Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 14

Introduction

Second Kings Chapter 14

2 Kings 14:1 "In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah."

In 2 Kings 12:21, we read of Amaziah reigning in Judah in the place of his father Joash, who had died. The Joash of Israel and the Joash of Judah reigned at the same time for a short period of time. "Amaziah" means strength of Jehovah.

2 Kings 14:2 "He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Jehoaddan of Jerusalem."

He reigned from the time he was 25, until he was 54 years old. His mother’s name Jehoaddan was, also, thought to be Joadim, or Jodade. "Jehoaddan" means Jehovah delights. She was the queen with Joash as king.

2 Kings 14:3 "And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did."

He was descended from David, but Joash was his father. He was attempting to do that which was right in the sight of the LORD. Asa was the only descendent of David, up until this time, who had lived as good as David in the sight of the LORD. Amaziah was a good king, but he did not quite measure up to David. He was zealous for the LORD in the beginning, but he faltered in the latter part of his reign.

2 Kings 14:4 "Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places."

God wanted them to worship and burn incense in the temple in Jerusalem. Anything other than what He had established, would be sin.

2 Kings 14:5 "And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father."

We remember, that Joash had been killed by some of his own men. Their treachery led to their own death here, when Amaziah killed them.

2 Kings 14:6 "But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

The people of this land had been guilty of killing the children of the offenders, along with their fathers who were the offenders. Amaziah did not do that. He followed the LORD’s teaching, which said each man should die for his own sin. The children should not be required to die for the sins of their fathers. At least, in this action, Amaziah had shown great restraint.

2 Kings 14:7 "He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day."

Amaziah battled with Edom at the Dead Sea, or the Salt Sea, and it appears, he killed ten thousand of them. The valley of salt is right there by the Salt Sea. Selah, here, is believed to be the same as Petra. "Joktheel" means subdued of God.

2 Kings 14:8 "Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face."

Amaziah of Judah sent word to Joash of Israel, that he would like to see him and talk to him face to face.

2 Kings 14:9 "And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that [was] in Lebanon sent to the cedar that [was] in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that [was] in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle."

A thistle is nothing compared to a cedar. This seems to be speaking of someone held in low esteem, asking for the hand of the daughter of someone held in high esteem. When two people marry, it is as if they are on equal standing. The thistle is saying, he is equal with the cedar. It appears, the answer is to insult Amaziah. There is even a threat involved, with the wild beast mentioned.

2 Kings 14:10 "Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory [of this], and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to [thy] hurt, that thou shouldest fall, [even] thou, and Judah with thee?"

He thinks that Amaziah is overly proud of destroying Edom. He is, also, warning Amaziah that he might attack him and Judah. He thinks that his 3 victories of Syria make him equal, or better, than Judah.

2 Kings 14:11 "But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which [belongeth] to Judah."

Beth-shemesh was in Judah’s land. It appears the two armies met at this point.

2 Kings 14:12 "And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents."

In this initial battle, Israel won. Judah fled from the front and went home.

2 Kings 14:13 "And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits."

Whether the troops of Amaziah ran, and left him to be captured by Jehoash, or not, we do not know. We do know, that Amaziah was captured. He took the king with him to Jerusalem, and tore down 600 feet of the wall of the city. We are not told whether Amaziah’s men did not fight back, because they did not want to get their leader killed, or whether they just ran in fear.

2 Kings 14:14 "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 hostages, and returned to Samaria."

There could not have been very much silver and gold, because about 15 years earlier the silver and gold had all been given to Hazael to stop warring with them. Whatever had been accumulated in the meantime, was taken. They, also, took hostages. The first mention of taking hostages had to do with the Persians taking Lot hostage. This was not a custom of the Hebrews.

2 Kings 14:15 "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?"

2 Kings 14:16 "And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead."

This is that same record book, that had been kept of the exploits of all the kings of Israel. That book is not part of the Bible, however. Jehoash or, Joash, wound up being an evil king. He named his son after the evil Jeroboam, who brought in the golden calf to be worshipped.

2 Kings 14:17 "And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years."

We see, from this, that Amaziah was not killed in the battle with Joash of Israel. Joash stole the valuables, but undoubtedly let Amaziah go.

2 Kings 14:18 "And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"

As Israel had a record book of their kings, so did Judah. His exploits were kept in the book of Judah’s records.

2 Kings 14:19 "Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there."

This is speaking of Amaziah. He was killed by his own people, to get a new leader in his place.

2 Kings 14:20 "And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David."

They did respect him enough to bring his body back to Jerusalem for burial.

2 Kings 14:21 "And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which [was] sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah."

Azariah is spoken of in other places as Uzziah. "Azariah" means whom God hath helped. "Uzziah" means might of Jehovah. This is undoubtedly not the conspirators, who set up Azariah as king of Judah. This seems to be a people movement. The people feared the conspirators might try to put someone on the throne, who was not descended from king David.

2 Kings 14:22 "He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers."

It seemed as though he was an efficient king, even though he started so young. Elath had been the headquarters for the fleet of Solomon. It was located on the northeast end of the Gulf of Aqabah. It was a place, that swapped back and forth between Judah and Edom. Perhaps, they had gotten it back in the last war with Edom.

2 Kings 14:23 "In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, [and reigned] forty and one years."

It appears, that now Jeroboam the second is ruling Israel. He was an evil idolatrous king. He was very powerful, though.

2 Kings 14:24 "And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."

Here, again, we see that the worship of the golden calf was continuing.

2 Kings 14:25 "He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which [was] of Gath-hepher."

This king will lead Israel as a nation to greatness again, except that he did not lead them in their spiritual renewal. They still sinned against God, but on the other hand, we find him listening to the prophet Jonah. The entering in of Hamoth was thought to be the northern border of the holy land. The sea of the plain is, possibly, speaking of the Dead Sea. It appears, Jonah was a prophet at the time of Amos and Hosea. Gath-hepher is not far from Mount Tabor.

2 Kings 14:26 "For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, [that it was] very bitter: for [there was] not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel."

The Israelites had suffered greatly at the hands of the Syrians. It is not because Jeroboam the second is a good man, but because of God’s mercy on Israel, that they are blessed through Jeroboam the second.

2 Kings 14:27 "And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash."

They do not deserve God’s compassion, and neither does Jeroboam the second. God loves them, even while they are involved in their sins. He loved all of us, when we were yet in sin, too. He will not blot their name out, even though they are still worshipping the golden calf.

2 Kings 14:28 "Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?"

He was a warrior, who actually recovered much of the land Syria had taken away. He would have much written in the record books, of how he regained much of the land for Israel.

2 Kings 14:29 "And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, [even] with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead."

Jeroboam the second did much for the land of Israel. He was an evil idolatrous king, however. In Zachariah, we see the fulfillment of the promise that the LORD made to Jehu. His descendents for 4 generations would sit on the throne of Israel. Zachariah would be another evil king. "Zachariah" means whom Jehovah remembers.

2 Kings 14 Questions

1. What does "Amaziah" mean?

2. How old was Amaziah, when he began to reign?

3. How old was he, when his reign ended?

4. Who was his mother?

5. What does "Jehoaddan" mean?

6. He did that which was ___________ in the sight of God.

7. He was not like David, but like his ___________.

8. What was one thing that remained, that displeased God?

9. Who did he kill, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hands?

10. Why did he not kill their children?

11. How many of Edom did he kill in the valley of salt?

12. Where is the valley of salt?

13. What message did Amaziah send to Jehoash?

14. What is 2 Kings 14:9 really speaking about?

15. What does Jehoash really think about Amaziah?

16. Where did they meet face to face?

17. What was the outcome?

18. What happened to Amaziah?

19. What did the king of Israel do in Jerusalem?

20. What places did he plunder?

21. Who took Jehoash’s place in Israel?

22. Who is verse 19 speaking of?

23. Where was he killed?

24. How did they bring him back for burial.

25. Who did the people anoint king of Judah?

26. How old was he, when he was crowned king?

27. What was another name he was called?

28. Elath was famous for what?

29. How long did the second Jeroboam reign in Israel?

30. What kind of king was he?

31. Who was the prophet he listened to?

32. Why were the Israelites blessed of God?

33. What does "Zachariah" mean?

Verse 1

2Ki 14:1