amaziah planned to extend his conquests. He took advice from his counselors and challenged Joash, king of Israel, to war. To look one another in the face was the king of action described in 2 Samuel 2:13 ff when Abner's men and Joab's men met for battle. To ask for a man's daughter in marriage meant that the intended groom counted himself at least equal in rank with the woman and her family. The thistle (Amaziah) had insulted the mighty cedar (Joash) and the thistle could well expect to be destroyed. The thistle represented that which was worthless, useless, and annoying. The cedar was renowned for its worth, usefulness, and pleasing odor. The advice of Joash to Amaziah was that he should forget this ill-advised war because he could very well lose his throne and the kingdom itself could be lost. Joash showed considerable restraint and merited approval for his diplomacy. The prophet had said that God had determined to destroy Amaziah. That which followed was of God. Amaziah's idolatry sealed his destiny. Bethshemesh was a village about fifteen miles south-west of Jerusalem. Here the battle was joined and Amaziah and his people were convincingly defeated. Once more Joash was very patient in that he did not put Amaziah to death. Amaziah was returned to Jerusalem. A considerable portion of the walls of Jerusalem was ruined. Much booty and spoil, along with prisoners of war (hostages), were taken back to Samaria. Obededom was the name of the person in charge of the treasures in the king's house. Once more, the Temple was robbed. So Amaziah's idol worship brought real trouble to Judah.

Joash, king of Israel, preceded Amaziah in death by fifteen years. Amaziah's tragic history was reduced to written form in the books of the kings of Judah and Israel. The conspiracy that brought about Amaziah's death began to take shape when he brought the Edomite idols to Jerusalem. Lachish was about twenty five miles west of Hebron in the low lying foothills of Judah. This village was heavily fortified; nevertheless, the conspirators killed Amaziah as he sought refuge there. The dead king was brought back to the city of Judah (Jerusalem) where he was buried in the royal cemetery.