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2 KINGS 14

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

I. OUTLINE OF 2 KINGS 14-16 BY KING

1. Kings of Israel

   1. 2 Kings 14:23-27	Jeroboam II (786-746 B.C.)
   2. 2 Kings 15:8-12	Zechariah (746 B.C., 6 months)
   3. 2 Kings 15:13, 15	Shallum (745 B.C., 1 month)
   4. 2 Kings 15:14, 16-23	Menahem (745-738 B.C.)
   5. 2 Kings 15:23-26	Pekahiah (738-737 B.C.)
   6. 2 Kings 15:27-31	Pekah (737-732 B.C.)

   
   
2. Kings of Judah

   1. 2 Kings 15:1-7	Azariah (Uzziah; 2 Chr. 26:1; Isa. 1:1; Hos. 1:1; Amos 1:1; Zech. 18:5) ‒ 783-742 B.C.
   2. 2 Kings 15:32-38	Jotham (coregent 750-742 B.C.; reigned 742-735 B.C.)
   3. 2 Kings 16:1-20	Ahaz (Jeho-Ahaz) ‒ 735-715 B.C.

   
   
3. One reason this section is confusing is the kings of Judah and Israel by the same name.
   1. Joash of Israel and Joash of Judah overlap for some years (they are both mentioned in 2 Kings 14:1)
   2. Joram of Israel and Joram of Judah (brothers-in-law) reigned close together.

II. CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. The reigns of Jeroboam II in Israel and Uzziah in Judah were very successful. Both were stable and lengthy administrations.
   
   
2. The prophets in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II were Amos and Hosea.
   
   
3. The prophets in Judah during the reign of Uzziah were Micah and Isaiah.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:1-7
  ¹In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ³He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. ⁴Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁵Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. ⁶But the sons of the slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin." ⁷He killed of Edom in the Valley of Salt 10,000 and took Sela by war, and named it Joktheel to this day.

14:1 "Amaziah" The genealogies of the NT often omit some ancestors. There is a numerical pattern (i.e., three series of fourteen ancestors). See K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, p. 37 and Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 48-50.

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY

14:2 The lengths of king's reigns are often listed differently. This is because

1. of two different ways in Israel and Judah to count the first partial year
2. of the co-reigns when an old or sick king gave authority to one of his sons; the years are then counted for both kings

The best books I have seen to deal with this problem are Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings and Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 51-54, 102.

The MT and LXX have "Jehoaddin" (BDB 221), but the Masoretic scholars suggest "Jehoaddan" (cf. 2 Chr. 25:1; and Josephus, Antiq. 9.9.1).

14:3 "He did right in the sight of the Lord" This is the first Judean king since Asa (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:11) that this phrase is used in connection with. It primarily referred to their obedience to the Mosaic Covenant.

▣ "yet not like his father, David" Notice the qualification. From 2 Chronicles we learn that he did not follow after the Lord completely with all his heart, all his life, as David did (cf. 2 Chr. 25:2). David had admonished Solomon to do this (cf. 1 Chr. 28:8-9; 29:19). Obedience to the Mosaic Covenant and love towards YHWH (i.e., Deut. 6:5; 10:12) were crucial!

SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP

▣ "he did according to all that Joash his father had done" There are great similarities between Amaziah and Joash.

1. They both started out committed to YHWH.
2. They both fell away in their later years.
3. They both disregarded prophetic messages.
4. They both were killed by conspirators of their own households.

14:4 "the high places were not taken away" It was not until the time of Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:4) that these local shrines were obliterated and outlawed. The reason that they were so difficult to deal with is because during the period of Judges, they were sanctioned by YHWH and yet over the period of time, they came to be worship centers for Ba'al.

14:5 "as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand" This would have been some considerable time after his coronation.

▣ "he killed his servants who had slain the king his father" This refers to 2 Kings 12:20.

14:6 "the sons of the slayers he did not kill" The reason for this was the verse in the Law of Moses (i.e., Deut. 24:16) which does not allow a son to bear the punishment of his father. This is surprising,in light of Exod. 20:5; Deut. 5:9,10. However, it perfectly fits Jer. 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18.

There is a tension in the OT between corporality and individualism (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 678, #4). One's sins do affect the whole (i.e., Joshua 7; Isaiah 53). But also personal faith and covenant obedience affects this issue (i.e., blood feuds between families).

▣ "in the book of the law of Moses" The specific quote is from Deut. 24:16. Modern scholars have speculated on the formation of the OT and postulated several authors/editors. I reject this J, E, P, D theory of Welhousen, but I do believe there were editors involved in the formation of the OT we have today. The MT was not completed until the ninth century A.D.!

SPECIAL TOPIC: MOSES' AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH

SPECIAL TOPIC: PENTATEUCH SOURCE CRITICISM (J,E,D,P)

▣ "shall not be put to death" This VERB is repeated twice (BDB 559, KB 562, Hophal IMPERFECT). The MT has a third occurrence of this VERB in v. 6, but has it as a Qal IMPERFECT. The Masoretic scholars suggested it, too, should be a Hophal IMPERFECT.

14:7 "Edom" Edom was a vassal state under Judah for a long period of time but had recently regained independence (cf. 2 Kgs. 8:20).

SPECIAL TOPIC: EDOM AND ISRAEL

▣ "the valley of Salt" Most scholars feel this is the area to the south of the Dead Sea somewhere in the area of the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah. It is possible this refers to a site near Petra on the eastern side of the Jordan.

▣ "Sela" This exact site is unknown.

1. Perhaps the capital of Edom (LXX). Today it is a famous archaeological site and tourist attraction, later called Petra (i.e., Nabatean capital). See 2 Chr. 25:5-15 for a fuller account of the taking of this capital city.
2. Possibly a city on the King's Highway called "Sila" (Tyndale OT Commentary, p. 244).
3. Possibly an unidentified Amorite border fortress (cf. Jdgs. 1:35; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 267).
4. Possibly an unknown place in Moab (cf. Isa. 16:1).

The MT (NASB) has the proper name (BDB 430) but is uncertain of its meaning. Young's Concordance suggests "God's reward of victory." This name refes to two different places.

1. in the coastal plain of Judah ‒ Josh. 15:38
2. in the trans-Jordan area, a city later called Petra (Nabatean capital, see note above, #1)

▣ "to this day" This is a textual marker of a later editor/scribe.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:8-10
  ⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us face each other." ⁹Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Enjoy your glory and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, would fall, and Judah with you?"

14:8 "Come, let us face each other" Josephus (Antiq. 9.9.1) tells us this was an attempt by Amaziah to unite the people of God. However, from 2 Chr. 25:13, it may be just an attempt to get revenge on the deeds of the 100,000 Israeli mercenaries that Amaziah hired and then sent home.

The phrase itself is an idiom for "let us meet for battle."

Amaziah had experienced victory over Edom by prophetic announcement and a small number of soldiers. Obviously YHWH's hand was with him but Amaziah assumed, falsely, this would always be the case (Josephus, Antiq. 9.9.1).

14:9-10 Agricultural parables or riddles were common in the ANE. This one from the king of Israel warns the king of Judah not to think too highly of himself after his defeat of Edom (cf. v. 10; 2 Chr. 25:11-13). The king of Judah was acting like his army was equal to the army of Israel. Maybe Amaziah was counting on the intervention of YHWH.

14:9 "Give your daughter to my son in marriage" This imagery deals with the supposed equality between Israel and Judah. Amaziah (the thorn bush) considered himself an equal to Jehoash (the cedar), but in reality was not.

14:10 "heart" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HEART.

▣ "You have indeed defeated Edom" This is an intensified grammatical feature (i.e., an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a PERFECT VERB from the same root, BDB 645, KB 697, Hiphil).

SPECIAL TOPIC: EDOM AND ISRAEL

▣ "Enjoy your glory and stay at home" These are both IMPERATIVES used as wishes. See my note from 2 Chr. 15:14:

1 Chr. 25:14This is so shocking! How could a king who just responded positively to a prophet be led so quickly into idolatry with the obviously impotent gods of Edom (cf. 15b)?

Notice what Amaziah did.

1. collected the idols of Edom
2. brought them to Jerusalem
3. bowed down to them
4. burned incense to them

1 Chronicles 25:15 is a powerfully logical statement! Why, Why, Why?

SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (OT)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:11-14
  ¹¹But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹²Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent. ¹³Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits. ¹⁴He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

14:11 "Beth-shemesh" This place name (BDB 112) means "house of the sun." This shows the worship of the sun at one time was a common feature of the land of Canaan. This site was about 15 miles west of Jerusalem. Jehoash attacked Judah first and came from the coastal plain where he could use his chariots.

14:12 "they fled each to his tent" This is an idiom that came from the wilderness wandering experience. The Judeans did not live in tents at this time but had retained the phrase as an idiom for

1. returning home
2. being relieved of military service

14:13-14 "captured Amaziah" The rest of vv. 12-14 describes the price Judah paid for the return of its Davidic king alive.

14:13 "came to Jerusalem" The MT has the PLURAL but the Masoretic scholars suggested the SINGULAR (Qere). Probably Jehoash did not himself tear down the wall, but his army.

▣ "came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate" Turn in the back of your Bible to the set of maps and you will find a map of the city of Jerusalem. Notice the northern wall during Solomon's reign. This is the wall that Jehoash tore down. This made the city of Jerusalem absolutely defenseless. Josephus (Antiq. 9.9.3) tells us that Jerusalem opened her gates to the northern king on the threat of Amaziah's death.

▣ "the Gate of Ephraim" Most gates were named by the direction they faced. Therefore, this gate was to the north.

▣ "400 cubits" A cubit is the distance between a man's elbow and his longest finger. It averaged about 18 inches. Therefore, we are talking about a 600 foot section of wall. Josephus (Antiq. 9.9.3) tells us the wall was removed so completely that Jehoash drove his chariot through the breech.

SPECIAL TOPIC: CUBIT

14:14 "He took all the gold and silver" There was not much left for Hazael's siege earlier had taken most of the booty (cf. 2 Kgs. 12:18).

▣ "the hostages" This is the first mention in the OT of hostages being taken (cf. 2 Chr. 25:24; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 517, #9).

These may have been relatives of Amaziah to ensure his peaceful actions. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 230, asserts that Amaziah was, himself, taken to Ssamaria and released only years later, at the death of Jehoash, King of Israel.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:15-16
  ¹⁵Now 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? ¹⁶So Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son became king in his place.

14:15-16 This small paragraph seems to be out of place. It breaks into a context about Amaziah. It is a repeat from 2 Kgs. 13:12-13.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:17-22
  ¹⁷Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ¹⁹They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. ²⁰Then they brought him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. ²¹All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. ²²He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.

14:19 "They conspired against him in Jerusalem" This is said by the rabbis to be because of his idolatry related to his defeat of Edom (cf. 2 Chr. 25:27).

The "they" is not specified (cf. v. 20).

▣ "Lacish" This was a strong fortified city to the southeast of Jerusalem, on the coastal plain.

14:20 "they brought him on horses" This seems to refer to the royal chariot.

▣ "Azariah" He is also known as Uzziah (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1270-1271). The names Azariah and Uzziah are very similar in Hebrew; both in meaning and spelling.

1. Azariah, עזריהו (BDB 741, which means "YHWH has strength")
2. Uzziah, עזיהו (BDB 739, which means "My strength is YHWH")

14:21 "All the people" This must refer to

1. religious leaders
2. military leaders
3. civil leaders
4. land owners
5. the manual laborers

This may be synonymous to "the people of the land" (2 Kgs. 11:14). See Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 70-72.

14:22 "He built Elath" This means Azariah, or possibly Amaziah, fortified this important seaport to the south of Judah on the Red Sea. Solomon had opened up this sea route and Azariah was reestablishing his influence over this whole southern area.

▣ "slept" This is an euphemism for death.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:23-27
  ²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. ²⁴He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. ²⁵He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. ²⁶For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. ²⁷The Lord did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

14:23 "Jeroboam the son of Joash" This refers to Jeroboam II. He reigned from 786-746 B.C. Notice how little space and detail is given to this long reigning, politically and militarily successful king of Israel (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 771-772).

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY

▣ "in Samaria" This has been the capital of the northern ten tribes since the dynasty of Omri.

▣ "forty-one years" Jeroboam II had a prosperous and long reign. Josephus (Antiq. 9.10.1) says forty years.

14:24 "he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat" This refers to Jeroboam I. He was an exiled Ephraimite labor leader who led the northern ten tribes in revolt against Rehoboam, Solomon's son, in 922 B.C. He was the first king of Israel.

The sin referred to is his establishing of the golden calf worship in Dan and Bethel. This was not idolatry initially, for the calves represented YHWH (i.e., Exodus 32), but it was the sin of making graven images (i.e., Exod. 20:4) and distracting his people from worshiping at the only true temple in Jerusalem. However, these two northern shrines quickly became associated with fertility worship.

14:25 "the entrance of Hamath" This is always referred to as the northern limits of the promised land (cf. Num. 34:8; Josh. 13:5; Jdgs. 3:3; and 1 Kgs. 8:65). This would parallel the dimensions of Solomon's kingdom.

▣ "the sea of Arabah" This refers to the Dead Sea (cf. Deut. 3:17; Josh. 3:16; 12:3).

▣ "Jonah the son of Amittai" Jonah was a northern prophet. His name and the name of his father were rare names (cf. Jonah 1:1). Nineveh was the capital of Assyria (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 798-801).

14:26-27 This is the theological reasoning for Jeroboam II's success (cf. Neh. 9:19-35). These chapters are a good example of the type of theological history recorded in Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. It must be remembered that it is not history as we know it today, but selected history with a theological interpretation.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE OLD TESTAMENT AS HISTORY

SPECIAL TOPIC: OT HISTORIOGRAPHY COMPARED WITH NEAR EASTERN CULTURES

SPECIAL TOPIC: OT HISTORICAL NARRATIVE

14:26 "was very bitter" The MT has the VERB (BDB 598, KB 632, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) which means "to be contentious" or "to be rebellious," but this does not fit this verse. So the LXX and Peshitta emend it to a similar root (BDB 600, KB 638) "to be bitter."

1. מרה ‒ contentious (see NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 1101)
2. מרר ‒ bitter

▣ "bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel" See note at 1 Kgs. 14:10; 2 Kgs. 9:8; Isa. 45:14; and NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 364, #3.

14:27 "He would blot out the name of Israel" This phrase occurs only here and Deut. 9:14; 29:19. This is a Hebrew idiom for complete destruction. It was possibly related to the lists of citizens of a community. Moses used similar imagery in Exod. 32:32-33. See NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 913-914.

▣ "under heaven" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVEN.

▣ "but He saved them" See notes at 2 Kgs. 13:5.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (OT Term)

▣ "by the hand" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND.

▣ "of Jeroboam" YHWH used an evil king (v. 24) to accomplish His purposes.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 14:28-29
  ²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might, how he fought and how he recovered for Israel, Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁹And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place.

14:28 "how he fought and how he recovered for Israel, Damascus and Hamath" This probably refers to simply the taking of land which belonged to the kingdom of Syria and Hamath, but it is possible that during this period, Israel captured these two capitals and extended its influence far to the north of the promised land.

▣ "which had belonged to Judah" The MT has "for Judah in Israel." The UBS Text Project, p. 359, gives this a "B" rating (some doubt). It suggests the phrase be translated "and how he recovered for Israel (Damascus and Hamath) which had belonged to Judah."

14:29 "Zechariah his son became king in his place" This fulfills the prophecy made to Jehu in 2 Kgs. 10:30, that four generations of his descendants would sit on the throne.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Is YHWH's covenant conditional or unconditional?
2. Describe the use of "the high places."
3. Describe the modern J, E, D, P theory of source criticism and why v. 6 seems to discredit it.
4. Why did Amaziah want to fight Jehoash?
5. Is the Jonah of v. 25 the same as the prophetic book Jonah?
6. Why are vv. 26-27 such a significant theological statement?

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