Commentari biblici

The history of Judah is resumed 2 Kings 14:1-22, followed by a brief account of the contemporary history of Israel under Jeroboam II 2 Kings 14:23-29. The earlier narrative runs parallel with 2 Chronicles 25.

Joash of Judah reigned forty years 2 Kings 12:1, and Joash of Israel ascended the throne in his namesake's thirty-seventh year 2 Kings 13:10; hence, we should have expected to hear that Amaziah succeeded his father in the fourth rather than in the second year of Joash (of Israel). The usual explanation of the discrepancy is to suppose a double accession of the Israelite Joash - as co-partner with his father in the thirty-seventh year of his namesake, as sole king two years afterward.

He did ... as Joash - There is a curious parity between the lives of Joash and Amaziah. Both were zealous for Yahweh in the earlier portion of their reigns, but in the latter part fell away; both disregarded the rebukes of prophets; and both, having forsaken God, were in the end conspired against and slain (compare 2 Chronicles 24:25; 2 Chronicles 25:27).

The phrase, "confirmed in his hand" 2 Kings 15:19, usually expresses the authorisation of a new reign by an imperial superior (see 2 Kings 15:19 note); but here it describes the result when the troubles consequent upon the murder of Joash had passed away. The new king's authority was generally recognized by his subjects.

The children of the murderers he slew not - This seems to be noted as a rare instance of clemency (compare 2 Kings 9:26 note). It is strange at first sight, that, when the Law contained so very plain a prohibition (marginal references), the contrary practice should have established itself. But we must remember, first, that the custom was that of the East generally (see Daniel 6:24); and secondly, that it had the sanction of one who might be thought to have known thoroughly the mind of the legislator, namely, Joshua (see Joshua 7:24-25).

Amaziah's Idumaean war is treated at length by the writer of Chronicles (marginal reference).

The "Valley of Salt" is usually identified with the broad open plain called the Sabkah, at the southern end of the Dead Sea - the continuation of the Ghor or Jordan gorge. At the north-western corner of this plain stands a mountain of rock-salt, and the tract between this mountain and the sea is a salt-marsh. Salt springs also abound in the plain itself, so that the name would be fully accounted for. It is doubted, however, whether the original of the word "valley," commonly used of clefts and ravines, can be applied to such a sunk plain as the Sabkah; and it is certainly most unlikely that 10,000 prisoners would have been conveyed upward of eighty miles (the distance of the Sabkah from Petra), through a rough and difficult country, only in order to be massacred. On the whole, it is perhaps most probable that the "Valley of Salt" yet remains to be discovered, and that its true position was near Selah or Petra (see Judges 1:36 note). Amaziah gave to Petra the name Joktheel, "subdued by God," in a religious spirit as an acknowledgment of the divine aid by which his victory was gained. The name failed to take permanent hold on the place, because the Edomites, on not long afterward recovering their city, restored the old appellation (2 Chronicles 28:17; compare Isaiah 16:1, and Amos 1:11).

Unto this day - The writer of Kings evidently gives the exact words of his document, composed not later than the reign of Ahaz, before whose death the Edomites had recovered Petra.

Amaziah's success against Edom had so elated him that he thought himself more than a match for his northern neighbor. The grounds of the quarrel between them were furnished by the conduct of the hired, but dismissed, Israelite soldiers (see the marginal reference).

Let us look one another in the face - i. e. "let us meet face to face in arms, and try each other's strength" 2 Kings 14:11-12.

The Oriental use of apologues on the most solemn and serious occasions is well known to all, and scarcely needs illustration (compare marginal reference). It is a common feature of such apologues that they are not exact parallels to the case whereto they are applied, but only general or partial resemblances. Hence, there is need of caution in applying the several points of the illustration.