2 Kings 14:11

_BUT AMAZIAH WOULD NOT HEAR. THEREFORE JEHOASH KING OF ISRAEL WENT UP; AND HE AND AMAZIAH KING OF JUDAH LOOKED ONE ANOTHER IN THE FACE AT BETH-SHE'MESH, WHICH BELONGETH TO JUDAH._ But Amaziah would not hear. The sarcastic tenor of this reply incited the king of Judah the more; for, being in a state of judicial blindness and infatuation (2 Chronicles 25:20), he was immovably determined on war. The superior energy of Joash, however, surprised him ere he had completed his military preparations. Pouring a numerous army into the territory of Judah, he encountered Amaziah in a pitched battle, routed his army, took himself prisoner, and having marched to Jerusalem, not only demolished part of the city walls, but plundered the treasures of the palace and temple, and, taking hostages to prevent any further molestation from Judah, terminated the war. Without leaving a ga

8-14 For some time after the division of the kingdoms, Judah suffered much from the enmity of Israel. After Asa's time, it suffered more by the friendship of Israel, and by the alliance made with them. Now we meet with hostility between them again. How may a humble man smile to hear two proud and scornful men set their wits on work, to vilify and undervalue one another! Unholy success excites pride; pride excites contentions. The effects of pride in others, are insufferable to those who are proud themselves. These are the sources of trouble and sin in private life; but when they arise between princes, they become the misery of their whole kingdoms. Jehoash shows Amaziah the folly of his challenge; Thine heart has lifted thee up. The root of all sin is in the heart, thence it flows. It is not Providence, the event, the occasion, whatever it is, that makes men proud, secure, discontented,...

Jehoash did not wait to be attacked. Invading Judaea from the west, and so ascending out of the low coast tract, he met the army of Amaziah at Beth-shemesh (see Joshua 19:21 note), about 15 miles from Jerusalem....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 14:1 REIGNS OF AMAZIAH, SON OF JOASH KING OF JUDAH, OVER JUDAH, AND OF JEROBOAM, SON OF JOASH KING OF ISRAEL, OVER ISRAEL. 2 KINGS 14:1 THE REIGN OF AMAZIAH OVER JUDAH. This chapter takes up the history of the kingdom of Judah from the each of...

BUT AMAZIAH WOULD NOT HEAR,.... Being given up to a judicial hardness of heart through pride; for this was of God, and by his overruling providence, that he might be punished for his idolatry, in setting up the gods of Edom to be his gods, and offering to them, 2 Chronicles 25:14 THEREFORE JEHOASH KING ISRAEL WENT UP; from Samaria to the land of Judah, which was higher ground: AND HE AND AMAZIAH LOOKED ONE ANOTHER IN THE FACE; in the field of battle: AT BETHSHEMESH, which belongeth to Judah; which is observed, not merely to distinguish it from another Bethshemesh in Naphtali, but to observe, that the king of Israel waited not for him to give him the challenge, but met his adversary in his own country, whither he carried the war, not suffering him to come into his....

6. KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH CHAPTER 14 _ 1. Amaziah's reign over Judah (2 Kings 14:1; 2 Chronicles 25)_ 2. The conflict between Israel and Judah (2 Kings 14:8; 2 Chronicles 25:17) 3. Judah's defeat and Jerusalem taken (2 Kings 14:12) 4. Jehoash and his successor (2 Kings 14:15) 5. Death of Amaziah (2 Kings 14

THE REIGN OF AMAZIAH, SON OF JOASH, KING OF JUDAH. Amaziah was a virtuous king like his father Joash, but not according to the standard of David. This is the judgment of the Deuteronomist, who refers to the law-book of his age, approving the king's forbearance in not punishing the sons of his father's murderers (Deuteronomy 21:1 *, Deuteronomy 24:16). Amaziah was successful in his wars with Edom, whose territory was peculiarly important to Judah as giving access to the Red Sea. The Edomites were defeated in the Valley of Salt as in David's time (2 Samuel 8:13, LXX). There is a place of the same name near Beersheba, but the topography here seems to require it to be in the southern Arabah, S. of the Dead Se

BETH-SHERNESH. house of the sun, on frontier of Judah and Dan, fifteen miles west of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:10). _Now Ain Shems. A_ city of the priests (Joshua 21:9; Joshua 21:13; Joshua 21:16). Afterward associated with idolatry, and now with defeat....

_But Amaziah would not hear_ Bearing out the proverb -Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat". _Jehoash king of Israel went up_ When the king of Israel saw that Amaziah would persist, he apparently made the first movement. For Beth-shemesh, where the engagement took place was in Amaziah's territory, on the northern boundary of Judah. Jehoash therefore never allowed the army of Judah to enter the land of the Israelites. _Beth-shemesh_ The name signifies -house of the sun" and may contain some allusion to ancient idolatrous worship which prevailed there. (Cf. Jeremiah 43:13.) The place is mentioned before this time as that to which the ark was brought when it was sent home by the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:9; 1

C. THE REIGN OF AMAZIAH IN THE SOUTH 14:1-22 Amaziah the thistle king, is another example of a good start and a tragic end. The account of his reign moves through three stages: (1) his hopeful beginning (2 Kings 14:1-7); (2) his disastrous defeat (2 Kings 14:8-14); and (3) his treacherous death (2 Kings 14:15-22). Eighth King of Judah AMAZIAH BEN JOASH 796-767 B.C. (_Strength of Yahweb_) 2 Kings 14:1-20; 2 Chronicles 25 Synchronism Amaziah 1 = Joash 2 Contemporary Prophets Sever