Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

AMAZIAH

(Heb. ʾămaṣyâ, ʾămaṣyāhû)

1. A Simeonite, the father of Joshah (1 Chr. 4:34).

2. A Levite of the family of Merair, who was the son of Hilkiah and the father of Hashabiah (1 Chr. 6:45[MT 30]). He was among those appointed over the song service “before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting” (1 Chr. 6:31-32[16-17]).

3. A priest at the Israelite royal sanctuary at Bethel during the reign of Jeroboam II. He reported to the king that Amos had prophesied Jeroboam’s death and Israel’s exile, a message that the nation could not long tolerate. Amaziah commanded Amos to return to Judah and never again prophesy at Bethel. The prophet responded by predicting disaster for Amaziah, his wife, and his children (Amos 7:10-17).

4. King of Judah, son of Joash and Jehoaddin/Jehoaddan. He assumed the throne at age 25 and reportedly continued for 29 years in the first half of the 8th century. Since it is difficult to fit Amaziah’s 29 years and his son Azariah/Uzziah’s 52-year reign into this period, some have suggested that the two were co-regents for part of their reigns. Amaziah’s rule is described in 2 Kgs. 14:1-20, which is apparently derived from the royal archives of Judah, and in 2 Chr. 25:1-28, which is essentially a reworking of the account in 2 Kings.

2 Kings characterizes Amaziah generally in a positive light and notes that he showed restraint in the punishment of his father’s assassins and waged a successful war against Edom in which he captured Sela and renamed it Jokthe-el (2 Kgs. 14:1-7). Unfortunately, Amaziah then challenged Jehoash/Joash and Israel to meet his forces in battle, and when the Israelite king attempted to dissuade him by means of an artful fable, he refused to listen. Consequently, Judah’s army was defeated in battle at Beth-shemesh and Amaziah captured, Jerusalem’s walls reduced by a span of 400 cubits, the temple and royal treasury plundered, and hostages taken to Samaria (2 Kgs. 14:8-14). It may be assumed that Amaziah returned to the throne, ultimately surviving Jehoash by 15 years, and later he was slain by conspirators who had pursued him to Lachish (2 Kgs. 14:17-20).

Chronicles agrees with the contours of the account in 2 Kings but supplements it greatly. As for the war with Edom, e.g., Chronicles explains that Amaziah set out to fight Edom with 300 thousand troops of his own and a force of 100 thousand Israelite mercenaries, to whom he had paid 100 talents. A prophet condemned the hiring of the Israelite troops and persuaded Amaziah to send them home. Judah conquered Edom and destroyed 20 thousand of their soldiers, rather than the 10 thousand of 2 Kings (2 Chr. 25:5-13). Moreover, Chronicles reports two additional items that relate to the subsequent war with Israel. First, the Israelite mercenaries attacked and plundered Judean cities “from Samaria to Beth-horon,” because they had been dismissed from the Edomite campaign by Amaziah (2 Chr. 25:13). This attack by Israelites may be regarded as the motive for Amaziah’s subsequent challenge of Israel to war. Second, Amaziah returned from his campaign against Edom with Edomite gods, and he worshipped them. When a prophet condemned his behavior, Amaziah threatened him with death, and consequently the prophet announced that God would destroy the king (2 Chr. 25:14-16). Therefore, when Amaziah challenged Joash to battle, and Joash attempted to dissuade him, Chronicles explains that the Judean king failed to heed the warning, because God intended to destroy him for his sin (2 Chr. 25:20). Although Amaziah escaped this battle with his life, Chronicles reports that the final conspiracy against Amaziah was the consequence of the king’s sin (2 Chr. 25:27).

The main features of Amaziah’s reign that are found in 2 Kings have been accepted by historians, but this has not been the case with the additions in Chronicles, since the size of the military forces seems excessive, and the reports about the Edomite gods and prophetic interactions with Amaziah may have been fabricated by Chronicles in order to explain the disasters of the king’s reign.

Bibliography. M. P. Graham, “Aspects of the Structure and Rhetoric of 2 Chronicles 25,,” in History and Interpretation, ed. Graham et al. JSOT Sup 173 (Sheffield, 1993), 78-89.

M. Patrick Graham

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

AMAZIAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)