Amaziah

In Bible versions:

Amaziah: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV

son of Joash; king of Judah
a prince of Simeon under Hezekiah
son of Hilkiah (Merari Levi)
pagan priest of Bethel under Jeroboam who opposed Amos

---

the strength of the Lord ( --> same as Amashi-ali)

Arts:

Arts Topics: King Amaziah; Portraits of Amaziah, King of Judah

Hebrew

Strongs #0558: hyuma 'Amatsyah or whyuma 'Amatsyahuw

Amaziah = "Jehovah is mighty"

1) a king of Judah, son Joash, father of Azariah
2) a priest of Bethel under Jeroboam II
3) father of Joshah, of the tribe of Simeon
4) a Levite tabernacle singer in David's day

558 'Amatsyah am-ats-yaw'

or mAmatsyahuw {am-ats-yaw'-hoo}; from 553 and 3050; strength
of Jah; Amatsjah, the name of four Israelites:-Amaziah.
see HEBREW for 0553
see HEBREW for 03050

Amaziah [EBD]

strengthened by Jehovah. (1.) A Levite, son of Hilkiah, of the descendants of Ethan the Merarite (1 Chr. 6:45).

(2.) The son and successor of Joash, and eighth king of the separate kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 14:1-4). He began his reign by punishing the murderers of his father (5-7; 2 Chr. 25:3-5). He was the first to employ a mercenary army of 100,000 Israelite soldiers, which he did in his attempt to bring the Edomites again under the yoke of Judah (2 Chr. 25:5, 6). He was commanded by a prophet of the Lord to send back the mercenaries, which he did (2 Chr. 25:7-10, 13), much to their annoyance. His obedience to this command was followed by a decisive victory over the Edomites (2 Chr. 25:14-16). Amaziah began to worship some of the idols he took from the Edomites, and this was his ruin, for he was vanquished by Joash, king of Israel, whom he challenged to battle. The disaster he thus brought upon Judah by his infatuation in proclaiming war against Israel probably occasioned the conspiracy by which he lost his life (2 Kings 14:8-14, 19). He was slain at Lachish, whither he had fled, and his body was brought upon horses to Jerusalem, where it was buried in the royal sepulchre (2 Kings 14:19, 20; 2 Chr. 25:27, 28).

(3.) A priest of the golden calves at Bethel (Amos 7:10-17).

(4.) The father of Joshah, one of the Simeonite chiefs in the time of Hezekiah (1 Chr. 4:34).

Amaziah [NAVE]

AMAZIAH
1. A Levite, 1 Chr. 6:45.
2. King of Judah. History of, 2 Kin. 14; 2 Chr. 25.
3. An idolatrous priest at Bethel, Amos 7:10-17.
4. Father of Joshah, 1 Chr. 4:34.

AMAZIAH [SMITH]

(the strength of the Lord).

1. Son of Joash, and eighth king of Judah, reigned B.C. 837-809. He succeeded to the throne at the age of 25, on the murder of his father, and punished the murderers. In order to restore his kingdom to the greatness of Jehoshaphat?s days, he made war on the Edomites, defeated them in the Valley of Salt, south of the Dead Sea, and took their capital, Selah or Petra, to which he gave the name of Jokteel, i.e. "God-subdued." Flushed with his success, he challenged Joash king of Israel to battle, but was completely defeated, and himself was taken prisoner and conveyed by Joash to Jerusalem, which opened its gates to the conqueror. Amaziah lived 15 years after the death of Joash; and in the 29th year of his reign was murdered by conspirators at Lachish, whither he had retired from Jerusalem for safety. (2 Chronicles 25:27)
2. A descendant of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:34)
3. A Levite. (1 Chronicles 6:45)
4. Priest of the golden calf at Bethel who endeavored to drive the prophet Amos from Israel into Judah. (Amos 7:11,12,14)

AMAZIAH [ISBE]

AMAZIAH - am-a-zi'-a ('amatsyah, 'amatsyahu, "Yahweh is mighty"; 2 Ki 14:1-20; 2 Ch 25). Son of Jehoash, and tenth king of Judah. Amaziah had a peaceable accession at the age of 25. A depleted treasury, a despoiled palace and temple, and a discouraged people were among the consequences of his father's war with Hazael, king of Syria. When settled on the throne, Amaziah brought to justice the men who had assassinated his father. Amaziah verbal citation of Dt 24:16 in 2 Ki 14:6, forbidding the punishment of children for a father's offense, shows that the laws of this book were then known, and were recognized as authoritative, and, in theory, as governing the nation. His accession may be dated circa 812 (some put later).

1. The Edomite War:

The young king's plan for the rehabilitation of his people was the restoration of the kingdom's military prestige, so severely lowered in his father's reign. A militia army, composed of all the young men above 20 years of age, was first organized and placed upon a war footing (2 Ch 25:5; the number given, 300,000, is not a reliable one). Even this not being considered a large enough force to effect the project, 100 talents of silver were sent to engage mercenary troops for the expedition from Israel. When these came, a man of God strongly dissuaded the king from relying on them (2 Ch 25:7 ff). When this was communicated to the soldiers, and they were sent back unemployed, it roused them to "fierce anger" (2 Ch 25:10).

2. Its Occasion:

Amaziah's purpose in making these extensive preparations for war, in a time of profound peace, is clear to the Southeast of Judah lay the Edomite state, with its capital at Petra. For many years Edom had been subject to Jehoshaphat, and a Hebrew "deputy" had governed it (1 Ki 22:47). In the reign of his son and successor, Jehoram, a confederacy of Philistines, Arabians and Edomites took Libnah and made a raid on Jerusalem. A band of these penetrated the palace, which they plundered, abducted some women, and murdered all the young princes but the youngest (2 Ch 21:17; 22:1). The public commotion and distress caused by such an event may be seen reflected in the short oracle of the prophet Obadiah, uttered against Edom, if, with some, Obadiah's date is put thus early

3. The Victory in the Valley of Salt:

From that time "Edom .... made a king over themselves" (2 Ch 21:8), and for fifty years following were practically independent. It was this blot on Jerusalem and the good name of Judah that Amaziah determined to wipe out. The army of retaliation went forward, and after a battle in the Valley of Salt, south of the Dead Sea, in which they were the victors, moved on to Petra. This city lies in a hollow, shut in by mountains, and approached only by a narrow ravine, through which a stream of water flows. Amaziah took it "by storm" (such is Ewald's rendering of "by war," in 2 Ki 14:7). Great execution was done, many of the captives being thrown from the rock, the face of which is now covered with rock-cut tombs of the Greek-Roman age.

4. Apostasy and Its Punishment:

The campaign was thus entirely successful, but had evil results. Flushed with victory, Amaziah brought back the gods of Edom, and paid them worship. For this act of apostasy, he was warned of approaching destruction (2 Ch 25:14-17). Disquieting news soon came relating to the conduct of the troops sent back to Samaria. From Beth-horon in the south to the border of the northern state they had looted the villages and killed some of the country people who had attempted to defend their property (2 Ch 25:13). To Amaziah's demand for reparation, Jehoash's answer was the contemptuous one of the well-known parable of the Thistle and the Cedar.

5. Battle of Beth-shemesh:

War was now inevitable. The kings "looked one another in the face," in the valley of Beth-shemesh, where there is a level space, suitable to the movements of infantry. Judah was utterly routed, and the king himself taken prisoner. There being no treasures in the lately despoiled capital, Jehoash contented himself with taking hostages for future good behavior, and with breaking down 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem at the Northwest corner of the defense (2 Ki 14:13,14; 2 Ch 25:22-24).

6. Closing Years and Tragical End:

Amaziah's career as a soldier was now closed. He outlived Jehoash of Israel "fifteen years" (2 Ki 14:17). His later years were spent in seclusion and dread, and had a tragical ending. The reason for his unpopularity is not far to seek. The responsibility for the war with Jehoash is by the inspired writer placed upon the shoulders of Amaziah (2 Ki 14:9-11). It was he who "would not hear." The quarrel between the kings was one which it was not beyond the power of diplomacy to remedy, but no brotherly attempt to heal the breach was made by either king. When the results of the war appeared, it could not be but that the author of the war should be called upon to answer for them. So deep was his disgrace and so profound the sense of national humiliation, that a party in the state determined on Amaziah's removal, so soon as there was another to take his place. The age of majority among the Hebrew kings was 16, and when Amaziah's son was of this age, the conspiracy against his life grew so strong and open that he fled to Lachish. Here he was followed and killed; his body being insultingly carried to Jerusalem on horses, and not conveyed in a litter or coffin (2 Ki 14:19,20; 2 Ch 25:27,28). He was 54 years old and had reigned for 29 years. The Chronicler (2 Ch 26:1) hardly conceals the popular rejoicings at the exchange of sovereigns, when Uzziah became king.

In 2 Ch 25:28 is a copyist's error by which we read "in the city of Judah," instead of "in the city of David," as in the corresponding passage in Kings. The singular postscript to the record of Amaziah in 2 Ki 14:22 is intended to mark the fact that while the port of Elath on the Red Sea fell before the arms, in turn, of Amaziah and of his son Uzziah, it was the latter who restored it to Judah, as a part of its territory. Amaziah is mentioned in the royal genealogy of 1 Ch 3:12, but not in that of Mt 1. There is a leap here from Jehoram to Uzziah, Ahaziah, Jehoash and Amaziah being omitted.

W. Shaw Caldecott