2 Kings 14 Study Notes

14:17-18 Note that v. 17 says that Amaziah lived rather than “reigned” fifteen years after Jehoash’s death.

14:19-21 A long co-regency is necessary to explain the numbers given (15:2). Therefore, the statement the people of Judah . . . made him [Azariah] king may have been a flashback reference to when the people forced this co-regency on Amaziah because of his political and military bungling (and idolatry as well, according to 2Ch 25:14). It is likely that Amaziah’s death, though some years later, also was a result of such dissatisfaction.

14:22 Azariah, also called Uzziah—Amaziah’s son—succeeded him as king of Judah. It is unusual to list an achievement of the new king in the closing formula of the old king. The reason may have been that Azariah was already executing much royal power during the co-regency and, although the deed was not finally completed until after Amaziah’s death, the achievement represented Azariah’s efforts during the co-regency.

14:23-29 A secular historian could be astounded that the Bible gives so little attention to one of the three or four greatest kings of the Hebrews. Some have concluded that the power and wealth of the two combined Hebrew kingdoms at the time of Jeroboam II approached the wealth and power of Solomon. The purpose of the text, however, was not to recognize secular greatness but greatness in terms of the royal covenants. Therefore, any secular achievements, which could not be related to God’s glory, were irrelevant and thus were not given substantial coverage.

14:23-24 The formulaic opener contains the usual data, including the stereotypical condemnation that Jeroboam (Jeroboam II) of Israel had not departed from the sin of Jeroboam I.

14:25 The Bible writer recognized the territorial expansionism of Jeroboam II, whose kingdom fell short of Solomon’s northern boundary at Tiphsah on the Euphrates River. Jeroboam II’s boundary reached only to Lebo-hamath. In the south, his territory reached to the Sea of the Arabah, clearly the Dead Sea since this body of water was under the slopes of Pisgah (Dt 3:17). Only here do we find that Jonah, the minor prophet, joined with Elisha in prophesying this restoration of Hebrew power.

14:26-27 Again, as with Jehoash (13:23), these deliverances were because of God’s mercy and grace rather than the righteousness of the king. God intervened to prevent his wayward people from being totally annihilated. The reason is arresting but simple: God had not decided to blot out the name of Israel under heaven.

14:28-29 The closing comments are typical formula, except for another statement about Jeroboam’s (Jeroboam II’s) effectiveness in foreign affairs.