Chapter 14: The reigns of Amatziah, Yoash, and the civil war between Judah and Israel

1. The reign of Amatziah:

• The year of his reign: Amatziah, the son of Yoash, the king of Yehuda, became king in the second year of reign of Yoash the son of Yoachaz, the king of Israel.
• His age at the time of his reign: Amatziah was twenty-five years old when he became king.
• The years of his reign: Amatziah reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years.
• The name of his mother: His mother’s name was Yehoadan of Jerusalem.
• His deeds: Amatziah was righteous in the eyes of Hashem, but not as righteous as his father David. He was similar to his father Yoash in his deeds and actions. [Like his father,] he did not remove the Bamos from the land and allowed people to continue offering sacrifices and burning incense on the Bamos even though it was outside of the temple.
• Amatziah takes vengeance against his father’s assassins: After his kingdom became well established in the hand, he slew his servants who had assassinated his father. However, he did not kill the sons of the assassins, as it is written in the book of the Moses, that “Fathers shall not be put to death for the sins of their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for the sins of their fathers.”
• Amatziah kills Edom: Amatziah killed ten thousand Edomites in the valley of salt, and he seized the fortress during the battle, and he called it Yaksiel.

2. The war between the kingdom of Yehuda and the kingdom of Israel:

• Amatziah confronts the kingdom of Israel to war: Amatziah sent messengers to Yehoash, the son of Yehoachaz, the son of Yeihu the king of Israel, confronting him to come fight a war against him. [The cause for the confrontation was as follows: Amatziah had hired 100,000 warriors from the land of Israel to help him in the war against Edom. The prophet however told Amatziah that they should not join them in the war and should rather return to their lands. The warriors were angered by this and ended up plundering the cities of Judah, killing 3000 people and taking spoils from the city. When Amatziah saw this he confronted the king of Israel to war.^[1]]
• Kingdom of Israel responds that if he goes to war he will be destroyed: Yehoash the king of Israel sent to Amatziah the king of Yehuda, the following metaphoric answer, “The thorn that was in Lebanon [i.e. Shechem the son of Chamor^[2]] sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon [i.e. Yaakov^[3]] that he desires his daughter to be given to his son as a wife, and after this request day a wild beast that was in Lebanon [i.e. the children of Yaakov^[4]] came and trampled the thorn. You have defeated the Edomites and have now become of arrogant hard thinking that you can also wage war against the kingdom of Israel and be victorious. Retain your honor and stay home otherwise you will be utterly defeated by us. Now, why should you provoke evil and cause you and all of the nation of Yehuda to fall?”
• Amatziah pays no attention and goes to war anyways: Amatziah did not pay attention to the warning of Yoash, and thus Yoash the king of Israel went up to wage war against the kingdom of Yehuda and they confronted each other, he and Amatziah the king of Yehuda, in Beit-Shemesh, which belongs to Yehuda.
• Yoash is victorious and conquers the land of Yehuda: The people of Yehuda were beaten by the people of Israel in the battle, and they fled back to their homes.
• Amatziah is captured by Yoash: Yehoash the king of Israel seized Amatziah the king of Yehuda, the son of Yehoash the son of Achaziah, in Beit-Shemesh.
• The walls of Jerusalem are breached: Yoash came to Jerusalem and breached the walls of the city from the gate of Ephraim until the corner gate, for a total length of four hundred cubits.
• Yoash takes the treasures from the temple and takes children hostages: Yoash plundered all of the gold and silver and vessels of the temple and that were in the treasuries of the king’s palace. He also took all of the hostage children with him and returned with them and all the plunder to the city of Shomron. [The hostage children were children of aristocrats of Yehuda who are held captive by the kings so their fathers to rebel against the king.^[5]]

3. The legacy of Yoash:

• The Chronicles: The remaining deeds and actions of Yehoash, and how he fought with Amatziah the king of Yehuda, are all written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
• His passing: Yehoash passed away and was buried together with his ancestors, the kings of Israel, in the city of Shomron.
• His successor: Yeravam the son of Yehoash reigned in his stead.

4. The legacy of Amatziah:

• Amatziah, the son of Yoash the king of Yehuda lived for an additional fifteen years after the death of Yehoash the son of Yehoachaz the king of Israel.
• The Chronicles: The remaining deeds and actions of Amatziah are written in the book of chronicles of the kings of Yehuda.
• The revolt against him and his assassination: The nation in Jerusalem revolted against Amatziah, and he fled to the city of Lachish [where he dwelled for the remaining 15 years of his life until he was assassinated, and his son Uziyahu ruled in Jerusalem in his stead during those years^[6]]. The rebels sent assassins after him in Lachish and he was killed while living there.
• Amatziah is buried in Jerusalem: The people carried the body of Amatziah on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his forefathers in the city of David.
• Azarya his successor: The entire nation of Yehuda took Azariah, the son of Amatziah, who was sixteen years old, and coronated him as king in place of his father Amatziah.
• Building up the city of Eilat: Azariah built up the city of Eilat and restored it to Yehuda, after his father the king had passed away.

5. The legacy and reign of Yeravam:

• The year of his reign: Yeravam the son of Yoash, the king of Israel, reigned in Shomron in the fifteenth year of Amatziah the son of Yoash the king of Yehuda.
• His years of reign: Yeravam reigned for a total of forty-one years.
• His evil deeds: Yeravam performed evil in the eyes of Hashem, and he did not swerve from the sins of Yeravam, the son of Nevat.
• He restored the boundaries of Israel: Heeding to the prophecy from Yonah the son of Amittai who was from Gath-Cheifer, Yeravam fought [against the nation of Aram^[7]] and restored to Israel all of the cities from Levo Chamas until the dead sea. Hashem helped Yeravam the son of Yoash be successful in the battles as he saw the severe oppression of the Jewish people and did not want them to be eradicated [even though they did not repent^[8]].
• The Chronicles: The rest of the events of Yeravam and all of his deeds, and how he fought against Aram and how he restored Damascus and Chamas to Yehuda through the warriors of the kingdom of Israel, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
• His successor: Yeravam passed away and was buried with his ancestors, the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah reigned in his stead.

[1] Radak 14:8

[2] Rashi 14:9

[3] Rashi 14:9

[4] Rashi 14:9

[5] Rashi 14:14

[6] Rashi 14:17

[7] Rashi and Radak 14:25

[8] Radak 14:26