2 Kingschapter 14
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A.Amaziah spares the children of the murderersvv. 1-7
In the second year of the reign of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz over Israel, Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. 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. 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 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.
2 Kings 14:1-2
Amaziah's accession is dated against Jehoash of Israel's second year, though Jehoash himself began to reign in the thirty seventh year of Amaziah's father Joash. The commentators resolve the seeming clash with a co-regency, years counted from when Amaziah reigned alone rather than from his father's death. Jehoaddan of Jerusalem, his mother, is named and nowhere else mentioned in Scripture.
2 Kings 14:1, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
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. As Joash king of Israel began to reign in the thirty seventh of Joash king of Judah, 2Ki 13:10, who reigned forty years, Amaziah must therefore begin his reign in the fourth of Joash king of Israel; this therefore must be understood of his second year after he reigned alone, for he reigned two or three years in his father's lifetime.”
2 Kings 14:2, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:2
“Joash of Judah reigned forty years 2Ki 12:1, and Joash of Israel ascended the throne in his namesake’s thirty-seventh year 2Ki 13:10; hence, we should have expected to hear that Amaziah succeeded his father in the fourth rather than in the second year of Joash (of Israel). The usual explanation of the discrepancy is to suppose a double accession of the Israelite Joash - as co-partner with his father in the thirty-seventh year of his namesake, as sole king two years afterward.”
2 Kings 14:3-4
Amaziah does right, but the text withholds David's full commendation and instead measures him against his own father Joash, whose early promise gave way to a fall at the end. The high places stand though the king begins well, the same qualified line used of Joash at 12:3. Both kings share the shape the narrator marks across the chapter: obedience at the start, apostasy that follows, and a conspiracy that ends the reign.
2 Kings 14:3, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:3
“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,..... At least externally, and at the beginning of his reign: yet not like David his father; not with a perfect heart, with that sincerity and uprightness as he did, see 2Ch 25:2, he did according to all things as Joash his father did; who at first reigned well, and then fell into idolatry, as this his son did.”
2 Kings 14:3
“He did ... as Joash - There is a curious parity between the lives of Joash and Amaziah. Both were zealous for Yahweh in the earlier portion of their reigns, but in the latter part fell away; both disregarded the rebukes of prophets; and both, having forsaken God, were in the end conspired against and slain (compare 2Ch 24:25; 2Ch 25:27).”
2 Kings 14:4, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:4
“Howbeit the high places were not taken away,.... Though he first did that which was right before God; nor did his father take them away; see 2Ki 12:3.”
2 Kings 14:5-6
Amaziah executes the men who murdered his father but spares their children, and the text names its source outright, the book of the law of Moses, quoting Deuteronomy's rule that a man dies for his own sin and not his father's or his son's. The commentators call the restraint contrary to the customs of surrounding nations, where a conspirator's whole household commonly paid with him. Individual accountability under the law stands here as a deliberate choice a king could have set aside and did not.
2 Kings 14:5, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:5
“The phrase, “confirmed in his hand” 2Ki 15:19, usually expresses the authorisation of a new reign by an imperial superior (see 2Ki 15:19 note); but here it describes the result when the troubles consequent upon the murder of Joash had passed away. The new king’s authority was generally recognized by his subjects.”
2 Kings 14:5
“But it is evident that the two assassins must have possessed considerable weight and influence, as the king was obliged to retain them in his service, and durst not, for fear of their friends and supporters, institute proceedings against them until his power had been fully consolidated.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Kings 14:6, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:6
“But the children of the murderers he slew not,.... Which is an instance of his clemency and goodness, and of his strict regard to justice, and to the law of God; though he might fear, these, being spared, would one time or other revenge their fathers' deaths: according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, see Deu 24:16, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children, &c. to which command Amaziah was obedient.”
2 Kings 14:6
“But the children of the murderers he slew not--This moderation, inspired by the Mosaic law (De 24:16), displays the good character of this prince; for the course thus pursued toward the families of the regicides was directly contrary to the prevailing customs of antiquity, according to which all connected with the criminals were doomed to unsparing destruction.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Kings 14:7
Ten thousand Edomites fall in the valley of salt, and Amaziah takes Selah, the rock fortress later identified with Petra, renaming it Joktheel. The victory finishes what earlier kings began, since Edom had thrown off Judah's yoke under Jehoram, and here a portion of that ground is retaken by force. The renaming itself is a king's claim staked in a word, the same gesture Israel's conquerors use elsewhere in the historical books.
2 Kings 14:7, 3 voices
2 Kings 14:7
“Amaziah’s Idumaean war is treated at length by the writer of Chronicles (marginal reference). The “Valley of Salt” is usually identified with the broad open plain called the Sabkah, at the southern end of the Dead Sea - the continuation of the Ghor or Jordan gorge. At the north-western corner of this plain stands a mountain of rock-salt, and the tract between this mountain and the sea is a salt-marsh. Salt springs also abound in the plain itself, so that the name would be fully accounted for.”
2 Kings 14:7
“Selah--literally, "the rock"; generally thought to be Petra. Joktheel--that is, "given" or "conquered by God." See the history of this conquest more fully detailed (2Ch 25:6-16).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Kings 14:7
“Joktheel - Which signifies, the obedience of God, that is, given him by God as a reward of his obedience to God's message by the prophet, 2 Chron. xxv, 8, 9.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
B.The thistle and the cedar: and a broken wall in Jerusalemvv. 8-14
Then Amaziah sent messengers to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said. 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?” But Amaziah would not listen, and 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.
C.Amaziah flees to Lachish, and dies therevv. 15-22
As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with his accomplishments, his might, and how he waged war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Jehoash rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam reigned in his place.
2 Kings 14:8-10
Flushed with Edom, Amaziah sends a challenge to Jehoash of Israel, and Jehoash answers with a fable rather than an army: a thistle of Lebanon asks a cedar for its daughter in marriage, and a passing beast tramples the thistle without even noticing it. The parable's point is proportion, a small king demanding what only a great one could ask, and Jehoash's counsel that follows is blunt, glory in the victory already won and stay home. Amaziah will not hear it, and the chapter has already told the reader what an unheard warning costs a king.
2 Kings 14:8, 2 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
2 Kings 14:8
“Come, let us look one another in the face - This was a real declaration of war; and the ground of it is most evident from this circumstance: that the one hundred thousand men of Israel that had been dismissed, though they had the stipulated money, taking the advantage of Amaziah’s absence, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and smote three thousand men, and took much spoil, 2Ch 25:10-13. Amaziah no doubt remonstrated with Jehoash, but to no purpose; and therefore he declared war against him.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:8
“Sent - This challenge he sent, from self-confidence, and a desire of advancing his glory. But he that is fond either of fighting or going to law, will probably be the first that repents it.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2 Kings 14:9, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:9
“The thorn bush [mentioned here] is a tiny plant and herb and is not the blackberry bush, [whose fruits] we eat. "Since, if ever," he says, "the thorn bush were sent to a cedar, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife,' it …”
Ishodad of Merv· written before 850· BOOKS OF SESSIONS 2 KINGS 12:4patristic
2 Kings 14:9
“The Oriental use of apologues on the most solemn and serious occasions is well known to all, and scarcely needs illustration (compare marginal reference). It is a common feature of such apologues that they are not exact parallels to the case whereto they are applied, but only general or partial resemblances. Hence, there is need of caution in applying the several points of the illustration.”
2 Kings 14:10, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:10
“Glory of this, and tarry at home - There is a vast deal of insolent dignity in this remonstrance of Jehoash: but it has nothing conciliatory; no proposal of making amends for the injury his army had done to the unoffending inhabitants of Judah. The ravages committed by the army of Jehoash were totally unprovoked, and they were base and cowardly; they fell upon women, old men, and children, and butchered them in cold blood, for all the effective men were gone off with their king against the Edomites.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:11-12
Amaziah gets the meeting he asked for at Beth-shemesh, a town in Judah's own territory, and Judah breaks before Israel with every man fleeing to his tent. Josephus adds that panic seized the army before the lines even closed, a detail the commentators pass along without treating it as certain. The king who would not hear Jehoash's parable now looks him in the face exactly as he demanded, and loses.
2 Kings 14:11, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:11
“Jehoash did not wait to be attacked. Invading Judaea from the west, and so ascending out of the low coast tract, he met the army of Amaziah at Beth-shemesh (see Jos 19:21 note), about 15 miles from Jerusalem.”
2 Kings 14:12, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:12
“And Judah was put to the worse before Israel,.... Could not face them; but, as Josephus (d) says, a sudden fear and consternation seized them, and before they joined battle with the Israelites, turned their backs: and they fled every man to their tents; to their cities, as the Targum, and left their king alone. (d) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 9. sect. 3.”
2 Kings 14:12
“The author of Chronicles notes that Amaziah’s obstinacy, and his consequent defeat and captivity, were judgments upon him for an idolatry into which he had fallen after his conquest of Edom 2Ch 25:14, 2Ch 25:20.”
2 Kings 14:13-14
Jehoash takes Amaziah captive and marches on Jerusalem itself, breaking down four hundred cubits of the city wall from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate. The breach is deliberate policy, not battle damage, meant to leave Jerusalem undefended against the kingdom that had just beaten her, and a fellow Hebrew king does the breaking. Gold, silver, temple vessels, treasury and hostages all go north to Samaria, the same house of the Lord Amaziah's own line had furnished and defended.
The wording quoted in this note is the King James Version.
2 Kings 14:13, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:13
“The object of breaking down the wall was to leave Jerusalem at the mercy of her rival; and it must have been among the conditions of the peace that the breach thus made should not be repaired. Gates in Oriental cities are named from the places to which they lead. The gate of Ephraim must therefore have been a north gate: perhaps also known, later on, by the name of the “gate of Benjamin” Jer 37:13; Zec 14:”
2 Kings 14:14, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:14
“And he took - hostages - התערבות hattaaruboth, pledges; from ערב arab, to pledge, give security, etc., for the performance of some promise. See the meaning of this word interpreted in the note on Gen 38:17 (note). It is likely that Amaziah gave some of the nobles or some of his own family as hostages, that he might regain his liberty; and they were to get their liberty when he had fulfilled his engagements; but of what kind these were we cannot tell, nor, indeed, how he got his liberty.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:14
“It was said of Joash that he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and of Amaziah that he did that which was right; and yet Joash triumphs thus over Amaziah, and why so?”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Kings 14:15-16
The notice of Jehoash's acts, his might, and his war with Amaziah repeats 13:12-13 nearly word for word, and the commentators flag it as the narrator's formula rather than new material placed out of its natural order. Jehoash sleeps with his fathers in Samaria, and Jeroboam his son, the second king to bear Jeroboam's name in Israel, takes the throne. The repetition closes Jehoash's own record before the chapter returns to finish Amaziah's.
2 Kings 14:15, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:15
“These two verses (repeated from 2Ki 13:12-13) are out of place here, where they interrupt the history of Amaziah’s reign.”
2 Kings 14:16, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:16
“And Jehoash slept with his fathers,.... Died as they died: and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; where they were: and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead; which was Jeroboam the second.”
Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. As for the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 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. Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. Azariah was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.
2 Kings 14:17-20
Amaziah outlives Jehoash by fifteen years, years the commentators read as a long decline after the humiliation at Jerusalem's broken wall and plundered temple. A conspiracy rises against him in the capital itself, and he flees south to Lachish, a fortified city in Judah, but the conspirators follow and kill him there. His body is brought back on horses and buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David, honor given to the corpse that the living king had lost.
The wording quoted in this note is the King James Version.
2 Kings 14:17, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
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. Which, with the fourteen he reigned contemporary with him, made the twenty nine years he reigned, 2Ki 14:2. The Vulgate Latin version is, "twenty five years".”
2 Kings 14:18, 1 voice
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? Not in the canonical book of Chronicles; though there are some things of him recorded there, which are not here; but in the annals of each reign, written by the king's historian appointed for that purpose.”
2 Kings 14:19, 3 voices
2 Kings 14:19
“Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem,.... Against Amaziah; the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the principal men of it; perhaps those whose sons the king of Israel had carried away as hostages, which they imputed to the ill conduct of Amaziah, as well as the breaking of the wall of Jerusalem, and the pillaging of the temple, and the king's palace: and he fled to Lachish; a fortified city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:39 but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there; in a private manner, as Josephus (g) relates. (g) Ut supra.”
2 Kings 14:19
“They made a conspiracy against him - His defeat by Jehoash, and the consequent pillaging of the temple, and emptying the royal exchequer, and the dismantling of Jerusalem, had made him exceedingly unpopular; so that probably the whole of the last fifteen years of his life were a series of troubles and distresses.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:19
“HE IS SLAIN BY A CONSPIRACY. 19, 20. they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem--Amaziah's apostasy (2Ch 25:27) was followed by a general maladministration, especially the disastrous issue of the war with Israel.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Kings 14:20, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:20
“And they brought him on horses,.... That is, in a chariot or hearse drawn by horses; though the Jews (h) suppose he was carried on horses, and that because he worshipped the gods of the Edomites, who were themselves carried on horses; and he was not carried on the shoulders of men, because he neglected to serve the God of Israel, whose mysteries were carried on the shoulders of men: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David; and very probably in the sepulchre of the kings, though his father was not. (h) Hieron.”
2 Kings 14:20
“They brought him on horses - i. e. they conveyed his body back to Jerusalem in the royal chariot. The combination of relentless animosity against the living prince with the deepest respect for his dead remains is very characteristic of an Oriental people.”
2 Kings 14:21-22
The people of Judah, not a court faction, install the sixteen year old Azariah in his father's place, the same king called Uzziah at 15:30, both names built on the same root meaning the Lord's strength or the Lord's help. He builds Elath, a port on the gulf that had belonged to Edom, and restores it to Judah, finishing the reconquest his father's war had only begun. The verse closes Amaziah's account by handing his unfinished work to his son.
2 Kings 14:21, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:21
“All the people of Judah - The words imply that the conspiracy was one in which the general mass of the people did not participate. There was no confusion and trouble as on the occasion of the murder of Joash. Azariah (“the strength of Yahweh”), and Uzziah (“whom Yahweh assists”), were mere variants of one name.”
2 Kings 14:21
“Azariah - This Azariah is called Uzziah, chap. xv, 30, both names signifying the same thing for substance; that, God's help; and this, God's strength. But this was not done till twelve years after his father's death: so long the government was in the hands of protectors.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2 Kings 14:22, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:22
“He built Elath,.... A port which belonged to Edom, Deu 2:8 which very probably David took from them when he made them tributary, and which they retook when they revolted, and Amaziah got again when he defeated them; and this his son rebuilt and fortified: and restored it to Judah; annexed it to the kingdom of Judah, as in the days of David and Solomon: after that the king slept with his fathers; after the death of his father Amaziah.”
2 Kings 14:22
“He built Elath - This city belonged to the Edomites; and was situated on the eastern branch of the Red Sea, thence called the Elanitic Gulf. It had probably suffered much in the late war; and was now rebuilt by Uzziah, and brought entirely under the dominion of Judah.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
D.Jeroboam II restores the border, as Jonah had saidvv. 23-29
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash over Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria forty-one years. 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. 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. 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. As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, along with all his accomplishments and might, and how he waged war and recovered both Damascus and Hamath for Israel from Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. And his son Zechariah reigned in his place.
2 Kings 14:23-24
Jeroboam the second takes Israel's throne carrying the first Jeroboam's own name, and the text measures him by the standard it has used for every northern king since, he does not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. The refrain has now run through generations of kings and dynasties, and it falls again here without any new indictment, because none is needed. A name given in hope of a second founder becomes, in the narrator's hands, one more entry under an old verdict.
The wording quoted in this note is the King James Version.
2 Kings 14:23, 4 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
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,.... So that he reigned fourteen or fifteen years contemporary with him; for Amaziah reigned twenty nine years: and reigned forty and one years; Josephus says (i) forty, giving only the round number. (i) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9.) c. 10. sect. 1.”
2 Kings 14:23
“Jeroboam - This is the only instance, in the history of either kingdom, of a recurrent royal appellation. We can scarcely doubt that Jeroboam II was named after the great founder of the Israelite kingdom by a father who trusted that he might prove a sort of second founder. Perhaps the prophecy of Jonah (see 2Ki 14:25) had been already given, and it was known that a great deliverance was approaching.”
2 Kings 14:23
“While God granted him so great a measure of national prosperity and eminence, the reason is expressly stated (2Ki 14:26, 27) to be that the purposes of the divine covenant forbade as yet the overthrow of the kingdom of the ten tribes (see 2Ki 13:23).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Kings 14:23
“Here is an account of the reign of Jeroboam the second. I doubt it is an indication of the affection and adherence of the house of Jehu to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that they called an heir-apparent to the crown by his name, thinking that an honourable name which in the book of God is infamous and stigmatized as much as any.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Kings 14:24, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:24
“It is a sign that God has not cast off his people if he continue faithful ministers among them; when Elisha, who strengthened the hands of Joash, was removed, Jonah was sent to encourage his son.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Kings 14:25
Jeroboam restores Israel's border from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the plain, and the text credits the recovery to the word of the Lord spoken by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet of Gath Hepher. This is the same Jonah whose own book carries him to Nineveh with a message of mercy for a wicked pagan city, and here he stands first as a northern prophet who brings good news to a wicked dynasty at home. The court that never departs from Jeroboam's sin still receives a word of national deliverance through a true prophet of the Lord.
The wording quoted in this note is the King James Version.
2 Kings 14:25, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:25
“He restored the coast of Israel - Jeroboam, in the course of his long reign, recovered the old boundaries of the holy land to the north, the east, and the southeast. The “entering in of Hamath” is spoken of as the northern boundary; the “sea of the plain,” or the Dead Sea, is the southern boundary (see the marginal references): here Israel adjoined on Moab. The entire tract east of Jordan had been lost to Israel in the reign of Jehu and that of Jehoahaz 2Ki 10:33; 2Ki 13:3, 2Ki 13:”
2 Kings 14:26-27
The reason for Jeroboam's victories is given plainly, the Lord saw Israel's affliction, bitter enough that no one was shut up or left, and no helper anywhere, and he saved them by Jeroboam's own hand. The Lord had not yet said he would blot out Israel's name from under heaven, a Mosaic phrase the commentators trace to Deuteronomy's own warnings, so mercy still runs ahead of the sentence that falls later in the book. A king who never left Jeroboam's sin becomes, without contradiction stated by the text, the instrument of the Lord's compassion on a suffering people.
2 Kings 14:26, 2 voices
2 Kings 14:26
“For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter,.... Being sorely oppressed by their enemies, especially the Syrians; and he was moved to have compassion upon them, and show mercy to them: for, there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel: they were in the most forlorn and helpless condition; See Gill on Deu 32:36.”
2 Kings 14:26
“The Lord saw the affliction of Israel - It appears that about this time Israel had been greatly reduced; and great calamities had fallen upon all indiscriminately; even the diseased and captives in the dungeon had the hand of God heavy upon them, and there was no helper; and then God sent Jonah to encourage them, and to assure them of better days. He was the first of the prophets, after Samuel, whose writings are preserved; yet the prophecy delivered on this occasion is not extant; for what is now in the prophecies of Jonah, relates wholly to Nineveh.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:27, 3 voices
2 Kings 14:27
“And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven,.... Had not as yet declared it by any of his prophets, that he would do it, as he afterwards did by Hosea, Hos 1:4, and was fulfilled in the reign of Hoshea king of Israel, 2Ki 17:1. but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash; the instrument of their deliverance from the hands of their enemies, and of recovering their borders as afore time.”
2 Kings 14:27
“And the Lord said not - Though the Israelites were brought thus low, yet the fiat did not as yet go forth for their destruction. God did not send a prophet to say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but on the contrary sent two to announce that they should be delivered from their present enemies, and obtain triumphs over them (see 2Ki 14:25; 2Ki 13:17-19). That he would blot out ... - This is a Mosaic phrase, found only here and in Deuteronomy 2Ki 9:14; 29:20.”
2 Kings 14:27
“If this be understood of the dispersion of the ten tribes, he did say it and do it, for that name still remains under heaven in the gospel Israel, and will to the end of time; and because they, at present, bore that name which was to have this lasting honour, he showed them this favour, as well as for the sake of the ancient honour of that name, ch. xiii.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Kings 14:28-29
The chronicle formula closes Jeroboam's reign as it has closed every reign in the book, pointing to a fuller record in the annals of the kings of Israel, and naming his recovery of Damascus and Hamath for Israel. Jeroboam dies and Zachariah his son succeeds him, the fourth generation from Jehu to sit on Israel's throne, exactly as the Lord had promised Jehu at 10:30. The promise to Jehu's house is kept to its stated limit, four generations and no further.
2 Kings 14:28, 1 voice
2 Kings 14:28
“How he warred, and - recovered Damascus - We learn from 1Ch 18:3-11, that David had conquered all Syria, and put garrisons in Damascus and other places, and laid all the Syrians under tribute; but this yoke they had not only shaken off, but they had conquered a considerable portion of the Israelitish territory, and added it to Syria. These latter Jeroboam now recovered; and thus the places which anciently belonged to Judah by David’s conquests, and were repossessed by Syria, he now conquered, and added to Israel.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:29, 3 voices
2 Kings 14:29
“And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel,.... Died, and was buried with them: and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead: who was of the fourth generation from Jehu, as was promised to him, 2Ki 10:30.”
2 Kings 14:29
“Jeroboam slept with his fathers - He died a natural death; and was regularly succeeded by his son Zachariah, who, reigning badly, was, after six months, slain by Shallum, who succeeded him, and reigned but one month, being slain by Menahem, who succeeded him, and reigned ten years over Israel.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Kings 14:29
“Jeroboam - It was in the reign of this Jeroboam, that Hosea began to prophesy, and he was the first that wrote his prophecies. At the same time Amos prophesied, soon after Micah, and then Isaiah in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Where the chapter sits
2 Kings 14 falls in Northern kingdom's fall (chapters 14–17). Jeroboam II's reign (Jonah contemporary); long catalogue of northern kings; Hoshea; Samaria besieged three years; the 722 BC Assyrian exile.
Before it: Elijah's ascension; Elisha's ministry, chapters 1–13. After it: Hezekiah and the Assyrian crisis, chapters 18–20.
The whole shape of 2 Kings→Key words
The Hebrew words this chapter turns on, by how often it uses them. Each one opens its word study.
| Word | What it means | Verses |
|---|---|---|
| בֵּןbên22 times, as בֶּן־, בֶן־, בְּנֵ֥י | son | 1, 2, 6, 8 and 11 more |
| מֶלֶךְmelek22 times, as מֶ֣לֶךְ, מֶ֥לֶךְ, הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | king of | 1, 5, 8, 9 and 11 more |
| יִשְׂרָאֵלYisrâʼêl19 times, as יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל, יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל, יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | Israel | 1, 8, 9, 11 and 12 more |
| יְהוּדָהYᵉhûwdâh14 times, as יְהוּדָֽה׃, יְהוּדָה֮, וִיהוּדָ֥ה | Judah | 1, 9, 10, 11 and 9 more |
| אֲמַצְיָהʼĂmatsyâh11 times, as אֲמַצְיָ֥הוּ, אֲמַצְיָה֙, אֲמַצְיָ֣הוּ | Amaziah | 1, 8, 9, 11 and 6 more |
| אָבʼâb10 times, as אָבִ֑יו, אָבִ֖יו, אָבִֽיו׃ | father | 3, 5, 6, 16 and 4 more |
Cross references
The 8 chapters this one speaks with, most first. Open a row for the verses it shares.
2 Kings 138 verses
2 Kings 14:24
2 Kings 13:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.2 Kings 14:26
2 Kings 13:4Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.2 Kings 14:27
2 Kings 13:5So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.2 Kings 14:18
2 Kings 13:8As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?2 Kings 14:16
2 Kings 13:9And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And his son Jehoash reigned in his place.2 Kings 14:1, 17
2 Kings 13:10In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years.- Read 2 Kings 13: 2 more there →
2 Chronicles 255 verses
2 Kings 14:1
2 Chronicles 25:1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.2 Kings 14:3
2 Chronicles 25:2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.2 Kings 14:5
2 Chronicles 25:3As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.2 Kings 14:8
2 Chronicles 25:17Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.2 Kings 14:17
2 Chronicles 25:25Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.- Read 2 Chronicles 25 →
2 Kings 154 verses
2 Kings 14:4
2 Kings 15:4Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.2 Kings 14:29
2 Kings 15:8In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria six months.2 Kings 14:19
2 Kings 15:10Then Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah, struck him down and killed him in front of the people, and reigned in his place.2 Kings 14:19
2 Kings 15:30Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.- Read 2 Kings 15 →
1 Kings 143 verses
2 Kings 14:15
1 Kings 14:19As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.2 Kings 14:14
1 Kings 14:26He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.2 Kings 14:18
1 Kings 14:29As for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, along with all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?- Read 1 Kings 14 →
The rest of the chapters this one speaks with, 4 of them, for a reader following a thread past the four above
- 2 Kings 122 verses
- 2 Kings 162 verses
- Ezekiel 182 verses
- 2 Samuel 82 verses
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.
The world behind itThe place, the time and the people around this chapter, for a reader who wants the setting.
The world behind this chapter
2 Kings 14The history
The chapter opens with a legal restraint that was genuinely unusual in the ancient world. Amaziah executes the officials who murdered his father but does not touch their children, and the text quotes the law by name: fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers. Everywhere else in the region, the family of a regicide died with him.
The Edom campaign in the Valley of Salt, the flats at the southern end of the Dead Sea, and the capture of Sela in the rock country, restored Judah's route to the Gulf of Aqaba and the sea trade.
The challenge to Israel is answered with a fable, which was a recognized form of diplomatic insult. A thistle in Lebanon sends to a cedar asking for its daughter in marriage, and a wild animal walking past treads the thistle down. Then the plain advice under it: you have struck Edom, stay home and enjoy it, why provoke trouble. Amaziah goes anyway, is beaten at Beth-shemesh in the lowlands, and Jerusalem loses about six hundred feet of its northern wall and its treasuries, with the king himself taken.
Jeroboam II gets four verses for a reign of forty-one years, and they cover an enormous expansion, the borders restored from Lebo-hamath in the far north to the Dead Sea, the largest Israel had been since Solomon. Archaeology fills in what the text passes over: the Samaria Ostraca, ink-written receipts for shipments of wine and oil to the capital, come from these decades and show an organized estate economy. So do the prophets Amos and Hosea, who preached in this prosperity and described what it looked like underneath, ivory beds, summer houses, and the poor sold for a pair of sandals.
What it meant to them
The first hearers knew what a good economy can hide. The book gives Jeroboam II a boom and a one-line condemnation, and says plainly that God saw the bitter affliction of Israel and saved them by his hand anyway.
For Judah the lesson is Amaziah's. A real victory over Edom went to his head, he picked a fight he had been warned off, and the wall of Jerusalem came down for it.
Sources cited
- Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings
- The Samaria Ostraca (administrative dockets, 8th century BC)
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on 2 Kings 14. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on 9 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Bede, Thirty Questions on the Book of Kings; Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 2 KINGS 12:4; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); John Gill; John Wesley and Matthew Henry.