The big picture
Amaziah becomes king of Judah, the southern kingdom, after his father is killed. Israel, the northern kingdom, is ruled by Jehoash, a different member of another royal family. Both kings win battles, but their conflict brings disaster to Judah. Amaziah's first success feeds a challenge he cannot win. Later reigns bring changes of land and ruler. God still helps the suffering northern people, though their kings have not given up false worship.
In this chapter
- Amaziah Limits Revenge to the Guilty 2 Kings 14:1-7
Amaziah starts his reign at twenty-five and rules from Jerusalem for twenty-nine years.
- Amaziah Ignores a Warning and Falls 2 Kings 14:8-14
Amaziah challenges Jehoash to face him in battle.
- Amaziah Dies and His Son Rules 2 Kings 14:15-22
Jehoash dies and his son Jeroboam takes Israel's throne.
- Mercy Helps Israel Under an Evil King 2 Kings 14:23-29
Jeroboam rules Israel for forty-one years and keeps the sins of his earlier namesake.
Central truth
Victory makes Amaziah overconfident, while Israel's later recovery shows God's care for suffering people despite their ruler's evil ways.
Scripture beside the summary
2 Kings · King James Version · 292 Kings 14:1-7
Amaziah Limits Revenge to the Guilty
Amaziah starts his reign at twenty-five and rules from Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. He does right before God, though not with the faithfulness of David, his royal ancestor. Local worship sites remain in use. Once his rule is secure, he kills those who murdered his father. He spares their children, following the law given through Moses that each person answers for their own sin. He then kills ten thousand Edomites in battle and captures Selah, renaming it Joktheel.
In everyday life
A factory investigator names the workers who deliberately broke a machine but removes their relatives from the dismissal list. An angry owner wants whole households punished. The investigator holds to the evidence about each person's act. Family ties alone do not decide guilt. Amaziah applies a divine law while executing murderers, not deciding employment claims.
Notice
2 Kings 14:6 The murderers' children are spared because a written law limits punishment. The king's loss of his father does not give him unlimited rights of revenge.
2 Kings 14:1-7
King James Version1In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
2He 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.
3And 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.
4Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
5And 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.
6But 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.
7He 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.
2 Kings 14:8-14
Amaziah Ignores a Warning and Falls
Amaziah challenges Jehoash to face him in battle. Jehoash answers with a fable: a thistle claims equality with a cedar, then a beast crushes it. He says victory over Edom has made Amaziah proud and urges him to stay home. Amaziah refuses. Judah loses at Beth-shemesh, and its king is captured. Jehoash breaks down part of Jerusalem's wall, takes temple and palace wealth, and carries away hostages. One king's inflated view of his strength brings loss to the people he rules.
In everyday life
The amateur boxer demands a bout with a much stronger opponent after one local win. His coach points to the gap in skill, but he waves the warning away. Friends at ringside watch his confidence turn to alarm once the bout starts. Judah's defeat costs a city its wall, wealth and hostages, far more than a sporting loss.
Notice
2 Kings 14:10 Jehoash names Amaziah's recent success as the source of his pride. A real victory has led him to misjudge a different and stronger opponent.
2 Kings 14:8-14
King James Version8Then 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.
9And 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.
10Thou 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?
11But 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.
12And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
13And 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.
14And 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.
2 Kings 14:15-22
Amaziah Dies and His Son Rules
Jehoash dies and his son Jeroboam takes Israel's throne. Amaziah lives another fifteen years, but a plot against him forms in Jerusalem. He flees to Lachish, a town in Judah. His pursuers find and kill him there. His body returns on horses for burial in the royal city. Judah's people then make his sixteen-year-old son Azariah king. The new ruler rebuilds Elath and restores it to Judah. The line continues after murder, and some land is recovered under the next reign.
In everyday life
A family solicitor lays a death certificate beside the papers naming a young heir. Relatives have barely begun mourning when questions about the estate demand answers. The new name brings continuity, but the empty chair remains visible at the table. Azariah inherits a kingdom after a killing, not a private estate after a natural death.
Notice
2 Kings 14:21 The people make the sixteen-year-old son king. The account moves from the father's violent end to a public act that keeps the royal line going.
2 Kings 14:15-22
King James Version15Now 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?
16And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.
17And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
18And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
19Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
20And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
21And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
22He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.
2 Kings 14:23-29
Mercy Helps Israel Under an Evil King
Jeroboam rules Israel for forty-one years and keeps the sins of his earlier namesake. Yet he restores Israel's borders as God had said through Jonah, a prophet from Gath-hepher. God sees the people's bitter distress and lack of help. He has not said he will erase Israel's name, so he saves them through this king. The reign includes gains by war before Jeroboam dies and Zachariah succeeds him. These gains reveal God's compassion, not approval of the king's worship.
In everyday life
A relief coordinator sends food through a local landlord known for treating tenants badly. Families need help now, and he controls the only open storage yard. The aid reaches them without making his past actions right. God's rescue through Jeroboam likewise does not cancel the stated judgement that this king does evil.
Notice
2 Kings 14:26 Israel has no helper when God sees its distress. The reason for rescue is the people's need, despite the failure of the man who becomes its instrument.
2 Kings 14:23-29
King James Version23In 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.
24And 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.
25He 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.
26For 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.
27And 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.
28Now 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?
29And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
2 Kings 14:1 begins with “In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.”
Where the chapter turns
2 Kings 14:15 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
2 Kings 14:29 leaves the reader with “And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Israel, king, Judah, Amaziah, Jehoash, Joash help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
- hath
- has
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
