2 Kings 14:23-29

II. THE HEYDAY PERIOD
14:23-15:7

Israel and Judah achieved their greatest glory under the reigns of Jeroboam II in the North (2 Kings 14:23-29), and Azariah (Uzziah) in the South (2 Kings 15:1-7). This somewhat unexpected turn of events resulted from two factors. About 800 B.C. the Assyrians withdrew to their own territory where they remained politically dormant until 745 B.C. The sacred historian passes over this period somewhat briefly. However, the writings of Jonah, Amos, and Hosea paint a vivid backdrop for the heyday period.

A. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM II IN ISRAEL 14:23-29

TRANSLATION

(23) In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria. He reigned forty-one years. (24) And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not turn from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin. (25) He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the plain according to the word of the LORD God of Israel which He spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gathhepher. (26) For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; for there was neither bound nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. (27) And the LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but he delivered them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Joash. (28) Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all which he did, and his might with which he fought, and by which he restored to Israel Damascus and Hamath which belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (29) And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

COMMENTS

Jeroboam II was perhaps the greatest king of the Northern Kingdom, and yet his reign is passed over with great brevity by the author of Kings. He commenced his reign as sole king in the fifteenth year of the Southern king Amaziah; but many scholars conclude that he had been coregent with his father from the third year of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23). He, like all the kings of the Jehu dynasty, continued to follow the apostate calf worship, and hence Jeroboam is said to have done evil in the eyes of the Lord (2 Kings 14:24). But the military successes of Jeroboam II were considerable. He was able to restore the borders of Israel as they had been in the earliest days of the Northern Kingdom. The entering of Hamath refers to the high slopes in the valley between the two ranges of the Lebanon mountains, the point at which the mountain streams begin to flow northward to form the Orontes river. Hamath itself would be about eighty-five miles farther north. The sea of the plain is undoubtedly the Dead Sea. The territory recovered no doubt included all the Transjordan area as far south as the river Arnon, the border of Moab. Some think that Moab itself may be included in this general description of the territorial conquests of Jeroboam II.

Thirteenth King of Israel
JEROBOAM II
782 753 B.C.*
(whose people are many)

2 Kings 14:23-29

Synchronism
Jeroboam 1 = Amaziah 15
Contemporary Prophets
Hosea, Jonah, Amos

The froward is an abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous. Proverbs 3:32

*coregent from 793 B.C.

The success of Jeroboam II is attributed to the guidance of Jonah the prophet. This is the same prophet famous for what happened to him as he tried to flee the responsibility to preach the Word in Nineveh. The present passage suggests that Jonah should be dated about 780 B.C., the early part of the reign of Jeroboam II. Gath-hepher, the hometown of Jonah, was located in the tribal territory of Zebulun not far from Mount Tabor. But why did the Lord aid this king who maintained the worship of the calves? The author explains it as being due to the unfathomable compassion of God. God saw the extreme suffering of His people under the Arameans and thus raised up His prophet to give inspired advice and encouragement to Jeroboam in his efforts finally to free Israel from that oppression. The Lord had to help His people, for no other helper was available to them; no other nation was in a position to come to their aid[578] (2 Kings 14:26). God's decision was not to blot out the name of Israel at this time, although the nation was entirely deserving of such judgment. In His grace He gave the nation a grace-period, an opportunity to repent, an Indian summer before the winter of retributive judgment. He gave to Israel the deliverance promised by Elisha (cf. 2 Kings 13:17) and later by Jonah (2 Kings 14:25)deliverance from the Arameans, recovery of their borders and triumph over their enemies. This deliverance, which began under Jehoash, was brought to a successful completion by Jeroboam II. Thus one Jeroboam founded the kingdom; another refounded it, restored its ancient glories, and gave it its old dimensions (2 Kings 14:27).

[578] On the phrase not any shut up nor any left see 1 Kings 14:10.

The concluding statement about the reign of Jeroboam II brings out more important information about his reign concerning which one might wish that more detail was given. He is said to have recovered Hamath and Damascus,[579] cities which had belonged to Israel during the United Monarchy period under David and for a while under Solomon. He probably was not able to hold these places for long after he conquered them. The phrase in 2 Kings 14:28 which belonged to Judah has occasioned commentators the greatest difficulty. How could Hamath and Damascus be said to have belonged to Judah? Some think the text is hopelessly corrupt and others resort to hermeneutical gymnastics and dubious translations. For the time being the question of the relationship between Judah and the kingdoms of Hamath and Damascus in the north must be left open.

[579] Some try to argue that this verse means nothing more than that Jeroboam was able to recover territories which had been conquered by these powerful kingdoms. Amos 1:3-4 is sometimes cited as proof that Damascus had an independent existence in the days of Jeroboam. But the prophecy of Amos may have been delivered prior to Jeroboam's conquest of the place.

At Jeroboam's death he was buried with his fathers in Samaria and his son Zechariah reigned in his place. With the accession of this Zechariah, the prophecy made to Jehu almost ninety years earlier, that his sons would sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation, was fulfilled (2 Kings 14:29).