Key Verse Spotlight
2 Kings 14:15 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? "
2 Kings 14:15
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
13 Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh and came to Jerusalem, then broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
14 He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the LORD’s house and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
15 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
16 Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
17 Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years.
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Here are three kings brought to their graves in these few verses. First is Joash, king of Israel, in 2 Kings 14:15-16. We already followed his funeral in 2 Kings 13:12-13, but since the writer had more to say about his life and deeds, he mentions his death and burial again here.
Second is Amaziah, king of Judah. He outlived the king of Israel, his conqueror, by fifteen years, in 2 Kings 14:17. A man may live a long time after he has been shamed and deeply humbled, and Amaziah surely was. His acts are said to be recorded in the annals, or official records, of Judah (2 Kings 14:18), but not his strength. His cruelty as conqueror over the Edomites, and his pride when he challenged the king of Israel, showed that he lacked true courage.
He was killed by his own subjects, who hated him for his poor rule (2 Kings 14:19). They made Jerusalem itself unsafe for him, and the broken wall of the city came about because of his foolishness and arrogance. He fled to Lachish. We are not told how long he stayed hidden or protected there, but at last he was murdered there too (2 Kings 14:19). The rebels did not go any further. They carried his body back to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him there with his ancestors.
Third is Azariah, who succeeded Amaziah, but not until twelve years after his father’s death. Amaziah died in the fifteenth year of Jeroboam, as seen by comparing 2 Kings 14:23 with 2 Kings 14:2. Azariah did not begin to reign until Jeroboam’s twenty-seventh year (2 Kings 15:1), because he was only four years old when his father died. So for twelve years, until he reached sixteen, the kingdom was ruled by guardians or protectors.
He reigned for a very long time (2 Kings 15:2), yet the account of his reign is quickly summed up here and then cut off at once (2 Kings 15:1-2). It says that he built Elath, which had belonged to the Edomites, though it is likely his father had already recovered it (2 Kings 14:7). The words “after that the king slept with his fathers” seem to point to Amaziah, as if this were the main thing worth mentioning, or else the meaning is that Azariah built it soon after Amaziah died.
From This Chapter
2 Kings 14:1
"In the second year of Joash, son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah began to reign."
2 Kings 14:2
"He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem."
2 Kings 14:3
"He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, yet not like David his father. He did according to all that Joash his father had done."
2 Kings 14:4
"However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places."
2 Kings 14:5
"As soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king his father,"
2 Kings 14:6
"but the children of the murderers he didn’t put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”"
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