^13:1In the twenty-third year of the reign of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria¹ for seventeen years. ^13:2He did evil in the sight of² the Lord. He continued in³ the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had encouraged Israel to sin; he did not repudiate those sins.⁴^13:3The Lord was furious with⁵ Israel and handed them over to⁶ King Hazael of Syria and to Hazael’s son Ben Hadad for many years.⁷

^13:4Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy⁸ and the Lord responded favorably,⁹ for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria.¹⁰^13:5The Lord provided a deliverer¹¹ for Israel and they were freed from Syria’s power.¹² The Israelites once more lived in security.¹³^13:6But they did not repudiate¹⁴ the sinful ways of the family¹⁵ of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins.¹⁶ There was even an Asherah pole¹⁷ standing in Samaria. ^13:7Jehoahaz had no army left¹⁸ except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops¹⁹ and trampled on them like dust.²⁰

^13:8The rest of the events of Jehoahaz’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.²¹^13:9Jehoahaz passed away²² and was buried²³ in Samaria. His son Joash replaced him as king.

Jehoash’s Reign over Israel

^13:10In the thirty-seventh year of King Joash’s reign over Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria²⁴ for sixteen years. ^13:11He did evil in the sight of²⁵ the Lord. He did not repudiate²⁶ the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin; he continued in those sins.²⁷^13:12The rest of the events of Joash’s²⁸ reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.²⁹^13:13Joash passed away³⁰ and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne.³¹ Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha Makes One Final Prophecy

^13:14Now Elisha had a terminal illness.³² King Joash of Israel went down to visit him.³³ He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot³⁴ and horsemen of Israel!”³⁵^13:15Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so.³⁶^13:16Then Elisha³⁷ told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.”³⁸ He did so,³⁹ and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. ^13:17Elisha⁴⁰ said, “Open the east window,” and he did so.⁴¹ Elisha said, “Shoot!” and

he did so.⁴² Elisha⁴³ said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria.⁴⁴ You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!”⁴⁵^13:18Then Elisha⁴⁶ said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so.⁴⁷ He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. ^13:19The prophet⁴⁸ got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria!⁴⁹ But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”

^13:20Elisha died and was buried.⁵⁰ Moabite raiding parties invaded⁵¹ the land at the beginning of the year.⁵²^13:21One day some men⁵³ were burying a man when they spotted⁵⁴ a raiding party. So they threw the dead man⁵⁵ into Elisha’s tomb. When the body⁵⁶ touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man⁵⁷ came to life and stood on his feet.

^13:22Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s reign.⁵⁸^13:23But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them.⁵⁹ He extended his favor to them⁶⁰ because of the promise he had made⁶¹ to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day.⁶²^13:24When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben Hadad replaced him as king. ^13:25Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash took back from⁶³ Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Joash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.

Amaziah’s Reign over Judah

^14:1In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz,¹ Joash’s² son Amaziah became king over Judah. ^14:2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.³ His mother⁴ was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. ^14:3He did what the Lord approved,⁵ but not like David his father. He followed the example of his father Joash.⁶^14:4But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

^14:5When he had secured control of the kingdom,⁷ he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.⁸^14:6But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses,⁹ “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do,¹⁰ and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do.¹¹ A man must be put to death only for his own sin.”¹²

^14:7He defeated¹³ 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day. ^14:8Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”¹⁴^14:9King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal¹⁵ of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn.¹⁶^14:10You thoroughly defeated Edom¹⁷ and it has gone to your head!¹⁸ Gloat over your success,¹⁹ but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”²⁰^14:11But Amaziah would not heed the warning,²¹ so King Jehoash of Israel attacked.²² He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face²³ in Beth Shemesh of Judah. ^14:12Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.²⁴^14:13King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. He²⁵ attacked²⁶ Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about six hundred feet.²⁷^14:14He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages.²⁸ Then he went back to Samaria.²⁹

(^14:15The rest of the events of Jehoash’s³⁰ reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.³¹^14:16Jehoash passed away³² and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.)

^14:17King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. ^14:18The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.³³^14:19Conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,³⁴ so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him³⁵ and they killed him there. ^14:20His body was carried back by horses³⁶ and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the city of David. ^14:21All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. ^14:22Azariah³⁷ built up Elat and restored it to Judah after the king³⁸ had passed away.³⁹

Jeroboam II’s Reign over Israel

^14:23In the fifteenth year of the reign of Judah’s King Amaziah, son of Joash, Jeroboam son of Joash became king over Israel. He reigned for forty-one years in Samaria.⁴⁰^14:24He did evil in the sight of⁴¹ the Lord; he did not repudiate⁴² the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. ^14:25He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath in the north to the sea of the Arabah in the south,⁴³ in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel announced through⁴⁴ his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. ^14:26The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering;⁴⁵ everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer.⁴⁶^14:27The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory⁴⁷ from under heaven,⁴⁸ so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.

^14:28The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including all his accomplishments, his military success in restoring Israelite control over Damascus and Hamath, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.⁴⁹^14:29Jeroboam passed away⁵⁰ and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.⁵¹ His son Zechariah replaced him as king.

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Footnotes

1 For location see ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “in the eyes of.”
3 Heb “walked after.”
4 Heb “he did not turn aside from it.”
5 Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against.”
6 Heb “he gave them into the hand of.”
7 Heb “all the days.”
8 Heb “appeased the face of the Lord.”
9 Heb “and the Lord heard.”
10 Heb “for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria oppressed them.”
11 The identity of this unnamed “deliverer” is debated. For options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
12 Heb “and they went from under the hand of Syria.”
13 Heb “and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.”
14 Heb “they did not turn away from.”
15 Heb “house.”
16 Heb “in it he walked.” The singular verb (הָלַךְ, halakh) is probably due to an error of haplography and should be emended to the plural (הָלְכּוּ, halÿku). Note that a vav immediately follows (on the form וְגַם, végam).
17 Or “an image of Asherah”; , “the Asherah”; “the Asherah idol.” Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
18 Heb “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.
19 Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.
20 Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”
21 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoahaz, and all which he did and his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
22 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
23 Heb “and they buried him.”
24 For location see ; ; ; ; .
25 Heb “in the eyes of.”
26 Heb “turn away from all.”
27 Heb “in it he walked.”
28 Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
29 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Joash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
30 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
31 Heb “sat on his throne.”
32 Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”
33 Heb “went down to him.”
34 Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
35 By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at .
36 Heb “and he took a bow and some arrows.”
37 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”
39 Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”
40 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41 Heb “He opened [it].”
42 Heb “and he shot.”
43 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44 Heb “The arrow of victory of the Lord and the arrow of victory over Syria.”
45 Heb “you will strike down Syria in Aphek until destruction.”
46 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
47 Heb “and he took [them].”
48 Heb “man of God.”
49 Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see §114.k.
50 Heb “and they buried him.”
51 Heb “entered.”
52 The reading בָּא שָׁנָה (ba’ shanah), “it came, year,” should probably be emended to בְּבָּא הַשָּׁנָה (béba’ hashanah), “at the coming [i.e., ‘beginning’] of the year.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
53 Heb “and it so happened [that] they.”
54 Heb “and look, they saw.”
55 Heb “the man”; the adjective “dead” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
56 Heb “the man.”
57 Heb “he”; the referent (the dead man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Otherwise the reader might think it was Elisha rather than the unnamed dead man who came back to life.
58 Heb “all the days of Jehoahaz.”
59 Or “showed them compassion.”
60 Heb “he turned to them.”
61 Heb “because of his covenant with.”
62 Heb “until now.”
63 Heb “from the hand of.”
1 The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
2 The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
3 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
4 Heb “the name of his mother.”
5 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
6 Heb “according to all which Joash his father had done, he did.”
7 Heb “when the kingdom was secure in his hand.”
8 Heb “he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father.”
9 Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded, saying.”
10 Heb “on account of sons.”
11 Heb “on account of fathers.”
12 This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
13 Or “struck down.”
14 Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here to meeting in battle. See v. 11.
15 Heb “the animal of the field.”
16 Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
17 Or “you have indeed defeated Edom.”
18 Heb “and your heart has lifted you up.”
19 Heb “be glorified.”
20 Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
21 Heb “did not listen.”
22 Heb “went up.”
23 Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.”
24 Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
25 The has the plural form of the verb, but the final vav (ו) is virtually dittographic. The word that immediately follows in the Hebrew text begins with a yod (י). The form should be emended to the singular, which is consistent in number with the verb (“he broke down”) that follows.
26 Heb “came to.”
27 Heb “four hundred cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.
28 Heb “the sons of the pledges.”
29 For location see ; ; ; ; .
30 Jehoash and Joash are alternate forms of the same name.
31 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoash, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
32 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
33 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
34 Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
35 Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
36 Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
37 Heb “he”; the referent (Azariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 This must refer to Amaziah.
39 Heb “lay with his fathers.”
40 For location see ; ; ; ; .
41 Heb “in the eyes of.”
42 Heb “turn away from all.”
43 The phrases “in the north” and “in the south” are added in the translation for clarification.
44 Heb “which he spoke by the hand of.”
45 Heb “for the Lord saw the very bitter affliction of Israel.” This translation assumes an emendation of מֹרֶה (moreh), which is meaningless here, to ַהמַּר (hammar), the adjective “bitter” functioning attributively with the article prefixed. This emendation is supported by the , , and . Another option would be מַר הוּא (mar hu’), “it was bitter.”
46 Heb “[there was] none but the restrained, and [there was] none but the abandoned, and there was no deliverer for Israel.” On the meaning of the terms עָצוּר (’atsur) and עָזוּב (’azur), see the note at .
47 Heb “name.”
48 The phrase “from under heaven” adds emphasis to the verb “blot out” and suggest total annihilation. For other examples of the verb מָחָה (makhah), “blot out,” combined with “from under heaven,” see Exod 17:14; Deut 9:14; 25:19; 29:20.
49 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, and all which he did and his strength, [and] how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?” The phrase “to Judah” is probably not original; it may be a scribal addition by a Judahite scribe who was trying to link Jeroboam’s conquests with the earlier achievements of David and Solomon, who ruled in Judah. The has simply “to Israel.” M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [], ) offer this proposal, but acknowledge that it is “highly speculative.”
50 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
51 The has simply “with the kings of Israel,” which appears to stand in apposition to the immediately preceding “with his fathers.” But it is likely that the words “and he was buried in Samaria” have been accidentally omitted from the text. See 13:13 and 14:16.