1Amaziah's good reign. 5His justice in punishing his father's murderers. 7He smiteth Edom in the valley of salt. 8His imprudent challenge to the king of Israel: Joash sheweth him the folly of it, but, finding him obstinate, defeateth him, and, breaking down the wall of Jerusalem, carrieth away the treasures found in it. 15Jehoash dieth, and is succeeded by Jeroboam. 17Amaziah is slain by a conspiracy. 21The people of Judah make his son Azariah king, who buildeth Elath. 23Jeroboam's bad reign: he recovereth the coast of Israel. 28He dieth: Zachariah succeedeth him.
1IN the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned 1Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
1 Hebr. Amatsiahu.
2He was 2twenty and fivea years old when he 3began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was 4Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 Hebr. a son of twenty and five years.
a 2 Chron. 25:1.
3 In this number are comprehended the twelve years, wherein he lived a banished man at Lachish, being expelled by his own subjects, verse 19.
4 Hebr. Jehohaddan.
3And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet 5not like David his father: he did according to all things as 6Joash his father did.
5 That is, not with an upright heart, 2 Chron. 25:2.
6 For as Joash in the first year of his reign, as long as Jehoiada the priest lived, behaved himself well, having established and maintained the pure worship of God which was decayed; but afterward by the counsel of his princes turned aside to idolatry, 2 Kings 12:3. 2 Chron. 24:17, 18. So did Amaziah also behave himself well at first, but afterward fell into idolatry, 2 Chron. 25:7, etc., 14, etc.
47Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
7 Compare 1 Kings 3:2 and the annotation. Likewise 2 Kings 12:3.
5¶And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he 8slew his servants 9which had slain the king his father.
8 That is, punished with death. See Gen. 8 on verse 21.
9 See 2 Kings 12:20, 21.
6But the children of the murderers he slew not: 10according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, 11Theb 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.
10 See Deut. 24:16.
11 See Deut. 24 on verse 16.
b Deut. 24:16; Ezek. 18:20.
7He slew of Edom in the 12valley of salt ten thousand, and took 13Selah by war, and called the name of it 14Joktheel 15unto this day.
12 Which was in Idumea. See further hereof, 2 Sam. 8:13; Psalm 60 in the title, seventh annotation.
13 That is, rock. The capital city of Arabia Petraea, which is situated upon a rock, had its name from this and from the land. Compare 2 Chron. 25:12.
14 This name may be translated the obedience of God, that is, the obedience performed to God. Amaziah seems to have called this city thus, because he held the capture of this city to be a reward of this obedience, which he showed to God, when at the prophet’s command he disbanded the Israelites, which he had hired for an hundred talents, etc. See 2 Chron. 25:8, 9.
15 That is, this name continued still to this very time, in which this book was written.
8¶Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, 16let us look one another in the face.
16 That is, let us fight against one another. Also verse 11. Likewise 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 25:17, 21. It seems that he, by undertaking this war, would revenge the death of his friends, whereof see 2 Kings 9:27; 10:14, or at least the mischief and robbery done in this land by the disbanded Israelites; of which see 2 Chron. 25:13.
9And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, 17The thistle that was in 18Lebanon 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.
17 The king of Israel here compares the king of Judah to a thistle or thorn-bush, and himself to a cedar tree, his soldiers to the wild beast of Lebanon, and the harm that the king of Israel was to expect to the treading down of the thistle. It is as much as if he had said: If you (who for strength of people and royal honor are no more to be compared to me than a poor despised thistle to a tall cedar) had come to me for peace and friendship, you would not have prospered; how much less shall this hostile presumption of yours be successful unto you? Therefore, if you are to be wise, desist and keep out of harm’s way.
18 See 1 Kings 4 on verse 33.
10Thou hast 19indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy 20hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
19 Hebr. smiting smitten. See verse 7.
20 Namely, of war; or, why shouldest thou mingle, or, thrust thy self into the battle to thy hurt?
11But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel 21went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked 22one another in the face at 23Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
21 Because he would not await the raid by Amaziah in his own land, but would rather encounter him in his land.
22 That is, fought with one another. See on verse 8.
23 A city situated in the border of the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:10, allotted to the Levites, Joshua 21:16, taken by the Philistines in the reign of Ahaz, 2 Chron. 28:18, and is to be distinguished from another Beth-Shemesh, situated in the tribe of Naphtali, Judges 1:33.
12And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their 24tents.
24 That is, to their dwellings. See 2 Kings 13 on verse 5.
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 25gate of Ephraim unto the 26corner gate, four hundred 27cubits.
25 So called, because they passed through it to the land of Ephraim.
26 Hebr. the gate of the corner: Otherwise called: the gate of the corners. Zech. 14:10. Likewise the gate looking out: that is, a gate sticking out, as it were, with a corner. See 2 Chron. 25:23 and the annotation. It was so called, because it stood at the corner of a city.
27 See Gen. 6 on verse 15.
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 28hostages, and returned to Samaria.
28 Hebr. sons of suretyship, or, pledges. Understand persons of special descent and quality, who king Joash took with him out of Judah, for the securing of future peace.
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?
16And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.
17¶And 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 theyc29made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to 30Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
c 2 Chron. 25:27.
29 Namely, in the fourth year after the death of Joash, or of the reign of Jeroboam his son.
30 A city situated in the west-border of the tribe of Judah. See hereof Joshua 10:31; 15:39.
20And they brought him 31on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
31 That is, on a carriage or chariot, which was drawn or carried by horses. Compare 2 Kings 9:28.
21¶Andd32all the people of Judah took 33Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
d 2 Chron. 26:1.
32 Namely, when Amaziah fled to Lachish. And hence it appears, that the eleven following years of the reign are not only ascribed to Amaziah, but also to Azariah his son.
33 Otherwise called Uzziah, 2 Kings 15:13, 30; 2 Chronicles 26. Under this king did Isaiah begin to prophesy, Isa. 1:1.
22He built 34Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that 35the king slept with his fathers.
34 See likewise of this city, Deut. 2:8. Now Azariah is said to have built this city, not in respect of laying the first foundation thereof, but of repairing the same, because it was decayed.
35 Namely, Amaziah his father.
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, 36and reigned forty and one years.
36 See of these inserted words, 2 Kings 13 on verse 1.
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 37restored the coast of Israel from the entering of 38Hamath unto the 39sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by 40the hand of his servant 41Jonah,e the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of 42Gath-hepher.
37 Namely, under the power and dominion of the kings of Israel. See 2 Kings 13 on verse 25.
38 See hereof, Num. 13:21; 34:8.
39 See likewise of this sea, Deut. 3:17.
40 Or, by the ministry. Hebr. by the hand.
41 This is the same prophet Jonah who was sent by the Lord to Nineveh, and whose prophesy we have in the Bible with the other prophets.
e Jonah 1:1; Mat. 12:39, 40.
42 A city situated in the tribe of Zebulon, Joshua 19:13.
26For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very 43bitter: for there was not any 44shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.
43 Or, rebellious; that is, very hard and grievous; which rebellion some also apply to Israel, as who were very rebellious, and were therefore punished.
44 See of this phrase Deut. 32 on verse 36. Likewise 1 Kings 14:10; 21:21.
27And the LORD said not 45that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
45 The Lord indeed soon after caused the ruin of the house of Israel, and the final rejection of this people to be foretold by the prophet Hosea, as appears, Hosea 1:5, 6, 9; and likewise actually executed the same, 2 Kings 17:18. But He would not as yet do it at this time, but in His unfathomable mercy spared Israel as yet, because of His covenant which He had made with their fathers. See 2 Kings 13:23.
28¶Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered 46Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
46 These two cities were subdued by David and Solomon, 2 Sam. 8:6; 2 Chron. 8:3, and therefore belonged to the kings of Judah, when they were yet kings over all Israel. But when afterward they were lost, and taken away from him by the Syrians, 1 Kings 11:24, this Jeroboam in his time recovered them again, not for the kings of Judah, but for the kings of Israel.
29And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.