2 Chronicles 25:17-24

Jehoash Defeats Amaziah

17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash ^[a] son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said. ¹

18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle.

19 You have said, ‘Look, I have defeated Edom,’ and your heart has become proud and boastful. Now stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

20 But Amaziah would not listen, for this had come from God in order to deliver them into the hand of Jehoash, because they had sought the gods of Edom.

21 So Jehoash king of Israel advanced, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

22 And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his own home.

23 There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. ^[b] Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits. ^[c]

24 He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of God with Obed-edom and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

2 Chronicles 25:17-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 25

This chapter begins with the reign of Amaziah, and some of the first acts of it, slaying those that killed his father, 2Ch 25:1-4, raising a large army in his own kingdom, to which he added 100,000 more he hired out of Israel, whom yet he sent home by the advice of a prophet, 2Ch 25:5-10, and with his own army marched against the Edomites, and obtained a victory over them, 2Ch 25:11,12, but the Israelites being displeased with him for dismissing them, fell on some of his cities, and slew many in them, 2Ch 25:13, and such was his stupidity, as to worship the gods of the Edomites he had conquered, for which he was reproved by a prophet, 2Ch 25:14-16 and being elated with his victory, he sent a challenge to the king of Israel, who accepting of it, a battle ensued, in which Judah was worsted, their king taken, and treasuries spoiled, 2Ch 25:17-24, and the chapter is closed with the death and burial of Amaziah, 2Ch 25:25-28.

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Cross References

• 1. (2 Kings 14:8–14)

Footnotes

• [a] Jehoash is a variant of Joash; also in verses 18, 21, 23, and 25.
• [b] Jehoahaz is a variant of Ahaziah.
• [c] 400 cubits is approximately 600 feet or 182.9 meters.