2 Chronicles25
New Living Translation
1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem.
2Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.
3When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father.
4However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”
5Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield.
6He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel.
7But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the Lord is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim!
8If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”
9Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?” The man of God replied, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!”
10So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in a great rage.
11Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir.
12They captured another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, dashing them to pieces on the rocks below.
13Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several of the towns of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
14When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them!
15This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?”
16But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!” So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel.”
17After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”
18But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!
19“You are saying, ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and you are very proud of it. But my advice is to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”
20But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him for turning to the gods of Edom.
21So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah.
22Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home.
23King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.
24He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom. He also seized the treasures of the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.
25King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel.
26The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, there was a conspiracy against his life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there.
28They brought his body back on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 2 Chronicles 25.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Amaziah, king of Judah. (1–13). Amaziah worships the idols of Edom. (14–16). Amaziah's rash challenge. (17–28).
vv1-13
Amaziah was no enemy to religion, but cool and indifferent friend. Many do what is good, but not with a perfect heart. Rashness makes work for repentance. But Amaziah's obedience to the command of God was to his honour. A firm belief of God's all-sufficiency to bear us out in our duty, and to make up all the loss and damage we sustain in his service, will make his yoke very easy, and his burden very light. When we are called to part with any thing for God and our religion, it should satisfy us, that God is able to give us much more than this. Convinced sinners, who have not true faith, always object to self-denying obedience. They are like Amaziah; they say, But what shall we do for the hundred talents? What shall we do if by keeping the sabbath holy we lose so many good customers? What shall we do without this gain? What shall we do if we lose the friendship of the world? Many endeavour to quiet their consciences by the pretence that forbidden practices are necessary. The answer is, as here, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. He makes up, even in this world, for all that is given up for his sake.
vv14-16
To worship the gods of those whom Amaziah had conquered, who could not help their own worshippers, was the greatest absurdity. If men would consider how unable all those things are to help them, to which they look whenever they forsake God, they would not be such enemies to themselves. The reproof God sent by a prophet was too just to be answered; but he was bidden not to say a word more. The secure sinner rejoices to have silenced his reprovers and monitors; but what comes of it? Those that are deaf to reproof, are ripening for destruction.
vv17-28
Never was a proud prince more thoroughly mortified than Amaziah by Joash king of Israel. A man's pride will bring him low, Pr 29:23; it goes before his destruction, and deservedly brings it on. He that exalteth himself shall be abased. He that goes forth hastily to strive, will not know what he shall do in the end thereof, when his neighbour has put him to shame, Pr 25:8. And what are we when we offer to establish our own righteousness, or presume to justify ourselves before the Most High God, but despicable thistles, that fancy themselves stately cedars? And are not various temptations, is not every corruption, a wild beast of the desert, which will trample on the wretched boaster, and tread his haughty pretensions to the dust? A man's pride shall bring him low; his ruin may be dated from his turning from the Lord.
Key Words
אֲמַצְיָה: Amatsjah, the name of four Israelites
שָׁנֶה: a year (as a revolution of time)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
מָלַךְ: to reign; inceptively, to ascend the throne; causatively, to induct into royalty; hence (by implication) to take counsel
יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם: Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine
אֵם: a mother (as the bond of the family); in a wide sense (both literally and figuratively (like father))
שֵׁם: an appellation, as amark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character
יְהוֹעַדִּין: Jehoaddin or Jehoaddan, an Israelitess
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
יָשָׁר: straight (literally or figuratively)
Cross References
2 Chronicles 25Parallel account of the beginning of Amaziah's reign in Judah.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct citation of the law forbidding the execution of children for their fathers' sins.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel narrative of Amaziah's challenge and subsequent defeat by Joash.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel details of the conspiracy against Amaziah and his assassination at Lachish.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel account of the conquest of the Valley of Salt and Petra.
Supported by JFB
Theological link: refusing prophetic counsel as a sign that God determined to destroy him.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Classic Old Testament fable/parable comparison, similar to Joash's thistle and cedar.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Warning against going forth hastily to strive and being put to shame.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Proverbial connection: pride bringing Amaziah low after boasting of his Edomite victory.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels Joash's superficial obedience with Amaziah's lack of a perfect heart.
Supported by JFB
Identifies the conspirators who killed Amaziah's father, Joash, whom Amaziah later executed.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Contrasts Amaziah's reduced military numbers with Jehoshaphat's much larger forces.
Supported by JFB
Verbal link to Obed-edom's family guarding the house of God's treasures.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Proverbial warning that he who is often reproved and hardens his neck shall be destroyed.
Supported by Matthew Poole