Bible Study 2 Kings 14
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2 Kings 14 · WEB

Amaziah of Judah; Jeroboam II Restores Israel's Borders

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In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah began to reign.
2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
3He did that which was right in Yahweh's eyes, yet not like David his father. He did according to all that Joash his father had done.
4However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.
5As soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed the king his father.
6But the sons of the murderers he didn't put to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as Yahweh 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 die for his own sin."
7He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel, to this day.
8Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let's look one another in the face."
9Jehoash 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 your daughter to my son as wife; and a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.
10You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it and stay at home; for why should you provoke disaster, that you should fall, even you and Judah with you?'"
11But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
12Judah was defeated by Israel; and each man fled to his tent.
13Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
14He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in Yahweh's house and in the treasures of the king's house, including 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, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
16Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
17Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
18Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
19They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.
20They brought him on horses; and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
21All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
22He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after 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-one years.
24He did that which was evil in Yahweh's sight. He didn't depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
25He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.
26For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was no one shut up nor left at large, nor were there any helpers for Israel.
27Yahweh didn't say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; 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 fought and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
29Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
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Summary

Amaziah of Judah begins well — executing his father's assassins but sparing their sons per the Mosaic Law — and wins a major victory over Edom. But pride from this victory leads him to challenge Israel's king Jehoash to open battle, despite wise counsel to stand down. Judah is crushed, Jerusalem's wall is broken down, and the Temple is plundered. Amaziah survives but is later assassinated in a conspiracy. Meanwhile, Jeroboam II of Israel has a long and prosperous forty-one year reign, restoring Israel's borders to their Solomonic extent — not because of Israel's righteousness, but because God in mercy saw their affliction and had not yet determined to blot them out.

Themes

  • The danger of pride following success — victory that becomes the seed of defeat
  • Individual accountability before God (Deuteronomy 24 principle)
  • God's mercy extended to undeserving people out of compassion, not merit
  • The pattern of prosperity followed by apostasy and decline

Key verses

  • 2 Kgs 14:10 — “You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it and stay at home.”
  • 2 Kgs 14:26-27 — “Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter… Yahweh didn't say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them.”
  • 2 Kgs 14:6 — “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 die for his own sin.”

Context & background

The Valley of Salt was in the region south of the Dead Sea near modern Wadi el-Milh in southern Jordan/Israel. Sela (renamed Joktheel) is likely the site known later as Petra, carved into the rose-red cliffs of modern southern Jordan — one of the most spectacular ancient sites in the Middle East. Beth Shemesh (modern Tel Beit Shemesh, in the Shephelah of modern Israel) was the battlefield where Judah was humiliatingly defeated by Israel. Lachish (modern Tel Lachish, southern Israel) was the second most important city in Judah and served as a refuge for Amaziah before he was killed there. Jeroboam II's reign (around 793-753 BC) was the era of the prophets Amos and Hosea, who preached against Israel's moral corruption during this time of material prosperity.

Cross-references

  • 2 Chr 25:5-24 — The Chronicler's parallel account, including a prophet's warning Amaziah ignores
  • Amos 6:1-7 — Amos condemns the complacency of Israel under Jeroboam II's prosperous reign
  • Deut 24:16 — The Mosaic law on individual accountability that Amaziah correctly applies
  • Jonah 1:1 — The same prophet Jonah (son of Amittai) who prophesied Jeroboam's restoration of borders
  • Prov 16:18 — "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" — Amaziah's story

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    Why did Amaziah challenge Israel's king Jehoash to battle, and what was Jehoash's parable about?

  2. Observe

    By what means did Jeroboam II restore Israel's borders, according to verses 25-27?

  3. Interpret

    What specific danger was Jehoash's thistle and cedar parable identifying, and why did Amaziah refuse to hear it?

  4. Interpret

    How does God saving Israel through wicked Jeroboam II complicate simple equations of leader-character and divine blessing?

  5. Apply

    Can you recall a time when a legitimate success made you overconfident? What warning signals can you watch for?

  6. Apply

    How does individual accountability (verse 6) both free you and sharpen your responsibility?

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