2 Kings 14:1-22

1 In the second year of Jehoash , the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah, the son of Joash , king of Judah, reigned (began to reign).
2 Amaziah was of five and twenty years, when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem nine and twenty years; the name of his mother was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
3 And he did rightfulness before the Lord, nevertheless not as David, his father, did; he did by all things that Joash, his father, did, (And he did what was right before the Lord, but not as his forefather David did; he did all things, that his father Joash did,)
4 no but this only, that he did not away (the) high things; for yet the people made sacrifice, and burnt incense in (the) high things. (in all but this only, that he did not do away the hill shrines; for yet the people made sacrifice, and burned incense at the hill shrines.)
5 And when he had gotten the realm, he smote his servants, that had killed the king, his father;
6 but he killed not the sons of them that had slain the king/that had slain his father, by that that is written in the book of the law of Moses, as the Lord commanded to Moses, and said, [The] Fathers shall not die for the sons, neither the sons for the fathers, but each man shall die in his own sin (but each man shall die for his own sin).
7 He smote Edom in the valley of (the) makings of salt, he smote ten thousand (men), and took the Stone in battle (and took Selah in battle); and he called the name thereof Joktheel , (which it is still called) unto this present day.
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, and said, Come thou, and see we us in battle/Come thou, and see we us (Come thou, let us have a meeting).
9 And Jehoash, king of Israel, sent again to Amaziah, king of Judah, and said mystically, The carduus, or thistle, that is, a low herb, and full of thorns, of the Lebanon sent to the cedar, that is in the Lebanon, and said, Give thy daughter (as) wife to my son; and the beasts of the forest, that be in the Lebanon, passed forth, and trode down the carduus.
10 Thou hast smitten Edom, and haddest the mastery upon it, and thine heart hath raised thee (up); be thou satisfied with this glory, and sit in thine house; why excitest thou evil, or stirrest thou (up) evil, so that thou fall, and Judah with thee?
11 And Amaziah assented not to be in peace; and Jehoash, king of Israel, went up, and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, saw themselves (when they met in battle) in Bethshemesh, a city of Judah. (But Amaziah assented not to be at peace; and so Jehoash, the king of Israel, went up, and he and Amaziah, the king of Judah, faced each other when they met in battle, in Bethshemesh, a city of Judah.)
12 And Judah was smitten before Israel; and they fled each man into his tabernacles.
13 Soothly Jehoash, king of Israel, took in Bethshemesh Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and brought him into Jerusalem (And Jehoash, the king of Israel, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem); and he brake the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim unto the gate of the corner, by four hundred cubits.
14 And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels, that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king('s) (house); and he took hostages, and turned again into Samaria. (And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels, that were found in the House of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the palace; and he also took some hostages, and then returned to Samaria.)
15 Soothly the residue of [the] words of Jehoash, which he did, and his strength, by which he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?
16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam (II), his son, reigned for him.
17 Forsooth Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived five and twenty years, after that Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, was dead. (And Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after that Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, died.)
18 Forsooth the residue of the words of Amaziah, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Judah?
19 And swearing together, that is, conspiracy, in Jerusalem was made against him, and he fled into Lachish; and they sent after him into Lachish, and killed him there. (And a conspiracy was made against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they went after him to Lachish, and killed him there.)
20 And they bare out him in horses (And they brought back his body on a horse), and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city of David.
21 Forsooth all the people of Judah took Azariah, having sixteen years; and made him king for his father Amaziah. (And all the people of Judah took Azariah, also known as Uzziah, who was sixteen years old; and made him king for his father Amaziah.)
22 He builded Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. (And he built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that King Amaziah slept with his forefathers, or died.)

2 Kings 14:1-22 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.