2 Kings 14:8

8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Israel's King Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Israel's King Jehu, saying, "Come on! Let's go head-to-head."

2 Kings 14:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 14:8

Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz the
son of Jehu king of Israel
The occasion of it was this, when Amaziah dismissed the hired soldiers of Israel they were displeased, and fell upon the cities of Judea from Samaria to Bethhoron, slew 3000 men, and took much spoil, ( 2 Chronicles 25:13 ) , wherefore, when Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, being elated with his victories, he sent the following message to the king of Israel, in order to revenge the injuries his soldiers had done; and perhaps retaining an old grudge for what Jehu, the grandfather of the king of Israel, had done to his ancestors, and it may be in hope of reducing the ten tribes to obedience to the house of David:

saying, come, let us look one another in the face;
that is, in battle, as the Targum adds; it was a challenge to meet him in the field of battle, and fight with him, and try each other's courage, and see who was the best man.

2 Kings 14:8 In-Context

6 However, he didn't kill the children of the murderers, because of what is written in the Instruction scroll from Moses, where the LORD commanded, Parents shouldn't be executed because of what their children have done; neither should children be executed because of what their parents have done. Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.

7 Next Amaziah struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in battle. He renamed it Jokthe-el, which is what it is still called today.

8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Israel's King Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Israel's King Jehu, saying, "Come on! Let's go head-to-head."

9 But Israel's King Joash responded to Judah's King Amaziah, "Once upon a time, a thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.' But then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle.

10 You have definitely defeated Edom and have now become conceited. Enjoy the honor, but stay home. Why invite disaster when both you and Judah will fall?"

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb Jehoash (also in 14:9, 11, 13, 15, 16-17); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoash or short Joash form. The latter is the form used in 2 Chron.