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2 Chronicles 25

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Amaziah Reigns in Judah 1–4

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 sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart. ​
3
Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.
4
But 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. ​

Preparation for War Against Edom 5–10

5
Moreover 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.
6
He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an 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 the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. ​
8
But 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.
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, The LORD 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 great anger.

Victory in the Valley of Salt 11–13

11
And Amaziah strengthened himself, 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 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. ​
13
But 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. ​

Amaziah Turns to Idolatry 14–16

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 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? ​
16
And 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. ​

Challenge to Israel and Defeat 17–24

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 see 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 trode down the thistle. ​
19
Thou 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?
20
But 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. ​
21
So 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.
22
And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
23
And 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. ​
24
And 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. ​

Conspiracy and Death 25–28

25
And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz 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 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. ​
28
And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Chronicles 25

Verse 2

not with a perfect heart — Shalem, whole, undivided, the word of David's charge to Solomon, 'serve him with a perfect heart' (1 Chr 28:9), and of 2 Chr 16:9, where the LORD strengthens 'them whose heart is perfect toward him'. 'Right' (yashar) describes the deeds. The heart is the part that v.14 shows to be divided.

Verse 4

the fathers shall not die for the children — The command is Deut 24:16: 'every man shall be put to death for his own sin'. Amaziah had slain the servants who 'killed the king his father' (v.3), but spared their sons, and the sentence is carried out as it is 'written in the law in the book of Moses'.

Verse 6

hired — Sakar, to take on for wages. Amaziah had just mustered 'three hundred thousand choice men' from Judah and Benjamin (v.5), and he adds 'an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel' for 'an hundred talents of silver', the sum he names in v.9.

Verse 7

the LORD is not with Israel — The man of God states a principle already put to Jehoshaphat by the seer, 'Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?' (2 Chr 19:2). Abijah had said the opposite of Judah, 'God himself is with us for our captain' (2 Chr 13:12). 'Ephraim' here names the northern tribes.

Verse 9

The LORD is able to give thee much more — Literally 'the LORD has to give thee much more than this', yesh, 'there is'. Prov 10:22 says 'The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich'. The hundred talents of v.6 are counted as already given to the army of Israel, and the answer sets the loss against what the LORD can give.

Verse 12

the top of the rock — The Hebrew is sela, rock, which is also the name of an Edomite city. 2 Kgs 14:7 says Amaziah slew ten thousand in the valley of salt 'and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel'. Obadiah speaks of Edom as 'thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock' (Obad 1:3).

Verse 13

from Samaria even unto Bethhoron — The raid runs from Samaria in Israel to Beth-horon, the pair of fenced cities Solomon had built, 'the upper, and… the nether' (2 Chr 8:5). The men sent home 'returned home in great anger' (v.10). They 'smote three thousand' and 'took much spoil' from the cities of Judah.

Verse 14

the gods of the children of Seir — 'Esau is Edom' and 'dwelt… in mount Seir' (Gen 36:8), so these are the gods of Edom (v.20). Three acts follow: he set them up, bowed down, burned incense. The first commandment forbids exactly this (Ex 20:3–5). Ahaz later sacrificed to gods that had smitten him (2 Chr 28:23).

Verse 15

sought after the gods — Darash, the verb used for seeking the LORD, here turned to the gods of Edom, and repeated in v.20. The prophet's question is that these gods 'could not deliver their own people' (natsal, to rescue) from Amaziah's hand. 'All the gods of the nations are idols' (Ps 96:5).

Verse 16

God hath determined — A play on one root, yaats, to counsel. 'Art thou made of the king's counsel?' uses its noun, and the prophet answers that God 'hath determined' (counselled) to destroy him. The king who smote the Edomites (vv.11, 14) now says 'why shouldest thou be smitten?', the same verb. His father had silenced a prophet by stoning (24:21).

Verse 18

the thistle… the cedar — A parable of the kind Jotham told of the trees, where 'the bramble' threatens 'the cedars of Lebanon' (Judg 9:15). The thistle asks for the cedar's daughter for its son, and a wild beast treads it down. Joash 'the son of Jehoahaz' (v.17), king of Israel, answers Amaziah's challenge, and v.19 gives the meaning.

Verse 20

it came of God — The phrase of 22:7, where Ahaziah's 'destruction… was of God'. The king 'would not hear', and the verse names the reason: 'because they sought after the gods of Edom'. Darash is again the verb, as in v.15. The man who sought Edom's gods is delivered 'into the hand of their enemies'.

Verse 23

the son of Jehoahaz — Amaziah's grandfather, the Jehoahaz of 21:17, who is called Ahaziah in 22:1. Joash of Israel 'took' Amaziah at Beth-shemesh and breached the wall for four hundred cubits, 'from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate'. Uzziah later built towers 'at the corner gate' (2 Chr 26:9), and the gate of Ephraim is named in Neh 8:16.

Verse 24

with Obededom — The vessels were in the keeping of Obed-edom's family, to whose sons were given 'the house of Asuppim', the storehouses (1 Chr 26:15). Joash took the gold, the silver, the vessels and the king's treasures, and 'the hostages also', literally 'the sons of the pledges', before returning to Samaria.

Verse 27

turn away from following the LORD — Sur, to turn aside, dated from the idolatry of v.14. The wording that follows matches 2 Kgs 14:19: 'they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish'. Qesher, conspiracy, is the word Athaliah cried at the crowning of Joash (23:13). Amaziah 'lived after the death of Joash… fifteen years' (v.25).