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Amaziah’s Reign over Judah

14 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz,[a] Joash’s[b] son Amaziah became king over Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[c] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. He did what the Lord approved,[d] but not like David his ancestor had done. He followed the example of his father Joash.[e] But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

When he had secured control of the kingdom,[f] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.[g] But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the scroll of the law of Moses, “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do,[h] and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do.[i] A man must be put to death only for his own sin.”[j]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 14:1 sn The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
  2. 2 Kings 14:1 sn The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
  3. 2 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  4. 2 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  5. 2 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “according to all which Joash his father had done, he did.”
  6. 2 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure in his hand.”
  7. 2 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father.”
  8. 2 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
  9. 2 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
  10. 2 Kings 14:6 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.

Amaziah rules Judah

14 Amaziah, the son of Judah’s King Jehoash,[a] became king in the second year of Israel’s King Joash, who was Jehoahaz’s son. Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, but not as well as his ancestor King David. He did everything his father Jehoash did. However, the shrines weren’t removed. People kept sacrificing and burning incense at them. Once he had secured control over his kingdom, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father the king. However, he didn’t kill the children of the murderers, because of what is written in the Instruction scroll from Moses, where the Lord commanded, Parents shouldn’t be executed because of what their children have done; neither should children be executed because of what their parents have done. Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 14:1 Heb Joash (also in 14:3, 17, 23); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoash or short Joash form. The latter is the form used in 2 Chron.
  2. 2 Kings 14:6 Deut 24:16