2 Kings 14

Amaziah of Judah starts well but only halfway: he obeys the Law in one matter, wins a victory over Edom, and then grows proud. His challenge to Israel ends in humiliating defeat and the plundering of Jerusalem. The chapter closes in the north, where the wicked Jeroboam II is still used by God’s mercy to rescue a suffering Israel.

2 Kings 14:1-2

The writer ties the two kingdoms together by dating Amaziah’s reign to Israel’s king. Amaziah was twenty-five when he began and ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother is named, as is usual for Judah’s kings, to identify the royal line.

BSA: Jerusalem (“the city of peace, the capital”): The city’s name speaks of peace, yet this chapter shows it threatened by war between brothers.

2 Kings 14:3-4

Amaziah did right, but not wholeheartedly like David. He simply copied his father Joash, whose faith had faded. The high places, local worship sites, were left standing, so the people kept offering sacrifices there instead of only at the temple God had chosen.

BSA: right (“upright, just”): His conduct was outwardly upright, but the verse hints it lacked David’s whole-hearted devotion. high places (“cultic platforms, elevations”): These were raised worship sites that mixed true worship with the practices of the surrounding nations.

See also: 1 Kings 15:11; 2 Chronicles 25:2.

2 Kings 14:5

Once his rule was secure, Amaziah dealt with the servants who had assassinated his father Joash. Waiting until he was strong shows he acted as a king bringing justice, not in a hot-headed rage for revenge.

BSA: grasp (“hand, power”): The kingdom was literally in his hand: his authority was firmly settled before he acted.

See also: 2 Kings 12:20-21.

2 Kings 14:6

Amaziah spared the murderers’ children, obeying the Law of Moses. Guilt belongs to the one who sinned; no one is to be punished for another’s crime. This was a merciful and just restraint, unusual in the ancient world, where whole families were often wiped out.

BSA: written (“recorded, inscribed”): Amaziah let a written word of God, not custom or anger, decide what he did.

See also: Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:20.

2 Kings 14:7

Amaziah defeated Edom, Judah’s old neighbor to the south-east, killing 10,000 in the Valley of Salt near the Dead Sea. He captured the rock fortress Sela and renamed it Joktheel. The victory was real, but it set the stage for his pride.

BSA: Sela (“the rock, a stronghold”): The name simply means rock, a mountain stronghold that looked unbeatable.

See also: 2 Chronicles 25:11-12.

2 Kings 14:8

Flushed with success, Amaziah sent a challenge to Jehoash of Israel: come, let us meet face to face. This was an invitation to battle, not a friendly visit. Israel and Judah were two parts of one people, so this was a quarrel among relatives.

BSA: face (“presence, countenance”): Meeting face to face means a direct showdown, with nothing held back.

Hebrew: נִתְרָאֶה פָנִים (nitrāʾeh fānîm, H7200) — “let us look one another in the face.” It is a Hebrew way of saying a head-on confrontation, used here for a challenge to war.

2 Kings 14:9-10

Jehoash answers with a parable: a little thistle demanded a royal match with a mighty cedar, then a wild animal trampled it. He warns that Amaziah’s pride over beating Edom will bring ruin on himself and Judah. It is blunt advice, and good advice.

BSA: proud (“lifted up, arrogant”): Amaziah’s heart was literally lifted up, and a lifted-up heart is ready to fall. stir up (“meddle, provoke”): Jehoash tells him he is poking at trouble that need never have come.

See also: Proverbs 16:18.

2 Kings 14:11-12

Amaziah refused to listen. The armies met at Beth-shemesh, inside Judah’s own land, and Judah was routed. Every man ran home. Pride that will not take a warning ends in shame.

BSA: routed (“put to the worse, smitten”): Judah’s army was thoroughly beaten and scattered, not merely pushed back.

See also: 2 Chronicles 25:20.

2 Kings 14:13-14

Jehoash captured Amaziah, entered Jerusalem and tore down about four hundred cubits of its wall, around six hundred feet, leaving the city defenseless. He carried off temple treasure, palace wealth and hostages. A king’s folly cost the whole nation, and even the Lord’s house was plundered.

BSA: hostages (“pledges, security guarantees, sons of the kingdom”): Taking people from Judah’s families was a way to keep the defeated kingdom under control.

2 Kings 14:15-16

The writer closes Jehoash’s account with the usual reference to the royal records, then notes his death and burial in Samaria. His son Jeroboam takes the throne. The kings pass, but the record of their deeds remains.

BSA: rested (“slept, died”): Scripture describes a king’s death as sleep, a gentle word for the end of his reign.

2 Kings 14:17-18

Amaziah outlived his conqueror by fifteen years. He remained king, but it was a diminished reign under the shadow of defeat. His other deeds are left to the royal records of Judah.

BSA: lived (“to have life, to be quickened”): He kept his life and throne, though his honor was gone.

2 Kings 14:19-20

A conspiracy in Jerusalem drove Amaziah to flee to Lachish, a fortified city to the south-west, but assassins followed and killed him there. His body was brought home on horses and buried with the kings in the City of David. He died as his father did, at the hands of his own people.

BSA: conspirators (“plotters, those who made a secret design”): The plot was secret and organized, and it came from within his own court.

See also: 2 Chronicles 25:27.

2 Kings 14:21-22

The people of Judah made Azariah, also called Uzziah, king at sixteen. One of his first achievements was rebuilding Elath, the Red Sea port, and restoring it to Judah. After Amaziah’s disgrace, the throne was passed on and Judah recovered.

BSA: Azariah (“a son of God, helped by God”): The name means the Lord has helped, a fitting name for a king whose reign brought recovery.

See also: 2 Chronicles 26:1-2.

2 Kings 14:23-24

The story turns north. Jeroboam II reigned in Samaria forty-one years, a long time. Yet he did evil and held on to the sins of the first Jeroboam, the false worship set up at Dan and Bethel. Long and prosperous rule did not mean the Lord approved.

BSA: sins (“transgressions, guilt”): The sins were a pattern passed down from one king to the next, not a single lapse.

See also: 1 Kings 12:28-30.

2 Kings 14:25

Even so, Jeroboam II restored Israel’s borders from Lebo-hamath in the far north to the Dead Sea in the south. This fulfilled a word from the prophet Jonah, the same Jonah later sent to Nineveh. The Lord’s word came true, though through an unworthy king.

BSA: servant (“faithful attendant, prophet”): Jonah is called the Lord’s servant, one who carries his master’s word.

See also: Jonah 1:1-2.

2 Kings 14:26-27

God acted out of compassion. He saw Israel’s bitter suffering, with no helper in sight. He had promised not to erase Israel’s name from under heaven, so He rescued them through Jeroboam. Deliverance came from His mercy, not from the people’s goodness.

BSA: affliction (“state of trouble or hardship”): Israel’s distress was real and widespread, reaching both slave and free. blot out (“erase, wipe away”): God pictures the nation’s name as written, and He refuses to wipe it away.

See also: Exodus 3:7; Deuteronomy 9:27.

2 Kings 14:28-29

Jeroboam’s wars even recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel. The writer then refers to the royal records and reports his death. His son Zechariah succeeds him, and Israel’s brief season of strength starts to run toward its end.

BSA: recovered (“restored, brought back”): Territory once lost was brought back under Israel’s control.