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2 Kings 14
New English Translation

Amaziah’s Reign over Judah

14 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz,[a] Joash’s[b] son Amaziah became king over Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[c] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what the Lord approved,[d] but not like David his ancestor had done. He followed the example of his father Joash.[e] 4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

5 When he had secured control of the kingdom,[f] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.[g] 6 But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the scroll of the law of Moses, “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do,[h] and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do.[i] A man must be put to death only for his own sin.”[j]

7 He defeated[k] 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day. 8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”[l] 9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal[m] of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn.[n] 10 You thoroughly defeated Edom,[o] and it has gone to your head![p] Gloat over your success,[q] but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”[r] 11 But Amaziah would not heed the warning,[s] so King Jehoash of Israel attacked.[t] He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face[u] in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.[v] 13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. He[w] attacked[x] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about 600 feet.[y] 14 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages.[z] Then he went back to Samaria.

15 The rest of the events of Jehoash’s[aa] reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[ab] 16 Jehoash passed away[ac] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.

17 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 18 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[ad] 19 Conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,[ae] so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him,[af] and they killed him there. 20 His body was carried back by horses,[ag] and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David. 21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. 22 Azariah[ah] built up Elat and restored it to Judah after the king[ai] had passed away.[aj]

Jeroboam II’s Reign over Israel

23 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Judah’s King Amaziah son of Joash, Jeroboam son of Joash became king over Israel. He reigned for forty-one years in Samaria. 24 He did evil in the sight of[ak] the Lord; he did not repudiate[al] the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath[am] in the north to the sea of the rift valley[an] in the south,[ao] just as in the message from the Lord God of Israel that he had announced through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. 26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering;[ap] everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer.[aq] 27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory[ar] from under heaven,[as] so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

28 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including all his accomplishments, his military success in restoring Israelite control over Damascus and Hamath, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[at] 29 Jeroboam passed away[au] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.[av] His son Zechariah replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 14:1 sn The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
  2. 2 Kings 14:1 sn The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
  3. 2 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  4. 2 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  5. 2 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “according to all which Joash his father had done, he did.”
  6. 2 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure in his hand.”
  7. 2 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father.”
  8. 2 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
  9. 2 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
  10. 2 Kings 14:6 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
  11. 2 Kings 14:7 tn Or “struck down.”
  12. 2 Kings 14:8 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.
  13. 2 Kings 14:9 tn Heb “the animal of the field.”
  14. 2 Kings 14:9 sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
  15. 2 Kings 14:10 tn Or “you have indeed defeated Edom.”
  16. 2 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “and your heart has lifted you up.”
  17. 2 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “be glorified.”
  18. 2 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
  19. 2 Kings 14:11 tn Heb “did not listen.”
  20. 2 Kings 14:11 tn Heb “went up.”
  21. 2 Kings 14:11 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.”
  22. 2 Kings 14:12 tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
  23. 2 Kings 14:13 tc The MT has the plural form of the verb, but the final vav (ו) is virtually dittographic. The word that immediately follows in the Hebrew text begins with a yod (י). The form should be emended to the singular, which is consistent in number with the verb (“he broke down”) that follows.
  24. 2 Kings 14:13 tn Heb “came to.”
  25. 2 Kings 14:13 tn Heb “400 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
  26. 2 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “the sons of the pledges.”
  27. 2 Kings 14:15 sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
  28. 2 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
  29. 2 Kings 14:16 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  30. 2 Kings 14:18 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
  31. 2 Kings 14:19 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
  32. 2 Kings 14:19 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
  33. 2 Kings 14:20 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
  34. 2 Kings 14:22 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Azariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  35. 2 Kings 14:22 sn This must refer to Amaziah.
  36. 2 Kings 14:22 tn Heb “lay with his fathers.”
  37. 2 Kings 14:24 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  38. 2 Kings 14:24 tn Heb “turn away from all.”
  39. 2 Kings 14:25 tn Or “entrance of Hamath” (so NASB and cf. KJV). This may be a site some 44 miles north of Damascus (see T. R. Hobbs, 2 Kings [WBC], 182).
  40. 2 Kings 14:25 tn The “sea of the rift valley” is the Dead Sea.
  41. 2 Kings 14:25 tn The phrases “in the north” and “in the south” are added in the translation for clarification.
  42. 2 Kings 14:26 tc Heb “for the Lord saw the very bitter affliction of Israel.” This translation assumes an emendation of מֹרֶה (moreh), which is meaningless here, to הַמַּר (hammar), the adjective “bitter” functioning attributively with the article prefixed. This emendation is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate. Another option would be מַר הוּא (mar huʾ), “it was bitter.”
  43. 2 Kings 14:26 tn Heb “[there was] none but the restrained, and [there was] none but the abandoned, and there was no deliverer for Israel.” On the meaning of the terms עָצוּר (ʿatsur) and עָזוּב (ʿazur), see the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
  44. 2 Kings 14:27 tn Heb “name.”
  45. 2 Kings 14:27 tn The phrase “from under heaven” adds emphasis to the verb “blot out” and suggest total annihilation. For other examples of the verb מָחָה (makhah), “blot out,” combined with “from under heaven,” see Exod 17:14; Deut 9:14; 25:19; 29:20.
  46. 2 Kings 14:28 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?” The phrase “to Judah” is probably not original; it may be a scribal addition by a Judahite scribe who was trying to link Jeroboam’s conquests with the earlier achievements of David and Solomon, who ruled in Judah. The Syriac Peshitta has simply “to Israel.” M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 162) offer this proposal, but acknowledge that it is “highly speculative.”
  47. 2 Kings 14:29 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  48. 2 Kings 14:29 tn The MT has simply “with the kings of Israel,” which appears to stand in apposition to the immediately preceding “with his fathers.” But it is likely that the words “and he was buried in Samaria” have been accidentally omitted from the text. See 13:13 and 14:16.
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