2 Kings 14 Study Notes: Amaziah’s Pride and Jeroboam II
Amaziah of Judah defeats Edom and spares his father’s assassins’ sons as Moses’ law requires, but pride drives him to challenge Jehoash of Israel, who routs Judah and plunders Jerusalem. Jeroboam II, though evil, restores Israel’s borders as Jonah foretold, because God pitied Israel’s suffering.
General
What happened when Amaziah ignored Jehoash’s warning (2 Kings 14:11-14)?
Answer: Judah was routed, Amaziah was captured, and the temple was plundered
Amaziah ignored the warning (14:11). The two kings met in battle at Beth-shemesh, and Judah’s army was routed, each soldier running back home. Jehoash captured Amaziah himself, then went on to Jerusalem, broke down a long stretch of the city wall, and carried off the gold, silver and articles from the temple and from the palace treasuries, along with hostages (14:11-14). Jehoash had warned that pressing the fight would bring down both Amaziah and Judah (14:10), and that is what happened: Amaziah’s pride led to his own fall and to Judah’s humiliation, as Scripture warns that pride brings a person low (Proverbs 29:23).
- 2 Kings 14:11-14 (BSB)“But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home. There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits. He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.”Judah is defeated, Amaziah captured, and Jerusalem’s wall and treasures taken.
- 2 Kings 14:10 (BSB)“You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?””Jehoash had warned that Amaziah’s challenge would bring down both him and Judah.
- Proverbs 29:23 (BSB)“A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.”Amaziah’s pride brought him low, as this proverb says pride does.
Theological
What consequences followed Amaziah’s refusal to heed Jehoash (2 Kings 14:11-14)?
Answer: Judah was routed, Amaziah was captured, and the temple was plundered
Amaziah disregards the warning (14:11), and the outcome is exactly what Jehoash predicted when he warned that both king and kingdom would fall (14:10): Judah is routed at Beth-shemesh, Amaziah is taken prisoner, a long section of Jerusalem’s wall is torn down, and the treasures of the temple and palace are carried off to Samaria with hostages (14:11-14). Pride brings its own humiliation (Proverbs 29:23).
- 2 Kings 14:11-14 (BSB)“But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home. There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits. He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.”Judah is defeated, Amaziah captured, and Jerusalem’s wall and treasures taken.
- 2 Kings 14:10 (BSB)“You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?””Jehoash had warned that Amaziah’s challenge would bring down both him and Judah.
- Proverbs 29:23 (BSB)“A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.”Amaziah’s pride brought him low, as this proverb says pride does.
General
True or False: Amaziah was killed in the battle at Beth-shemesh when Jehoash of Israel defeated him (2 Kings 14:13, 19).
Answer: False
This is false. Jehoash captured Amaziah at Beth-shemesh but did not kill him (14:13), and Amaziah lived on for years after Jehoash died (14:17). His end came later, when conspirators in Jerusalem plotted against him. He escaped to Lachish, but pursuers caught up with him there and killed him, and his body was carried home and buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem (14:19-20). Like his father Joash, who was murdered by his own servants (2 Kings 12:20-21), Amaziah died at the hands of his own people.
- 2 Kings 14:13 (BSB)“There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.”Jehoash captures Amaziah at Beth-shemesh rather than killing him.
- 2 Kings 14:19-20 (BSB)“And conspirators plotted against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. They carried him back on horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.”Amaziah is later killed at Lachish by conspirators and buried in Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 12:20-21 (BSB)“And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.”Amaziah’s father Joash had also been killed by a conspiracy of his own servants.
- 2 Kings 14:17 (BSB)“Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.”Amaziah outlived Jehoash, the king who had captured him, by fifteen years.
Theological
True or False: Amaziah died at Jehoash’s hand in the rout at Beth-shemesh (2 Kings 14:13, 19).
Answer: False
This is false. Jehoash takes Amaziah captive but spares his life (14:13), and Amaziah outlives his conqueror (14:17). He dies instead by conspiracy at home: he flees Jerusalem for Lachish, is pursued and killed there, and is carried back for burial with his fathers (14:19-20). His death echoes his father’s assassination by his own servants (2 Kings 12:20-21).
- 2 Kings 14:13 (BSB)“There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.”Jehoash captures Amaziah at Beth-shemesh rather than killing him.
- 2 Kings 14:19-20 (BSB)“And conspirators plotted against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. They carried him back on horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.”Amaziah is later killed at Lachish by conspirators and buried in Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 12:20-21 (BSB)“And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.”Amaziah’s father Joash had also been killed by a conspiracy of his own servants.
- 2 Kings 14:17 (BSB)“Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.”Amaziah outlived Jehoash, the king who had captured him, by fifteen years.
General
How does the narrator evaluate Judah’s King Amaziah (2 Kings 14:3-4)?
Answer: He pleased the LORD, yet fell short of David and left the high places standing
Amaziah receives a mixed verdict. The LORD approved of his conduct, but he did not measure up to his ancestor David; he followed the pattern of his father Joash instead (14:3). And the high places, local hilltop shrines where people offered sacrifices away from the one place God had chosen for worship, stayed in use, with the people still bringing sacrifices and incense to them (14:4). God’s law told Israel to bring their offerings only to the place He would choose (Deuteronomy 12:13-14). David is the standard the book uses to measure Judah’s kings; Amaziah’s descendant Hezekiah would later be praised for matching David fully (2 Kings 18:3).
- 2 Kings 14:3-4 (BSB)“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. He did everything as his father Joash had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.”Amaziah is approved, but not like David, and the high places remain.
- Deuteronomy 12:13-14 (BSB)“Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.”The law limited offerings to the place the LORD would choose, which the high places ignored.
- 2 Kings 18:3 (BSB)“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.”Hezekiah is later measured by the same standard and found to match David.
Theological
What is the narrator’s verdict on Amaziah’s reign (2 Kings 14:3-4)?
Answer: He pleased the LORD, yet fell short of David and left the high places standing
Amaziah’s evaluation is qualified twice: his conduct is approved, but not to the Davidic standard, being modeled on Joash rather than David (14:3), and the high places remain in active use for sacrifice and incense (14:4). The law had restricted sacrificial worship to the single sanctuary God would select (Deuteronomy 12:13-14), so the persistence of the high places marks an incomplete reform. David remains the benchmark of the book’s verdicts, a benchmark Amaziah’s descendant Hezekiah is later said to reach (2 Kings 18:3).
- 2 Kings 14:3-4 (BSB)“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. He did everything as his father Joash had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.”Amaziah is approved, but not like David, and the high places remain.
- Deuteronomy 12:13-14 (BSB)“Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.”The law limited offerings to the place the LORD would choose, which the high places ignored.
- 2 Kings 18:3 (BSB)“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.”Hezekiah is later measured by the same standard and found to match David.
General
What does the narrator say about Jeroboam, the son of Israel’s King Jehoash (2 Kings 14:23-24)?
Answer: He did evil and clung to the sins of the first Jeroboam, Nebat’s son
This Jeroboam, often called Jeroboam II, was the son of Israel’s King Jehoash. He is a different man from Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who had led the northern tribes away from David’s house generations earlier. The narrator judges his reign evil in the LORD’s sight: he never departed from the sins the first Jeroboam had led Israel into (14:24). Those sins were above all the two golden calves the first Jeroboam set up at Bethel and Dan, telling the people that going to Jerusalem to worship was too much for them (1 Kings 12:28-30). The LORD had warned that He would give Israel up because of those sins (1 Kings 14:16).
- 2 Kings 14:24 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.”Jeroboam son of Jehoash receives the standard verdict of the northern kings.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (BSB)“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.”The first Jeroboam set up the golden calves, the sin later kings kept.
- 1 Kings 14:16 (BSB)“So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””The LORD warned that Israel would be given up because of these sins.
Theological
What is the narrator’s verdict on Jehoash’s son Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:23-24)?
Answer: He did evil and clung to the sins of the first Jeroboam, Nebat’s son
Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash of Israel, shares his name with the northern kingdom’s founder, and the narrator’s verdict ties him to that founder: his reign is evil in the LORD’s sight, and he perpetuates every one of the sins Nebat’s son Jeroboam had made Israel commit (14:24). Those sins center on the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, the state worship created to keep Israel from worshiping in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28-30), the sin for which the LORD had already announced that He would give Israel up (1 Kings 14:16).
- 2 Kings 14:24 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.”Jeroboam son of Jehoash receives the standard verdict of the northern kings.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (BSB)“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.”The first Jeroboam set up the golden calves, the sin later kings kept.
- 1 Kings 14:16 (BSB)“So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.””The LORD warned that Israel would be given up because of these sins.
General
According to 2 Kings 14:25, what was behind Jeroboam’s success in restoring Israel’s borders?
Answer: It fulfilled the word the LORD had given by the prophet Jonah
Jeroboam pushed Israel’s border back out to its old northern and southern limits, and the narrator says this fulfilled the word the LORD had spoken through Jonah son of Amittai, a prophet from the town of Gath-hepher (14:25). This is the same Jonah whom the LORD sent to the city of Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2). His prophecy about Israel’s borders is not recorded elsewhere, but its fulfillment marks him as a true prophet, since the law said a word that does not come true was not from the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:22). Even under a king who did evil, events unfolded as God had said. He is also the same prophet Jonah whom Jesus later mentioned, speaking of Jonah’s time in the great fish and of Nineveh’s repentance at his preaching (Matthew 12:40-41).
- 2 Kings 14:25 (BSB)“This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.”Jeroboam’s recovery of territory fulfills the word spoken through Jonah son of Amittai.
- Jonah 1:1-2 (BSB)“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.””The same Jonah son of Amittai is the prophet the LORD sent to Nineveh.
- Deuteronomy 18:22 (BSB)“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”A prophet’s word coming true is the law’s mark that the LORD spoke it.
- Matthew 12:40-41 (BSB)“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.”Jesus speaks of the prophet Jonah, his time in the great fish, and Nineveh’s repentance at his preaching.
Theological
How does the narrator account for the territorial recovery under Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:25)?
Answer: It fulfilled the word the LORD had given by the prophet Jonah
The narrator attributes Jeroboam’s restoration of Israel’s historic borders to the fulfillment of the LORD’s word through Jonah of Gath-hepher (14:25), the same prophet the LORD sent to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2). The prophecy itself is otherwise unrecorded, but its fulfillment authenticates Jonah by the test of Deuteronomy 18:22 and shows the LORD directing Israel’s history by His word even through an evil king. He is the same prophet Jonah whom Jesus later mentioned, recalling his time in the great fish and Nineveh’s repentance at his preaching (Matthew 12:40-41).
- 2 Kings 14:25 (BSB)“This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.”Jeroboam’s recovery of territory fulfills the word spoken through Jonah son of Amittai.
- Jonah 1:1-2 (BSB)“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.””The same Jonah son of Amittai is the prophet the LORD sent to Nineveh.
- Deuteronomy 18:22 (BSB)“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”A prophet’s word coming true is the law’s mark that the LORD spoke it.
- Matthew 12:40-41 (BSB)“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.”Jesus speaks of the prophet Jonah, his time in the great fish, and Nineveh’s repentance at his preaching.
General
Why did the LORD save Israel through Jeroboam, even though Jeroboam did evil (2 Kings 14:26-27)?
Answer: He saw Israel’s bitter suffering with no helper, and had said it would endure
The narrator gives two reasons. First, the LORD saw how bitter Israel’s suffering was, for everyone, slave and free alike, and they had no helper (14:26). Second, the LORD had already declared that Israel’s name would not be wiped out, so He saved them through Jeroboam (14:27). The rescue came from God’s compassion, not from the king’s goodness, since Jeroboam did evil (14:24). Moses had sung that the LORD would show mercy to His people when He saw their strength was spent (Deuteronomy 32:36), and the narrator had already said the LORD showed Israel grace for the sake of the covenant He had made with the patriarchs (2 Kings 13:23). God’s mercy is why His people are not consumed (Lamentations 3:22).
- 2 Kings 14:26-27 (BSB)“For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel, and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.”The LORD sees Israel’s bitter affliction and saves them through Jeroboam.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 (BSB)“For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.”Moses’ song promised the LORD’s compassion when His people’s strength was gone, slave or free.
- 2 Kings 13:23 (BSB)“But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.”The narrator already traced the LORD’s compassion on Israel to His covenant with the patriarchs.
- Lamentations 3:22 (BSB)“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.”God’s loving devotion and mercies are why His people are not consumed.
Theological
What reasons does the narrator give for the LORD’s deliverance of Israel under Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:26-27)?
Answer: He saw Israel’s bitter suffering with no helper, and had said it would endure
The deliverance is grounded entirely in the LORD: He sees the bitterness of Israel’s affliction, extending to slave and free, with no helper left (14:26), and He has declared that Israel’s name will not be erased (14:27). The instrument is a king whose reign is judged evil (14:24), so the rescue is pure compassion, not reward. The language echoes Deuteronomy 32:36, where the LORD vindicates His people once their strength has failed, and repeats the narrator’s earlier note that the LORD showed Israel grace because of the patriarchal covenant (2 Kings 13:23). His mercies are the reason His people are not consumed (Lamentations 3:22).
- 2 Kings 14:26-27 (BSB)“For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel, and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.”The LORD sees Israel’s bitter affliction and saves them through Jeroboam.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 (BSB)“For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.”Moses’ song promised the LORD’s compassion when His people’s strength was gone, slave or free.
- 2 Kings 13:23 (BSB)“But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.”The narrator already traced the LORD’s compassion on Israel to His covenant with the patriarchs.
- Lamentations 3:22 (BSB)“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.”God’s loving devotion and mercies are why His people are not consumed.
General
When Amaziah punished his father’s assassins, why did he spare their sons (2 Kings 14:5-6)?
Answer: He followed Moses’ law, which forbade executing children for a parent’s crime
Once his rule was secure, Amaziah put to death the royal servants who had killed King Joash, his father (14:5; see 2 Kings 12:20-21). But he did not kill their sons. The narrator explains why: Amaziah was obeying the written law of Moses, in which God ruled that parents and children are not to be executed for one another, but each person bears the penalty of his own guilt (14:6, citing Deuteronomy 24:16). The prophet Ezekiel later taught the same principle of personal accountability before God (Ezekiel 18:20). In this act, Amaziah let God’s word restrain his royal power.
- 2 Kings 14:5-6 (BSB)“As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king. Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.””Amaziah executes his father’s killers but spares their sons according to the law.
- Deuteronomy 24:16 (BSB)“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”This is the statute Amaziah obeyed, quoted in 14:6.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (BSB)“The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.”Ezekiel restates the same principle that each person answers for his own guilt.
- 2 Kings 12:20-21 (BSB)“And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.”This records the murder of Joash by his servants, the crime Amaziah punished.
Theological
On what basis did Amaziah refrain from executing the assassins’ sons (2 Kings 14:5-6)?
Answer: He followed Moses’ law, which forbade executing children for a parent’s crime
Having consolidated power, Amaziah executes his father’s assassins (14:5; cf. 2 Kings 12:20-21) but spares their sons, and the narrator grounds the restraint explicitly in the written Torah, citing the statute that neither parent nor child is to be executed for the other’s guilt (14:6; Deuteronomy 24:16). Ezekiel later restates this principle of individual accountability (Ezekiel 18:20). The episode shows a king submitting his justice to the law of God.
- 2 Kings 14:5-6 (BSB)“As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king. Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.””Amaziah executes his father’s killers but spares their sons according to the law.
- Deuteronomy 24:16 (BSB)“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”This is the statute Amaziah obeyed, quoted in 14:6.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (BSB)“The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.”Ezekiel restates the same principle that each person answers for his own guilt.
- 2 Kings 12:20-21 (BSB)“And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.”This records the murder of Joash by his servants, the crime Amaziah punished.
General
In Jehoash’s story of the thistle and the cedar, what point was he making to Amaziah (2 Kings 14:9-10)?
Answer: Beating Edom had made Amaziah proud; he should stay home or be crushed
Fresh from his victory over Edom (14:7), Amaziah challenged Israel’s King Jehoash, inviting him to meet in battle (14:8). Jehoash answered with a fable. A lowly thistle in Lebanon asked a mighty cedar to give its daughter as a wife for the thistle’s son, and then a wild animal passing by trampled the thistle (14:9). Amaziah was the thistle, small but overconfident. Jehoash then spelled out the point: defeating Edom had made Amaziah’s heart proud; he should enjoy that honor at home rather than provoke a fight that would bring down both him and Judah (14:10). Scripture warns that pride goes ahead of ruin (Proverbs 16:18), and that God sets Himself against the proud (James 4:6).
- 2 Kings 14:9-10 (BSB)“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. You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?””Jehoash tells the fable of the thistle and the cedar and applies it to Amaziah’s pride.
- 2 Kings 14:7 (BSB)“Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.”Amaziah’s victory over the Edomites, the success Jehoash says has made him proud.
- Proverbs 16:18 (BSB)“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”This proverb states the principle Jehoash’s warning illustrates.
- James 4:6 (BSB)“But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.””James shows that God sets Himself against the proud, as Amaziah would learn.
Theological
What is the thrust of Jehoash’s thistle-and-cedar fable in reply to Amaziah’s challenge (2 Kings 14:8-10)?
Answer: Beating Edom had made Amaziah proud; he should stay home or be crushed
Emboldened by his Edomite victory (14:7), Amaziah challenges Israel’s King Jehoash (14:8). Jehoash replies with a fable in which a thistle presumes to bargain with a cedar as an equal and is casually trampled by a wild animal (14:9), then applies it directly: success against Edom has made Amaziah’s heart proud, and pressing the challenge will ruin both king and kingdom (14:10). The warning embodies the proverb that pride precedes destruction (Proverbs 16:18) and the principle that God resists the arrogant (James 4:6).
- 2 Kings 14:9-10 (BSB)“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. You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?””Jehoash tells the fable of the thistle and the cedar and applies it to Amaziah’s pride.
- 2 Kings 14:7 (BSB)“Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.”Amaziah’s victory over the Edomites, the success Jehoash says has made him proud.
- Proverbs 16:18 (BSB)“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”This proverb states the principle Jehoash’s warning illustrates.
- James 4:6 (BSB)“But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.””James shows that God sets Himself against the proud, as Amaziah would learn.