2 Kings 14:8-16

14:8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”¹ 14:9 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 animal² of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn.³ 14:10 You thoroughly defeated Edom⁴ and it has gone to your head!⁵ Gloat over your success,⁶ but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”⁷ 14:11 But Amaziah would not heed the warning,⁸ so King Jehoash of Israel attacked.⁹ He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face¹⁰ in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 14:12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.¹¹ 14:13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. He¹² attacked¹³ Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate – a distance of about six hundred feet.¹⁴ 14:14 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.¹⁵ Then he went back to Samaria.¹⁶

( 14:15 The rest of the events of Jehoash’s¹⁷ 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.¹⁸ 14:16 Jehoash passed away¹⁹ and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.)

2 Kings 14:2

14:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.²⁰ His mother²¹ was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem.

2 Kings 25:17-24

25:17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet²² high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet²³ high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

25:18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25:19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five²⁴ of the king’s advisers²⁵ who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens²⁶ for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 25:20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 25:21 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed²⁷ at Riblah in the territory²⁸ of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.

Gedaliah Appointed Governor

25:22 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah.²⁹ 25:23 All of the officers of the Judahite army³⁰ and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 25:24 Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.³¹ He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.”

¹tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.

²tn Heb “the animal of the field.”

³sn 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).

⁴tn Or “you have indeed defeated Edom.”

⁵tn Heb “and your heart has lifted you up.”

⁶tn Heb “be glorified.”

⁷tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”

⁸tn Heb “did not listen.”

⁹tn Heb “went up.”

¹⁰tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.”

¹¹tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”

¹²tc 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.

¹³tn Heb “came to.”

¹⁴tn Heb “four hundred cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

¹⁵tn Heb “the sons of the pledges.”

¹⁶map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

¹⁷sn Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.

¹⁸tn 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?”

¹⁹tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

²⁰map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²¹tn Heb “the name of his mother.”

²²tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

²³tn Heb “three cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”

²⁴tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”

²⁵tn Heb “five seers of the king’s face.”

²⁶tn Heb “the people of the land.”

²⁷tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

²⁸tn Heb “land.”

²⁹tn Heb “And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.”

³⁰tn Heb “of the army.” The word “Judahite” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

³¹tn The words “so as to give them…some assurance of safety” are supplied in the translation for clarification.