Parents Jehoash of Judah Name Amaziah Judah Children Uzziah | Spouse Jecoliah Siblings Amoz House House of David Died 769 BC, Tel Lachish Grandchildren Jotham of Judah | |
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Reign Over Judah (796–792 BCE) Entire reign (796–767 BCE) Similar People Jehoash of Judah, Uzziah, Ahaziah of Judah, Jotham of Judah, Josiah | ||
King Amaziah of Judah
Amaziah of Judah, pronounced , was a king of Judah, the son and successor of Joash. His mother was Jehoaddan (2 Kings 14:1–4) and his son was Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:1). He took the throne at the age of 25, after the assassination of his father, and reigned for 29 years, (2 Kings 14:2, 2 Chronicles 25:1) 24 years of which were with the co-regency of his son. The Hebrew Bible considers him a righteous king. He is praised for killing the assassins of his father only and sparing their children, as dictated by the law of Moses.
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Edwin R. Thiele dates his reign from 797/796 to 768/767 BCE. Thiele's chronology has his son, Uzziah becoming co-regent with Amaziah in the fifth year of Amaziah's reign, in 792/791 BCE, when Uzziah was 16 years old.
Name
Amaziah is also rendered Amatzyah, Hebrew: אֲמַצְיָהוּ, ʼĂmaṣyāhû; meaning "the strength of the Lord," "strengthened by Jehovah," or "Yahweh is mighty". (Greek: αμασιας; Latin: Amasias.) The Douay-Rheims Bible and some other translations render Amaziah as Amasias and his mother's name Jehoaddan as "Joadan".
Reign
As soon as his kingdom was established Amaziah executed the murderers of his father, but in obedience to the Mosaic laws permitted their children to live.
Amaziah was the first to employ a mercenary army of 100,000 Israelite soldiers, which he did in his attempt to reconquer Edom, which had rebelled during the reign of Jehoram, his great-grandfather. He was commanded by an unnamed prophet to send back the mercenaries, to whom he acquiesced (2 Chronicles 25:7–10, 13), much to the annoyance of the mercenaries. His obedience to this command was followed by a decisive victory over the Edomites. (2 Chronicles 25:14–16)
Amaziah began to worship some of the idols he took from the Edomites. An unnamed prophet rebuked him for this and the king responded by threatening him that if he will continue to admonish he will strike him. His victory over Edom inflated his pride, and he challenged to a combat Jehoash, grandson of Jehu, king of Israel. The latter's disdain and scorn for Amaziah are embodied in the stinging parable of the thistle and the cedar (2 Kings 14:9). In his resentment, Amaziah rushed into a disastrous battle at Beth-shemesh, and a humiliating defeat overtook his army and the land. The king was captured, 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem broken down, the city, Temple, and palace were looted, and hostages carried to Samaria. This is all considered in the Hebrew Bible as a punishment for turning away from God.
His defeat was followed by a conspiracy that took his life. He, like his father, was the victim of assassins, apparently bent upon putting out of the way one who had brought upon the land such dire disasters. Amaziah was slain at Lachish, to which he had fled, and his body was brought to Jerusalem, where it was buried in the royal sepulchre (2 Kings 14:19–20; 2 Chronicles 25:27–28).
Geographical note
Amatzia, Israel is named after him.