The big picture
Amaziah's reign opens with a measured act of justice. He executes the servants who killed his father but does not kill their children, explicitly following the law of Moses. That restraint sits beside a qualified positive evaluation and a military success over Edom. Success then becomes the setting for overreach. Amaziah challenges Joash of Israel, ignores a humiliating fable warning him to stay home, and loses at Bethshemesh. Jerusalem's wall is breached, temple and palace treasure are taken, and hostages go north. Amaziah survives the rival king by fifteen years but eventually dies after a conspiracy reaches him at Lachish. Judah installs the young Azariah and continues. The northern half of the chapter then makes another important distinction: Jeroboam son of Joash remains under the Book of 2 Kings' condemnation for continuing Jeroboam's sins, yet he restores Israel's borders according to the word spoken through Jonah. The reason given is Israel's bitter affliction. National mercy does not require a flattering verdict on the ruler through whom it comes.
Central truth
Israel receives repeated deliverance through the Lord’s covenant mercy, yet persistent refusal of his word ends in Samaria’s exile while Judah follows dangerous paths.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
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.”
Slow down at the turning point
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…”
Keep this word trail visible
Israel, king, Judah, Amaziah, Jehoash, Joash
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
2 Kings 13:1-13
Mercy for an unfaithful house
Begin with the pattern that runs through the whole unit. Jehoahaz does evil, Israel is oppressed by Hazael, and then "Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him" (13:4), and gives Israel "a saviour". Explain "saviour" as a deliverer, used here as in the Book of Judges. Yet 13:6 says they kept the sins of Jeroboam. Teach this first because the class needs to see, before the long list of kings, that the LORD keeps answering a people who keep turning away, and that this mercy is the background to the end in chapter 17.
2 Kings 13:14-25
Arrows at a deathbed, and bones that give life
Joash of Israel visits the dying Elisha and weeps with the same words Elisha used for Elijah in 2:12: "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof". Then the acted sign: bow, arrow, the window open eastward, Elisha's hands on the king's. Then the strikes on the ground and the prophet's anger. Explain that the half-hearted strikes show the king's limited zeal. Then 13:20-21, the dead man who revives on touching Elisha's bones, and 13:23, the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The prophet dies, but the LORD's mercy does not.
2 Kings 14:1-22
Amaziah: the law obeyed and a pride punished
Introduce Amaziah of Judah, right "yet not like David his father". Read 14:5-6 and explain that sparing the children of murderers was unusual for a king, and follows Deuteronomy 24:16. Then the challenge to Israel, and the fable of the thistle and the cedar, which means a small power insulting a great one and being trampled. Explain "look one another in the face" as meet in battle. Teach Amaziah as the warning case of someone who obeys in one thing and is undone by pride in another.
2 Kings 14:23-15:38
A strong king, a leprous king and a string of murders
Cover this section with a two-kingdom chart rather than a lecture. Jeroboam II restores Israel's borders by the LORD's compassion, through a word from Jonah, even though he does evil. In Judah, Azariah, also called Uzziah, reigns long and well but is struck with leprosy and lives in "a several house", meaning a separate house. Then Israel's six kings in quick succession, four of them assassinated, tribute to Assyria and the first deportation. Read 15:12 to show Jehu's four generations ending as promised. Mention 15:16 briefly and soberly.
2 Kings 16:1-20
Ahaz and the altar from Damascus
Ahaz of Judah sacrifices his son in the fire, a practice of the nations the LORD drove out. When Syria and Israel besiege Jerusalem, he does not turn to the LORD but to Assyria, calling himself its servant and son and paying with temple treasure. Then the altar. Walk through 16:10-18 slowly: a pattern sent from Damascus, a priest who obeys, the LORD's bronze altar moved to one side, the furnishings cut down. Teach this step to show how fear of an enemy, met with the wrong help, can reshape worship itself.
2 Kings 17:1-23
Why Samaria fell
Read 17:1-6 for the event: Hoshea rebels, Shalmaneser besieges Samaria three years, and Israel is carried away. Then read 17:7-23 as the Book of 2 Kings' own explanation, the longest commentary in the book. Mark the key words: feared other gods, walked in the statutes of the heathen, the LORD testified, they would not hear, hardened their necks. Read 17:19, which warns that Judah is following too. Teach this at the heart of the unit, because it tells learners how to read every king before and after.
2 Kings 17:24-41
Fearing the LORD and serving their own gods
End with the new people settled in Samaria. Lions attack them, an exiled priest is sent back to teach them, and they add the LORD to their own gods. Read 17:33 and 17:41 aloud. Explain that this mixed worship is the background to later tension between Jews and Samaritans, and do not use it to mock any people. Teach it last because the whole unit has been building to this point: the problem was never that Israel forgot the LORD's name, but that they tried to fear him alongside others.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"Elisha was angry because Joash did not strike the ground the right number of times, so we must get the ritual exactly right."
Elisha does not give a number in advance; he is angry because three half-hearted strikes showed a king who did not want the full victory the LORD offered (13:18-19). The point is wholeheartedness, not counting. Do not turn this into a formula for prayer or a superstition about repetition. The fulfilment in 13:25 shows the LORD keeping his word even to a limited faith.
"Jeroboam II was successful, so God must have approved of him."
14:24 says "he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD". His success came because "the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter" (14:26), and saved them "by the hand of Jeroboam" (14:27). God may use an unfaithful ruler to show mercy to his people. Success, wealth or power in this book is never by itself a sign of approval.
"Assyria destroyed Israel because it was stronger."
Assyria is the instrument, but 17:7 opens the explanation with "For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God", and 17:18 says "the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight". The Book of 2 Kings reads history theologically: the warnings of 17:13 had been ignored for two centuries. Political causes are real, but they are not the deepest cause the text gives.
"The people in Samaria feared the LORD, so they were fine."
17:33 says "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods", and 17:34 says that in another sense "they fear not the LORD", because they did not keep his covenant. Verses 35-39 restate what the LORD required: no other gods at all. Help learners see that adding the LORD to a list of loyalties is not the same as fearing him.
Learning objectives
- Connect the struck arrows with three victories.
- Distinguish covenant mercy from approval of kings.
- Trace political instability toward Assyrian domination.
- Explain Ahaz’s alteration of temple worship.
- Identify the book’s reasons for Samaria’s fall.
- Explain the contradiction in divided worship.
Teacher preparation
- Read all five chapters; prepare a two-kingdom chart rather than attempting a name-by-name lecture.
- Distinguish the two Joash kings, the two Jeroboams, and Azariah’s other name, Uzziah.
- Explain saviour in 13:5 as a deliverer and several house in 15:5 as a separate residence.
- Mark mercy in 13:23 and 14:26–27 beside refusal in 17:13–15.
- Treat atrocities in 15:16 and child sacrifice in 16:3 and 17:17 soberly, without graphic elaboration.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Read 13:18–19, 25 and 17:6–18: three strikes correspond to three victories, while Samaria’s fall follows persistent rejection of prophetic warning.
Scripture-supported
Compare 14:6 with Deuteronomy 24:16: Amaziah spares the murderers’ children under the law, though 14:10–14 later exposes his destructive pride.
Strong inference
Infer from 14:24–27 that territorial recovery does not prove royal righteousness: the king remains evil while the Lord sees Israel’s suffering.
Possible or traditional reading
Present devotional readings that make 13:18–19 a rule about praying a certain number of times as applications beyond the text, not its stated meaning.
Limit
Keep 13:21 descriptive: contact with Elisha’s bones revives one man; the passage institutes no relic practice and supplies no repeatable procedure.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. How do the arrow actions relate to what Joash later accomplishes?
What a good answer contains
They are linked by Elisha's word. The arrow shot east is "The arrow of the LORD's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria" (13:17). When told to strike the ground, Joash "smote thrice, and stayed" (13:18), and Elisha says, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times", so now "thou shalt smite Syria but thrice" (13:19). Then 13:25: "Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel." A good answer matches the three strikes to the three victories. A weak answer builds a rule about how many times to pray.
Show teacher guidance
Match 13:17–19 with 13:25: three victories are fulfilled; do not turn Elisha’s rebuke into a universal numerical formula.
2. How can Amaziah obey one command and still bring disaster?
What a good answer contains
By doing right in one matter and being proud in another. He kills his father's murderers but spares their children, "according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses", that "every man shall be put to death for his own sin" (14:6). Then, after beating Edom, he challenges Israel, and Jehoash warns him, "thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home" (14:10). "But Amaziah would not hear" (14:11), and Jerusalem's wall is broken. A good answer holds both. A weak answer makes him wholly good or wholly bad.
Show teacher guidance
Compare restraint in 14:6 with pride and defeat in 14:10–14; reject an all-good or all-bad reading of his conduct.
3. Why does the Lord rescue Israel through the evil Jeroboam?
What a good answer contains
Because the LORD had pity on Israel's suffering. "For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter", with "nor any helper for Israel" (14:26), "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" (14:27). The prophet Jonah had foretold it (14:25). A good answer names compassion as the reason. A weak answer treats Jeroboam's success as a sign of God's approval, when 14:24 says he did evil.
Show teacher guidance
Read 14:24–27: the explanation is Israel’s bitter affliction and divine compassion, not moral endorsement of the successful king.
4. What do assassinations and payments to Assyria reveal about Israel’s security?
What a good answer contains
That the kingdom is coming apart. Zachariah reigns six months and is killed (15:8-10); Shallum reigns a month and is killed (15:13-14); Menahem pays Pul a thousand talents "that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand" (15:19); Pekahiah is killed by Pekah (15:25); Tiglath-pileser takes the north and "carried them captive to Assyria" (15:29); and Hoshea kills Pekah (15:30). A good answer sees a pattern of violence and dependence. A weak answer lists names without connecting them.
Show teacher guidance
Trace 15:10–20, 25, 29–30: rulers change violently while tribute and deportation deepen dependence; avoid treating each name as disconnected trivia.
5. How does Ahaz’s appeal for rescue reshape the temple?
What a good answer contains
Political dependence becomes religious change. Ahaz sends, "I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me" (16:7), with the temple's silver and gold. In Damascus he sees an altar and has a copy built (16:10-11), moves the bronze altar aside, saying it "shall be for me to enquire by" (16:15), dismantles the stands and the sea, and removes the royal entry "for the king of Assyria" (16:18). A good answer connects the two. A weak answer treats the altar as a matter of style.
Show teacher guidance
Follow 16:7–18 from tribute and submission to the copied Damascus altar and altered furnishings; connect political dependence with worship choices.
6. Why does chapter 17 explain the conquest after reporting it?
What a good answer contains
Because the Book of 2 Kings wants the reader to understand why. 17:7 begins, "For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God", and the chapter lists the idols, the high places, the warnings ignored: "Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets" (17:13). Then the new settlers in 17:33: "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods." A good answer sees that fearing the LORD in name while serving other gods is the problem from start to finish. A weak answer blames only Assyria.
Show teacher guidance
Use 17:7–23 for rejected warnings, then 17:33–35 for worship mixed with other gods; distinguish nominal fear from covenant allegiance.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Evaluate a fictional institution that treats growth as proof of integrity; compare Jeroboam’s success with the judgment in 14:24–27.
Relationships and community
Discuss how rulers’ pride, violence, and tribute burden others in 14:10–14 and 15:16–20; use a fictional leadership case.
Do not mistake adding for turning
Use 17:33–41 to distinguish adding religious observance from abandoning conflicting allegiances; keep examples hypothetical.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Mercy again
Read 13:1-6. Mark the pattern of sin, cry and deliverance.
The arrows
Read 13:14-25. Ask question one and take confusion one.
Amaziah
Read 14:5-14. Ask question two.
Strength and collapse
Summarise 14:23-15:38 with a chart. Ask questions three and four. Take confusion two.
Ahaz's altar
Read 16:7-18. Ask question five.
Samaria falls
Read 17:5-18 and 17:33. Ask question six and take confusions three and four.
Handout
Read the key verse and give out the sheet.
90 minutes
Opening
Show a blank two-kingdom chart and ask what the group remembers about why there are two kingdoms.
Saviour
Read 13:1-9 and 13:22-23. Discuss mercy shown to an unfaithful king.
The deathbed
Read 13:14-21. Ask question one. Take confusion one.
Amaziah
Read 14:1-14. Ask question two. Read Deuteronomy 24:16.
Jeroboam and the chaos
Read 14:23-29 and summarise chapter 15 on the chart. Ask questions three and four and take confusion two.
The altar
Read 16:1-18. Ask question five.
The explanation
Read 17:1-23 in full. Ask question six. Take confusion three.
Mixed worship
Read 17:24-41. Take confusion four.
Response and handout
Ask each learner to name one other loyalty that competes with the LORD for them. Read the key verse and pray.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Use a chart with arrows rather than weapons. Tell how God kept sending helpers to Israel even when they did wrong, and how a dying Elisha helped the king shoot an arrow of God's rescue. Then explain that God sent many messengers saying turn back, and the people would not listen, so they lost their home. Keep the loss of home gentle and leave out the violence.
Youth
Build a two-column chart: what looked like success, and what the Book of 2 Kings says about it. Put Jeroboam II, Amaziah and Ahaz on it. Ask how the book can call a successful king evil. Then read 17:13-14 and ask what hardened their necks means, and whether people still do that.
Adults
Give each chapter to a small team to report three things: mercy shown, choices made, consequences. Then read 17:7-23 together as the book's own interpretation. Discuss what it means to fear the LORD and serve other gods today without pointing at any group in the room or in the news.
One to one
Read 13:23 and 17:13 together. Ask which surprises them more: how long God was patient, or how long the people refused. If they feel they have been warned many times about something, let the verses be an invitation rather than a threat. End with 17:39.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
2 Kings 13:1–17:41
The passage in brief
These chapters cover about a century and a half. God keeps rescuing Israel even when its kings do evil: through Elisha's last prophecy with the arrows, through a wicked but successful king, because he saw how bitter their suffering was. Judah's kings are mixed: Amaziah obeys the law but is proud, and Ahaz copies a foreign altar to please Assyria. Israel falls into murders and payments to Assyria, and finally Samaria is captured and the people taken away, because they would not listen to the prophets.
A verse to keep
Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
2 Kings 17:13 · King James Version
Questions to take home
How many times did Joash strike the ground, and what did Elisha say about it?
Why did God save Israel through Jeroboam, even though he did evil?
According to 17:13-14, what had God done, and what had the people done?
This week
Name one warning God has given you more than once, and act on it this week.
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.
