Melachim Bais 14

1 4 In the second year of Yoash Ben Yehoachaz Melech Yisroel reigned Amatzyahu Ben Yoash Melech Yehudah.

2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign as melech, and reigned twenty and nine shanah in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Yehoaddin from Yerushalayim.

3 And he did that which was yashar in the eyes of Hashem, yet not like Dovid aviv; he did according to all things as Yoash aviv did.

4 Howbeit the [idolatrous] high places were not taken away; as yet HaAm did offer zevakhim and burn ketoret on the high places.

5 And it came to pass, as soon as the mamlakhah was chazakah in his yad, that he executed his avadim which had slain HaMelech aviv [Yoash, See 2Kgs 12:20-21].

6 But the banim of the makkim (assassins, murderers) he slaughtered not; according unto that which is written in the Sefer Torat Moshe, wherein Hashem commanded, saying, The avot shall not be put to death for the banim, nor the banim be put to death for the avot; but every ish shall be put to death for his own chet (sin) [Dt. 24:16].

7 He struck down Edom in the Gey HaMelach 10,000, and took Selah [Petra] in milchamah (battle), and called the shem of it Yokte’el unto this day.

8 Then Amatzyah sent malachim to Yehoash Ben Yehoachaz Ben Yehu Melech Yisroel, saying, Come, let us face off [in war].

9 And Yehoash Melech Yisroel sent to Amatzyah Melech Yehudah, saying, The thistle that was in Levanon sent to the erez (cedar) that was in Levanon, saying, Give thy bat to beni as isha; and there passed by a wild beast that was in Levanon, and trampled down the thistle.

10 Thou hast indeed struck down Edom, and thine lev hath lifted thee up; let thy honor save face, and tarry at home; for why shouldest thou ask for ra’ah, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Yehudah with thee?

11 But Amatzyah would not listen. Therefore Yehoash Melechm Yisroel went up; and he and Amatzyah Melech Yehudah faced off at Beit Shemesh, which belongeth to Yehudah.

12 And Yehudah went down in defeat before Yisroel; and they fled every ish to his ohel.

13 And Yehoash Melech Yisroel took captive Amatzyah Melech Yehudah Ben Yehoash Ben Achazyahu at Beit Shemesh, came to Yerushalayim, broke down the chomat Yerushalayim from the Sha’ar Ephrayim unto the Sha’ar HaPinnah—400 cubits.

14 And he took all the zahav and kesef, and all the kelim (vessels) that were found in the Beis Hashem, and in the otzarot of the Bais HaMelech, and Bnei HaTa’aruvot (Sons of the Hostages), and returned to Shomron.

15 Now the rest of the acts of Yehoash which he did, and his gevurah, and how he warred against Amatzyah Melech Yehudah, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim LMalkhei Yisroel?

16 And Yehoash slept with his avot, and was buried in Shomron with the Malkhei Yisroel; and Yarov‘am bno reigned in his place.

17 Amatzyah Ben Yoash Melech Yehudah lived after the mot Yehoash Ben Yehoachaz Melech Yisroel 15 shanah.

18 And the rest of the acts of Amatzyah, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYimim L’Malkhei Yehudah?

19 Now they plotted kesher against him in Yerushalayim; he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and assassinated him there.

20 And they brought him back on susim; and he was buried at Yerushalayim with his avot in Ir Dovid.

21 And kol Am Yehudah took Azaryah, who was 16 years old, and made him Melech in the place of aviv Amatzyah.

22 He rebuilt Eilat, restored it to Yehudah; after that HaMelech slept with his avot.

23 In the 15th year of Amatzyah Ben Yoash Melech Yehudah, Yarov‘am Ben Yoash Melech Yisroel began to reign as Melech in Shomron, and reigned 41 shanah.

24 And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem; he departed not from all the chattot Yarov‘am Ben Nevat, who caused Yisroel to commit sin.

25 He restored the boundary of Yisroel from the entrance of Chamat unto the yam of the Aravah, according to the Devar Hashem Elohei Yisroel, which He spoke by the yad of His Eved HaNavi Yonah Ben Amittai, who was of Gat HaChefer.

26 For Hashem saw the oni Yisroel, that it was mar me’od (very bitter) for there was neither atzur (slave) nor azuv (free), no ozer (helper) at all for Yisroel.

27 And Hashem had not said that He would blot out the shem of Yisroel from under Shomayim; but He saved them by the yad Yarov‘am Ben Yoash.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Yarov‘am, and all that he did, and his gevurah, how he warred, and how he won back Damascus and Chamat from Yehudah for Yisroel, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel?

29 And Yarov`am slept with his avot, even with the malkhei Yisroel; and Zecharyah bno reigned as Melech in his place.

Melachim Bais 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

Amaziah's good reign. (1-7) Amaziah provokes Jehoash king of Israel, and is overcome. (8-14) He is slain by conspirators. (15-22) Wicked reign of Jeroboam II. (23-29)

Verses 1-7 Amaziah began well, but did not go on so. It is not enough to do that which our pious predecessors did, merely to keep up the common usage, but we must do it as they did, from the same principle of faith and devotion, and with the same sincerity and resolution.

Verses 8-14 For some time after the division of the kingdoms, Judah suffered much from the enmity of Israel. After Asa's time, it suffered more by the friendship of Israel, and by the alliance made with them. Now we meet with hostility between them again. How may a humble man smile to hear two proud and scornful men set their wits on work, to vilify and undervalue one another! Unholy success excites pride; pride excites contentions. The effects of pride in others, are insufferable to those who are proud themselves. These are the sources of trouble and sin in private life; but when they arise between princes, they become the misery of their whole kingdoms. Jehoash shows Amaziah the folly of his challenge; Thine heart has lifted thee up. The root of all sin is in the heart, thence it flows. It is not Providence, the event, the occasion, whatever it is, that makes men proud, secure, discontented, or the like, but their own hearts do it.

Verses 15-22 Amaziah survived his conqueror fifteen years. He was slain by his own subjects. Azariah, or Uzziah, seems to have been very young when his father was slain. Though the years of his reign are reckoned from that event, he was not fully made king till eleven years afterwards.

Verses 23-29 God raised up the prophet Jonah, and by him declared the purposes of his favour to Israel. It is a sign that God has not cast off his people, if he continues faithful ministers among them. Two reasons are given why God blessed them with those victories: 1. Because the distress was very great, which made them objects of his compassion. 2. Because the decree was not yet gone forth for their destruction. Many prophets there had been in Israel, but none left prophecies in writing till this age, and their prophecies are part of the Bible. Hosea began to prophesy in the reign of this Jeroboam. At the same time Amos prophesied; soon after Micah, then Isaiah, in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah. Thus God, in the darkest and most degenerate ages of the church, raised up some to be burning and shining lights in it; to their own age, by their preaching and living, and a few by their writings, to reflect light upon us in the last times.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 14

In this chapter we have the good reign of Amaziah king of Judah, his victories over the Edomites, and war with Jehoash king of Israel, by whom he was taken, who died quickly after, 2Ki 14:1-16, but Amaziah lived fifteen years afterwards, and was slain by a conspiracy against him, and Azariah his son reigned in his stead, 2Ki 14:17-22, and a short account is given of the reign of Jeroboam the second, king of Israel, 2Ki 14:23-29.