What happens after Amasias sends his challenge to Joas?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Joas warns Amasias to be content with his victory over Edom and stay home, but Amasias is not satisfied. They meet at Bethsames, Juda is defeated, and Joas captures Amasias, breaks down four hundred cubits of Jerusalem’s wall, and takes treasures and hostages back to Samaria.

Chapter breakdown

In the second year of Joas, son of Joachaz and king of Israel, Amasias, son of Joas and king of Juda, begins to reign. He is twenty-five years old and reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother is Joadan of Jerusalem. He does what is right before the Lord, but not like David his father. He follows all that his father Joas did. He does not remove the high places, where the people still sacrifice and burn incense.

When Amasias has possession of the kingdom, he puts to death the servants who killed the king, his father. He does not put their children to death, in keeping with what is written in the book of Moses’s law. The Lord’s command there says fathers must not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each man must die for his own sin.

Amasias kills ten thousand men of Edom in the valley of the Saltpits. He takes the rock by war and names it Jectehel, the name still used at the account’s present time. Then he sends messengers to Joas, son of Joachaz, son of Jehu and king of Israel, asking him to come so they can see one another.

The Challoner note explains the invitation to see one another as a challenge to fight. This explanation belongs to the edition’s commentary.

Joas, king of Israel, replies to Amasias, king of Juda, with a story: a thistle in Libanus sends to a cedar there, asking for the cedar’s daughter to marry its son. Forest beasts in Libanus pass by and trample the thistle. Joas tells Amasias he has beaten Edom and his heart has lifted him up. He tells him to be content with that glory and stay home. He asks why Amasias provokes evil that would bring down both him and Juda.

Amasias is not satisfied. Joas, king of Israel, goes up, and the two kings meet in Bethsames, a town in Juda. Juda is defeated before Israel, and each man flees to his dwelling. Joas captures Amasias, son of Joas, son of Ochozias and king of Juda, at Bethsames and brings him into Jerusalem. He breaks down four hundred cubits of Jerusalem’s wall, from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate. He takes all the gold and silver, all the vessels found in the Lord’s house and the king’s treasures, and hostages, then returns to Samaria.

The account asks whether the rest of Joas’s acts and his valour in fighting Amasias, king of Juda, are written in the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings. Joas dies and is buried in Samaria with Israel’s kings. His son Jeroboam reigns in his place.

Amasias, son of Joas and king of Juda, lives fifteen years after the death of Joas, son of Joachaz and king of Israel. The account refers Amasias’s remaining acts to the book of the words of the days of Juda’s kings. A conspiracy is made against him in Jerusalem, and he flees to Lachis. They send after him to Lachis and kill him there. They bring him away on horses, and he is buried with his fathers in Jerusalem, in the city of David.

All the people of Juda take Azarias, who is sixteen years old, and make him king in place of his father Amasias. He builds Elath and restores it to Juda after the king has died.

In the fifteenth year of Amasias, son of Joas and king of Juda, Jeroboam, son of Joas and king of Israel, begins a forty-one-year reign in Samaria. He does evil before the Lord and does not leave any of the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. He restores Israel’s borders from the entrance of Emath to the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken by his servant Jonas. Jonas is the son of Amathi, a prophet from Geth in Opher.

The Challoner note explains Opher as the tribe of Zabulon. This identification is the edition’s commentary.

The Lord sees that Israel’s affliction is exceedingly bitter. They are consumed, even those shut up in prison and the lowest persons, and there is no one to help Israel. The Lord has not said he will blot out Israel’s name from under heaven, but saves them by Jeroboam, son of Joas. The account asks whether Jeroboam’s remaining acts, all he did, his valour in fighting and how he restored Damascus and Emath to Juda, in Israel, are written in the book of the words of the days of Israel’s kings. Jeroboam dies with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and his son Zacharias reigns in his place.

The story inside

The account first distinguishes Amasias’s right conduct from David’s example and notes the continuing sacrifices and incense at the high places. Once he has possession of the kingdom, he executes the servants who killed his father but spares their children under the stated command in Moses’s law. His victory over Edom and capture of the rock are followed by his message to Joas. Challoner explains that message as a challenge to fight. Joas answers with the thistle-and-cedar story and directly connects his warning to Amasias’s victory over Edom: he says Amasias’s heart has lifted him up and tells him to stay home. Amasias remains unsatisfied. The meeting at Bethsames ends with Juda’s defeat, flight, the king’s capture, a measured breach in Jerusalem’s wall and the taking of treasures and hostages. Royal record references, deaths and successions follow; Amasias lives fifteen years after Joas’s death before the account reports conspiracy, pursuit to Lachis, killing and burial. It supplies no motive for the conspiracy. Azarias replaces his father and builds and restores Elath. The account then records Jeroboam’s long reign and continuing sins beside his restoration of Israel’s borders according to the word spoken through Jonas. It gives Israel’s bitter affliction and lack of a helper as the setting for the Lord’s saving them by Jeroboam. The final record reference preserves the wording about Damascus and Emath being restored to Juda, in Israel, before Zacharias’s succession.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The law places a stated limit on Amasias’s punishment of his father’s killers. He puts the servants to death but spares their children. The command gives both directions: fathers are not to die for children, nor children for fathers; each man dies for his own sin. Keeping the exception and the whole command explains this action without importing other legal customs.
2
Joas’s warning names a risk to both Amasias and Juda. After the thistle-and-cedar story, he tells Amasias to be content with victory over Edom and stay home. The following meeting ends in Juda’s defeat, the king’s capture, a four-hundred-cubit wall breach, and treasures and hostages taken. Joas’s statement about Amasias’s lifted heart should remain his statement; the later conspiracy has no stated motive.
3
Jeroboam’s gains and his evil conduct are both retained. The border restoration follows the Lord’s word through Jonas, while the account says Jeroboam continues the sins of Jeroboam son of Nabat. The Lord sees Israel’s bitter distress, including prisoners and the lowest persons, with no helper, and saves them by Jeroboam. This chapter does not give an additional covenant explanation or say territorial recovery is approval of the king’s conduct.

Test your recall

How do Amasias’s message, Joas’s warning and Amasias’s dissatisfaction lead to the consequences at Bethsames and Jerusalem, and what distress does the Lord see before saving Israel by Jeroboam?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 39603–39620
4 Kings Chapter 14 Amasias reigneth in Juda: he overcometh the Edomites: but is overcome by Joas king of Israel. Jereboam the second reigneth in Israel. 14:1. In the second year of Joas son of Joachaz, king of Israel, reigned Amasias son of Joas, king of Juda. 14:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign; and nine and twenty years he reigned in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Joadan, of Jerusalem. 14:3. And he did that which was right before the Lord, but yet not like David his father. He did according to all things that Joas his father, did: 14:4. But this only, that he took not away the high places; for yet the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places:
Lines 39622–39629
14:5. And when he had possession of the kingdom, he put his servants to death that had slain the king, his father. 14:6. But the children of the murderers he did not put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin.
Lines 39631–39636
14:7. He slew of Edom in the valley of the Saltpits, ten thousand men, and took the rock by war, and called the name thereof Jectehel, unto this day. 14:8. Then Amasias sent messengers to Joas, son of Joachaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us see one another.
Lines 39638–39639
Let us see one another.... This was a challenge to fight.
Lines 39640–39647
14:9. And Joas, king of Israel, sent again to Amasias, king of Juda, saying: A thistle of Libanus sent to a cedar tree, which is in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And the beasts of the forest, that are in Libanus, passed, and trod down the thistle. 14:10. Thou hast beaten and prevailed over Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up; be content with this glory, and sit at home; why provokest thou evil, that thou shouldst fall, and Juda with thee?
Lines 39649–39663
14:11. But Amasias did not rest satisfied. So Joas, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amasias, king of Juda, saw one another in Bethsames, a town in Juda. 14:12. And Juda was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to their dwellings. 14:13. But Joas, king of Israel, took Amasias, king of Juda, the son of Joas, the son of Ochozias, in Bethsames, and brought him into Jerusalem; and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits. 14:14. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
Lines 39665–39670
14:15. But the rest of the acts of Joas, which he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 14:16. And Joas slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel: and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
Lines 39672–39682
14:17. And Amasias, the son of Joas, king of Juda, lived after the death of Joas, son of Joachaz, king of Israel, fifteen years. 14:18. And the rest of the acts of Amasias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 14:19. Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachis. And they sent after him to Lachis, and killed him there. 14:20. And they brought him away upon horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city of David.
Lines 39684–39688
14:21. And all the people of Juda took Azarias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amasias. 14:22. He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers.
Lines 39690–39701
14:23. In the fifteenth year of Amasias, son of Joas, king of Juda, reigned Jeroboam, the son of Joas, king of Israel, in Samaria, one and forty years: 14:24. And he did that which is evil before the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 14:25. He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath, unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant, Jonas, the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.
Lines 39703–39704
Opher.... The tribe of Zabulon.
Lines 39705–39722
14:26. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was exceedingly bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to help Israel. 14:27. And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joas. 14:28. But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Emath to Juda, in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 14:29. And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel; and Zacharias, his son, reigned in his stead.