2 Chronicles 25

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan, and she was from Jerusalem.

1Amaziah 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.

NoteJudah's royal records regularly name the king's mother. The queen mother held a recognized position at court, and naming her identified which branch of the royal family a king came from.

2He did what was right in the LORD's sight, but he did not do it with his whole heart.

2And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

3Once his hold on the kingdom was firm, he put to death the officials who had murdered his father the king.

3Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.

NoteThe murder referred to happened in the previous chapter: Amaziah's father Joash was killed in his bed by members of his own court.

4But he did not put their children to death. He followed what is written in the law, in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: "Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers. Each person is to die for his own sin."

4But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD 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.

NoteThe quotation is from Deuteronomy 24:16. In the surrounding kingdoms it was normal for a ruler to wipe out the whole family of anyone who attacked the throne, so that no son survived to take revenge; the point of naming the law here is that Amaziah did not do that.

5Amaziah also gathered the people of Judah together and organized them by families under commanders of a thousand men and commanders of a hundred men, throughout all Judah and Benjamin. He counted the men twenty years old and older, and found three hundred thousand picked men ready for war, able to use spear and shield.

5Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

Note"Commanders of a thousand" and "commanders of a hundred" are ranks in a citizen army organized in units of that nominal size, not a professional standing force. Counting men "twenty years old and older" means counting everyone of fighting age. Hebrew numbers of this size in military lists are often thought to be round or formulaic rather than exact head counts.

6He also hired a hundred thousand strong fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

6He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.

NoteIsrael here is the separate northern kingdom, which had split from Judah generations earlier; the two were sometimes allies and sometimes at war. A talent was a weight of roughly seventy-five pounds (about thirty-four kilograms), so a hundred talents of silver is somewhere near three and a half tons, an enormous payment for mercenary troops.

7But a man of God came to him and said, "King, do not let the army of Israel go with you. The LORD is not with Israel, that is, not with any of the people of Ephraim.

7But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.

Note"A man of God" is a standard term for a prophet, someone who speaks a message received from God. Ephraim was the largest tribe of the northern kingdom, so its name is used as shorthand for the whole northern kingdom of Israel.

8Even if you go and fight bravely in the battle, God will make you fall before the enemy. God has the power to help and the power to bring down."

8But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is damaged or unclear, and translators differ on how to read it. The King James takes it as a challenge, "go ahead and fight if you want to", while others read it as a plain statement that going will lead to defeat.

9Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what about the hundred talents I have already paid the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The LORD can give you far more than that."

9And 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, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

10So Amaziah sent away the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and told them to go home. They were furious with Judah and went home in great anger.

10Then 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 great anger.

NoteSoldiers of this period were paid largely in plunder taken from the defeated. Dismissed before the fighting, these troops kept their hire but lost their share of the spoil, which is why they were enraged, and what they do in verse 13 follows from it.

11Amaziah gathered his courage and led his people out. He went to the Valley of Salt and killed ten thousand men of Seir.

11And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.

NoteThe Valley of Salt lay in the arid country south of the Dead Sea. Seir is the mountainous region southeast of the Dead Sea, the homeland of the Edomites, who were regarded as descendants of Esau and so as distant kin of Israel.

12The army of Judah also captured ten thousand men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down, and every one of them was smashed to pieces.

12And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.

Note"The rock" translates a Hebrew word, sela, that is also the name of an Edomite stronghold built on a cliff, so the phrase may name a specific place as well as describe one.

13Meanwhile the troops Amaziah had sent back, so they would not go with him to battle, attacked the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They killed three thousand people there and carried off a large amount of plunder.

13But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

NoteBeth-horon was a pair of towns guarding the main road from the coastal plain up into the hill country, on the border between the two kingdoms. "From Samaria" marks the northern end of the raiders' route home; Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom.

14When Amaziah came back from killing the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir with him. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them, and burned incense to them.

14Now 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.

NoteCarrying off the images of a defeated people's gods was ordinary practice in the ancient world, usually as trophies proving the enemy's gods had failed. What is reported here goes further: Amaziah installs them as his own gods and worships them. Burning incense was one of the standard acts of worship offered to a god.

15So the LORD became angry with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, "Why have you gone after this people's gods, which could not even save their own people from your hand?"

15Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?

16While the prophet was still speaking, the king said to him, "Have we made you an advisor to the king? Stop. Why should you be struck down?" So the prophet stopped, but he said, "I know that God has decided to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice."

16And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made 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.

NoteKings kept a formal body of official advisors, and speaking into royal policy without that standing was a breach of protocol. "Why should you be struck down?" is a threat of execution, not a question.

17Then Amaziah king of Judah talked it over with his advisors and sent word to Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, "Come, let us meet face to face."

17Then 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 see one another in the face.

Note"Let us meet face to face" is not an invitation to talks. It is a formal challenge to fight, the same phrase is used in verse 21 of the two armies confronting each other in battle.

18Joash king of Israel sent this answer to Amaziah king of Judah: "A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as his wife.' Then a wild animal in Lebanon came by and trampled the thistle down.

18And 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 trode down the thistle.

NoteJoash answers with a fable, a standard form of political insult. The cedars of Lebanon were the most valuable timber in the region and stood for greatness; a thistle is a worthless weed. A request to marry a daughter to a son was how kings proposed an alliance between equals, so the thistle's request is absurd, and the wild animal flattens it without noticing. Joash is calling Amaziah a nobody.

19You say, 'Look, I have defeated the Edomites,' and now you are proud and want to boast. Stay home. Why stir up trouble that will hurt you, so that you fall, and Judah falls with you?"

19Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

20But Amaziah would not listen. This came from God, so that he might hand them over to their enemies, because they had gone after the gods of Edom.

20But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.

21So Joash king of Israel marched out, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, a town that belonged to Judah.

21So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah.

NoteBeth-shemesh was a town in the lowlands west of Jerusalem, on the frontier between the two kingdoms, so the fighting took place on Judah's own territory, not Israel's.

22Judah was beaten by Israel, and every man ran away to his own home.

22And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.

23At Beth-shemesh, Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. Joash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a stretch of four hundred cubits.

23And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

NoteA cubit was about eighteen inches, roughly the length of a forearm, so four hundred cubits is around six hundred feet, or one hundred and eighty meters. The Ephraim Gate and the Corner Gate were both on the northern side of Jerusalem. Breaking a long stretch of city wall left the capital defenseless and was a public humiliation rather than a step toward occupying it.

24He took all the gold and silver, and all the objects found in the house of God that were in the care of Obed-edom, along with the treasures of the king's palace. He also took hostages, and then went back to Samaria.

24And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

Note"The house of God" is the temple in Jerusalem. Obed-edom's family held the hereditary post of guarding the temple's storerooms and treasures. Hostages were relatives or nobles of the defeated king held to guarantee that he would not rebel or withhold tribute.

25Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.

25And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

26The rest of what Amaziah did, from beginning to end, is written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

26Now 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?

NoteThis refers to an official court chronicle kept by royal record-keepers, a source the writer expects readers to know. It is not the biblical books of Kings, and it has not survived.

27From the time Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, people in Jerusalem plotted against him. He ran away to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.

27Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

NoteLachish was a heavily fortified city about thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem, the strongest place in Judah after the capital itself, which is why a king fleeing an assassination plot would run there.

28They brought his body back on horses and buried him with his ancestors in the city of Judah.

28And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

Note"The city of Judah" is an unusual phrase; the parallel account in 2 Kings 14:20 and some ancient copies read "the city of David," meaning the oldest quarter of Jerusalem, where the kings were buried.