The Second Book of the Chronicles
2 Chronicles 25
Chapter XXV · Vol. II, pp. 873–874
1 Amaziah beginneth to reign well. 3 He executeth justice on the murderers of his father. 5 Having hired an army of Israelites against the Edomites, at the word of a prophet he loseth an hundred talents, and dismisseth them. 11 He overthroweth the Edomites. 10, 13 The Israelites, discontented with their dismission, spoil as they return home. 14 Amaziah, proud of his victory, serveth the gods of Edom, and despiseth the admonitions of the prophet. 17 He provoketh Joash to his overthrow. 25 His reign. 27 He is slain by a conspiracy at Lachish.
1 Amaziah wasa twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
B.C. 838.
a 1 Ki.14.1-6.
3 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him,2 that he cslew his servants that had killed the king his father.
2 Heb. confirmed upon him.
c ch.24.25,26; 33.24,25. Ge.9.5,6. Ex.21.14. Nu.35.10-21,31.
4 But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, dThe fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.
d De.24.16. 2 Ki.14.5. Je.31.30. Eze.18.4,20.
5 Moreover, Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them ecaptains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout fall Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from gtwenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand3 choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.
e 1 Ch.13.1.
f ch.11.1; 17.14-18.
g Nu.1.3,18. 1 Ch.21.5. ch.11.1; 14.8.
3 The muster and discipline had evidently of late been neglected, else the amount of the national strength had been known. Amaziah reorganizes the disposable force, and finds the kingdom miserably wasted, since, in the days of Jehoshaphat, the military census was upwards of a million.—C.
6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents4 of silver[≈ 3.4 tonnes · 3.4 tons · silver worth ≈ US$5.9 million].5
4 £34,218, 15s. sterling.
5 Taking the shekel at 2s. 6d. the talent was 3000 shekels (Ex. 38.25,26), or £375; an hundred talents = £37,500, which gives to each of 100,000 7s. 6d. per man. This, therefore, could not have been their pay, but merely a subsidy to the government, or earnest to the army.—C.
7 But there came ha man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee: ifor the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
h 2 Sa.12.1. ch.15.1; 19.2.
i 1 Ki.12.28. ch.15.2. Is.28.1. Ho.5.13,14; 9.12.
8 But if thou wilt go, kdo it, be strong for the battle;6 God shall make thee fall before the enemy: lfor God hath power to help, and to cast down.
k Is.8.9,10. ch.18.14. 1 Ki.22.15. Ec.11.9.
6 This is no irony, but an earnest warning, in which the anxiety of the prophet omits the conjunctions. The meaning is, 'If thou wilt go, if thou wilt do, if thou wilt be strong for the battle (that is, if you think yourself strong, and confiding in it, go to the battle), then know that God shall make thee fall,' &c.—C.
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents[≈ 3.4 tonnes · 3.4 tons] which I have given to the army7 of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is ablem to give thee much more than this.
10 Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home8 again: wherefore their nanger was greatly kindled9 against Judah, and they returned home oin great anger.
11 And Amaziah strengthened himself,1 and led forth his people, and went to pthe valley of Salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.2
1 B.C. 827.
p 2 Sa.8.13. 2 Ki.14.7. Ps.60. title.
2 'The Valley of Salt' lay at the southern end of the Dead Sea, along the base of a range of salt hills now called Jebel Usdum, 'the hills of Sodom.' East of the valley was Mount Seir, or Edom. The terrible punishment inflicted on the ten thousand captives is accounted for by the previous cruelty of the Edomites, and the hereditary enmity which subsisted between the two nations.—P.
12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were qbroken in pieces.3
q 1 Ch.20.3; 18.13, with ch.20.20; 21.8-10.
3 The sacred historian states the fact, but does not give any approbation. It was a delay and refinement of cruelty to which the late idolatrous apostasies had prepared the people. When we compare ver. 4 with this passage, we discover an example of Amaziah's imperfection of heart—merciful and anxious for the law in the one case, negligent of it and cruel in the other—add ver 14, and his former zeal for Jehovah now commingles with idolatry, having neglected the law of Moses in one case (De.7.25), which lately he had honoured in another.—C.
13 But the soldiers of the army4 which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from rSamaria even unto Beth-horon, and smote three thousand of them,5 and took much spoil.6
4 Heb. the sons of the band.
r 1 Ki.16.24,28,29; 9.17. ch.8.5.
5 The inhabitants.
6 Beth-horon stood on the northern boundary of the kingdom of Judah. Samaria was in the very centre of Israel; it may be inferred, therefore, that Judah had previous to this time obtained possession of many cities in the northern kingdom, which were now captured and plundered. The spoilers did not venture within the proper bounds of Judah.—P.
14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he sbrought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burnt incense unto them.
15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him at prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, uwhich could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?
t ver.7; ch.19.2; 20.37; 16.7; 24.20.
u Ps.115.4-7. Je.10.1-20. Is.46.1,2; 44.9-20; 45.21.
16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? xforbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that yGod hath determined7 to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
17 Then zAmaziah king of Judah took advice,8 and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us asee one another in the face.9
z 2 Ki.14.8-14. ver.13; ch.10.14. Pr.20.3.
8 B.C. 826.
a 2 Sa.2.14. ver.19,20.
9 Not an invitation to meet, but a covert form of challenge, as may be seen from the insulting reply.—C.
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The bthistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by ca wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.1
b Or furze-bush, or thorn, Ju.9.8.
c Heb. a beast of the field, Ps.80.13.
1 The thistle denoted Amaziah—mean, yet mischievous; the cedar, Joash—powerful, yet peaceable. No similitude could better describe Amaziah than the thistle; a low, useless, neglected weed, but which having chanced to draw blood from some passing traveller, began to affect an equality with the cedar, the glory of Lebanon.—I.
19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart dlifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; ewhy shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
20 But Amaziah fwould not hear; for it came of God,2 that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
f ver.16,14. 1 Sa.2.25; 12.25. ch.22.7; 24.24. Ps.81.11,12. 2 Th.2.10-12. Ho.11.2,7. 2 Ki.14.11.
2 God adjudged him, on account of his idolatry, to be delivered over to his own heart and ways, and to the temptations of Satan. In this judicial sense it was of God, but in no other. See Ja.1.13-15.—C.
21 So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at gBeth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.3
g 1 Sa.6.9-20, not Jos.19.38.
3 Bethshemesh was far beyond the boundaries of the northern kingdom. Joash must have marched down the plain of Sharon into the great broad valley which runs from among the mountains at Beth-shemesh to Ekron. There the army of Amaziah was concentrated, and having been defeated, the soldiers fled up into the mountains of Judah—'every man to his tent.'—P.
22 And Judah was put to the hworse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
h Heb. smitten, 2 Ki.14.12-14.
23 And Joash the king of Israel itook Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate,4 four hundred cubits[≈ 180 m · 600 ft].
24 And he took all kthe gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the 5hostages6 also, and returned to Samaria.
25 Andl Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.7
l 2 Ki.14.17,18; 13.10.
7 B.C. 825.
26 Now the mrest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?
m ch.9.31; 12.15; 16.11; 20.34; 24.27; 27.7; 26.22; 28.26; 32.32; 33.18; 35.26,27.
27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD, they nmade a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.
n Heb. conspired a conspiracy, 2 Ki.14.19. ch.24.25; 33.24. [He became very unpopular after having lost the battle with the Israelites; the consequence of which was the dismantling of Jerusalem, and the seizure of the royal treasures. It is likely that the last fifteen years of his reign were greatly embittered; so that finding the royal city to be no place of safety, he endeavoured to secure himself in the fortress of Lachish.—I.]
28 And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of oJudah.
o That is, the city of David, as 2 Ki.14.20.
Notes
Reflections.—What multitudes are mere dissemblers in their religious appearances! For some carnal end they apply their tongue and hand to religion, while their heart hates it. But short-lived are the triumphs of murderers, particularly those of sovereigns. And strict equity ought to take place in the punishment of criminals, that the innocent may not be involved with the guilty. How fearfully sin diminishes and weakens nations! And rash undertakings, or alliances in war, make room for bitter repentance. Multitudes profit nothing when God is our enemy; and connection with his enemies but hastens the curse on our enterprises. But the loss of money goes very near the heart of worldlings, while they who trust in God find themselves gainers. How outrageous is the fury and cruel the tender mercies of the wicked. Such as are really unconcerned about piety feel their pride hurt when treated as profane and wicked: and the proud, when baulked of their expected honours and booty, are greatly enraged. The conquests made by nations are often really to their own hurt: and those whom we imitated in wickedness become the instruments of our punishment. But base is the cruelty, and sottish the folly, to dash idolaters to pieces, and preserve, nay, worship, the idols which could not protect their votaries from such barbarous severity. Wicked men heartily hate a faithful reprover: and much sooner will they part with large sums of money than with the most useless and despicable idol! But near and certain is their destruction whom God has left off to reprove, and in whom pride swells to the brim. They that would not hearken to God's servants will soon hearken to their own wicked counsellors and raging lusts, which hasten their temporal, nay, eternal destruction. And however wicked the instruments may be, the judgments are always righteous. They who go forth hastily to strive will soon not know what to do when their neighbour has put them to shame. Man's pride will certainly bring him low: and it will fare ill at last with them who forsake God and his way. For traitors to God and religion are often treacherously hurried into death and hell.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.