# 2 Chronicles 25 📖: Amaziah's Victory and Pride [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-2 Chronicles Overview]] | [[2 Chronicles 24]] | [[2 Chronicles 26]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Amaziah’s Reign [[#Verse 01.]] Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem.  [[#Verse 02.]] He did what the Lord approved, but not with wholehearted devotion. [[#Verse 03.]] When he had secured control of the kingdom, he executed the servants who had assassinated his father the king.  [[#Verse 04.]] However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do, and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do. A man must be executed only for his own sin.” [[#Verse 05.]] Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of 1,000 and the commanders of units of 100 for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age equipped with spears and shields.  [[#Verse 06.]] He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for 100 talents of silver. [[#Verse 07.]] But a prophet visited him and said: “O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites. [[#Verse 08.]] Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”  [[#Verse 09.]] Amaziah asked the prophet: “But what should I do about the 100 talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.”  [[#Verse 10.]] So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed.  [[#Verse 11.]] Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he defeated 10,000 Edomites. [[#Verse 12.]] The men of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over. All the captives fell to their death.  [[#Verse 13.]] Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder. [[#Verse 14.]] When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir and made them his personal gods. He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices.  [[#Verse 15.]] The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following these gods that could not deliver their own people from your power?”  [[#Verse 16.]] While he was speaking, Amaziah said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!” So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that God has decided to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.” [[#Verse 17.]] After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers, he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, “Come, face me on the battlefield.” [[#Verse 18.]] King Joash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn bush.  [[#Verse 19.]] You defeated Edom and it has gone to your head. Gloat over your success, but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?” [[#Verse 20.]] But Amaziah did not heed the warning, for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.  [[#Verse 21.]] So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield in Beth Shemesh of Judah.  [[#Verse 22.]] Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.  [[#Verse 23.]] King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, in Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about 600 feet.  [[#Verse 24.]] He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God’s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria. [[#Verse 25.]] King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel.  [[#Verse 26.]] The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.  [[#Verse 27.]] From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him and they killed him there.  [[#Verse 28.]] His body was carried back by horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Amaziah reigned 29 years in Jerusalem (25:1). 2. He executed his father's assassins but spared their sons, following Deuteronomy 24:16 (25:4). 3. He hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel for 100 talents of silver (25:6). A talent was roughly 75 pounds. 4. The dismissed Israelite soldiers raided Judah's towns from Samaria to Beth Horon and killed 3,000 people (25:13). 5. The Valley of Salt (25:11) was also where David's forces defeated Edom (1 Chronicles 18:12). 6. "Seir" is another name for Edom, Esau's homeland (Genesis 36:8). 7. Joash of Israel's parable of the thistle and the cedar (25:18) is similar to Jotham's fable of the trees in Judges 9:8-15. 8. Joash of Israel broke down about 400 cubits of Jerusalem's wall, roughly 600 feet (25:23). 9. The temple treasures were in the care of the family of Obed-Edom, who served as gatekeepers over the storehouse (25:24; 1 Chronicles 26:15). 10. Amaziah fled to Lachish, one of Judah's most important fortified cities, but was killed there (25:27). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the King whose heart was fully devoted to the Father. Amaziah did right, but not wholeheartedly (25:2), while Jesus said, "I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:29). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Amaziah did what was right, but not with his whole heart (25:2). What does half-hearted obedience look like today? 2. When Amaziah worried about the money he had spent, the prophet said the Lord could give him much more (25:9). What "lost investment" makes obedience hard for you? 3. Amaziah brought home the gods of the people he had just defeated (25:14). Why do we sometimes turn back to things God has already shown are powerless? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 2: Amaziah does right in the Lord's eyes, but not wholeheartedly. - 📖 verse 9: The Lord is able to give you much more than this. - 📖 verse 15: Why seek gods that could not rescue their own people? ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[2 Kings 14#Verse 01.|2 Kings 14:1-20]] - The parallel account of Amaziah's reign. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 24#Verse 16.|Deuteronomy 24:16]] - Children are not to die for their parents' sins. - 🔗 [[Proverbs 16#Verse 18.|Proverbs 16:18]] - Pride goes before destruction. - 🔗 [[John 08#Verse 29.|John 8:29]] - Jesus always does what pleases the Father. - 🔗 [[Matthew 22#Verse 37.|Matthew 22:37]] - Love the Lord with all your heart. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[2 Chronicles 25 - SOAP|Your Job is Courage]] ## 📂 Internal Notes