Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Kings
Chapter 14: Thine Heart Hath Lifted Thee Up
Amaziah of Judah begins well, doing right and honoring God's law even in punishing his father's murderers, and God gives him victory over Edom. But victory breeds pride: he picks a needless fight with Israel and is humiliated, his city plundered. In the north, the long reign of Jeroboam II brings prosperity and restored borders, fulfilling the word God spoke by Jonah, a mercy given to an undeserving people.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Kings chapter 14. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Amaziah Obeys the Law (2 Kings 14:1-7)
Amaziah does right, spares the children of his father's murderers according to the law, and defeats Edom.
According to That Which Is Written in the Law
"In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah. He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did. Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places. And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father. But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto 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, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day."
Word Study
"every man shall be put to death for his own sin," the principle of individual responsibility. Amaziah "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David"; his obedience was real but qualified, and the familiar flaw remained, "the high places were not taken away." When he had secured the throne, he executed the officials who had murdered his father Joash, but, notably, "the children of the murderers he slew not," and the reason is given: he obeyed the written law of Moses, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin" (Deuteronomy 24:16). In an age when royal purges routinely wiped out entire families to prevent revenge, Amaziah restrained himself in obedience to God's word. This is significant: he let Scripture govern even his politics and his power. The principle itself is important, individual moral responsibility, each accountable for his own sin, a truth the prophets would later develop (Ezekiel 18:20, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die"). It undergirds the gospel's call to personal repentance and faith. Amaziah's victory over Edom in the Valley of Salt shows God's blessing on his early, obedient reign. He began well, submitting his conduct to God's law. The tragedy of the chapter is that this good beginning would be undone by pride.
Explanation
Amaziah became king of Judah at twenty-five and did what was right, though not wholeheartedly like David, and he left the high places standing. Once his rule was secure, he executed the men who had assassinated his father, but he spared their children, deliberately obeying the law of Moses that forbade putting children to death for their fathers' crimes, each person answering for his own sin. He also won a major victory over Edom, killing ten thousand in the Valley of Salt and capturing the stronghold of Selah (Petra). His reign began with obedience to God's word and success in battle.
Gospel Focus
Amaziah's early reign shows the beauty of letting God's word govern our conduct, even where the world would do otherwise. He could have wiped out his father's murderers' families, as kings routinely did, but he bowed to Scripture: "every man shall be put to death for his own sin." His restraint honored God's law above political expedience. So we are called to let God's word rule our choices even when culture pulls the other way. And the principle here, individual responsibility, points toward the gospel. Each of us must answer for our own sin; "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12); "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20). We cannot hide behind our fathers or our circumstances; the guilt is personal, and so must the repentance be. But here is the good news: the sin we each bear personally, Christ bore personally in our place; "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). The One who owed nothing paid for the many. Each must come for himself to the Saviour, but all who come find their own sin answered by His cross. Begin, as Amaziah did, by submitting to God's word, and go on, as he sadly did not, to keep a humble heart.
Amaziah's Folly and Defeat (2 Kings 14:8-16)
Lifted up by victory, Amaziah picks a fight with Israel and is humiliated.
Glory of This, and Tarry at Home
"Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents. And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead."
Word Study
"thine heart hath lifted thee up," Hebrew nasa lev (נָשָׂא לֵב), the heart lifted up, exalted in pride. Success proved more dangerous to Amaziah than failure. Flushed with his victory over Edom, "his heart lifted him up," and he sent an arrogant challenge to Jehoash of Israel, "Come, let us look one another in the face", a demand for war. Jehoash answers with a shrewd fable: Judah is a mere "thistle" presuming to treat with the "cedar" of Israel, and a wild beast will trample the thistle. His counsel is wise and even kind: "thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home; for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt?" This is the classic biblical warning: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18); "when pride cometh, then cometh shame" (Proverbs 11:2). But "Amaziah would not hear", the deafness of pride, which cannot receive counsel. The result was disaster: Judah routed, Amaziah captured, the wall of Jerusalem broken down, the temple and palace plundered, and hostages taken. His pride cost not only his own humiliation but his nation's, "thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee." The 2 Chronicles account adds that Amaziah's pride was tied to idolatry, he had brought back the gods of Edom and worshipped them (2 Chronicles 25:14), so his lifted-up heart was also a heart turned from God. Victory that is not held humbly becomes the seedbed of ruin. The same success God gave became, through pride, the occasion of Amaziah's fall.
Explanation
Emboldened by his Edom victory, Amaziah challenged Jehoash of Israel to battle. Jehoash replied with a fable comparing Judah to a lowly thistle presuming against a mighty cedar, warning Amaziah that his pride would lead to ruin and urging him to be content and stay home. But Amaziah, deaf to wise counsel, insisted. The armies met at Beth-shemesh, where Judah was defeated and scattered. Jehoash captured Amaziah, broke down a large section of Jerusalem's wall, plundered the treasures of the temple and palace, took hostages, and returned to Samaria. Jehoash later died and was succeeded by Jeroboam II. Amaziah's pride had brought humiliation on himself and disaster on his kingdom.
Gospel Focus
"Thine heart hath lifted thee up... why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt?" Amaziah's fall is a textbook lesson in the danger of pride, and especially the pride that follows success. Victory over Edom puffed him up, and the inflated heart could not hear counsel or measure risk, and it dragged both king and nation down. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." How often God's blessings become our snare, when success makes us self-confident and deaf to wisdom. The safeguard is humility: "be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). Hold your victories with a lowly heart, and keep your ears open to godly counsel; the proud man's refusal to hear, "Amaziah would not hear," is the road to ruin. And note that behind his pride lay idolatry (2 Chronicles 25); a heart lifted from God is a heart set up for a fall. The gospel calls us to the opposite spirit, the mind of Christ, who "made himself of no reputation" and "humbled himself" (Philippians 2:7-8), and was therefore highly exalted. Take your successes to God in humility, heed His counsel, and remember that the way up in His kingdom is down.
The Death of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:17-22)
Amaziah is slain by conspiracy, and young Azariah is made king.
They Made a Conspiracy Against Him
"And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers."
Word Study
"they made a conspiracy against him," the bitter aftermath of a fallen king. Amaziah lived fifteen years after his humiliating defeat, but his reign never recovered its early promise. A conspiracy arose against him in Jerusalem; he fled to Lachish, but was pursued and killed there, a violent end like his father Joash before him (chapter 12) and a sign of the instability that follows a king who has lost the confidence of his people and, more importantly, the favor of God. The Chronicler ties this decline explicitly to the time "after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD" (2 Chronicles 25:27); his idolatry and pride cost him not only a battle but ultimately his throne and life. Yet the line of David continues: the people made his son Azariah (also called Uzziah) king at sixteen, and Azariah's building of Elath signals a coming season of strength (developed in chapter 15 and 2 Chronicles 26). The lamp of David burns on through even this troubled succession. The sober lesson is the trajectory of Amaziah's life: a man who began doing right, submitting to God's law, and was blessed with victory, but whose heart was lifted up in pride and turned to idols, and who therefore ended in defeat, conspiracy, and murder. It is not the start but the whole course that reveals the man; "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Ecclesiastes 7:8) only for those who finish well.
Explanation
Amaziah outlived Jehoash of Israel by fifteen years, but his reign ended badly. A conspiracy formed against him in Jerusalem; he fled to Lachish but was tracked down and assassinated. His body was brought back and buried in Jerusalem. The people then made his sixteen-year-old son Azariah (Uzziah) king in his place. Azariah rebuilt and restored the port of Elath to Judah, a hopeful note pointing toward the strength of his coming reign. Amaziah, who had begun with obedience and victory, ended in decline and violent death, a warning that a good beginning must be matched by a faithful continuance.
Gospel Focus
Amaziah's end reinforces the chapter's warning: a good start is not enough. He began doing right and submitting to God's word, but pride and idolatry turned his course, and he died fleeing an assassin's blade. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). The Christian life is not a sprint from the starting line but a race to be finished; "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7) is the testimony that matters. Many begin with obedience and blessing, then let success, pride, or a divided heart pull them off the path, and their latter end is worse than their beginning. Yet even in Amaziah's decline, God's covenant held: the line of David continued in Azariah, and the promise moved on toward Christ. God's faithfulness does not fail even when His servants do. Learn from Amaziah to guard your heart in the day of success and to press on to the end, and rest, when you falter, in the God who keeps His covenant and preserves His purposes despite the failures of men.
The Reign of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:23-29)
God restores Israel's borders under Jeroboam II, in mercy to an afflicted people, by the word of Jonah.
For the LORD Saw the Affliction of Israel
"In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead."
Word Study
"for the LORD saw the affliction of Israel," Hebrew oni (עֳנִי), affliction, misery. Jeroboam II reigned forty-one years, the longest reign in the northern kingdom and, politically, its most successful, he restored Israel's borders to their greatest extent since Solomon. Yet the spiritual verdict is unchanged: "he did that which was evil... he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam." Prosperity and military success are not proof of God's approval; this was the era Amos and Hosea denounced for its wealth, injustice, and idolatry beneath the outward glory. Why then did God grant such blessing to an evil king and people? The text answers with pure grace: "the LORD saw the affliction (oni) of Israel, that it was very bitter... And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel... but he saved them." God's compassion, not Israel's merit, was the reason. He "saw the affliction," as He once saw it in Egypt (Exodus 3:7), and moved to save. Remarkably, He did this "by the hand of Jeroboam" and "according to the word of the LORD... by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai", the same Jonah of the book of Jonah, who was sent to Nineveh. God's mercy to undeserving Israel here is the very theme Jonah struggled with when God spared Nineveh: the LORD is "a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" (Jonah 4:2). This was Israel's last, deceptive golden age; the mercy was real, but it was a reprieve, not a pardon, for the nation did not repent, and within a generation of Jeroboam's death the Assyrian exile would come. God's patience is great, but it is not endless; the space He gives is meant for repentance.
Explanation
Jeroboam II reigned forty-one years over Israel, the longest and most prosperous northern reign, restoring the nation's borders from Hamath in the north to the Dead Sea. Yet he too clung to the idolatrous sins of the first Jeroboam. His military success came not from his worthiness but from God's compassion: the LORD saw Israel's bitter affliction, with no one to help, and, not willing yet to blot out the nation, saved them through Jeroboam, exactly as He had promised through the prophet Jonah son of Amittai. Jeroboam recovered Damascus and Hamath, and at his death his son Zechariah succeeded him. Israel's last golden age was a gift of undeserved mercy, not a sign of repentance.
Gospel Focus
"For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel... but he saved them." Here is astonishing grace: God gave a wicked king and an unrepentant people their greatest prosperity in centuries, not because they deserved it, but because He saw their misery and was moved with compassion. This is the same God who "saw" His people's affliction in Egypt and came down to deliver, the God who "so loved the world" that He gave His Son while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). God's mercies fall on the undeserving; it is written that "the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance" (Romans 2:4). But that is exactly the warning here. Israel received this great mercy and did not repent; the prosperity became a pillow of false security, and Amos and Hosea would soon thunder against a people rich in silver and rotten in soul. Prosperity is not proof of God's favor, and unrepented-of mercy hardens rather than saves. That God spoke this deliverance by Jonah, the prophet who resented God's mercy to Nineveh, underlines the theme: the LORD is gracious and merciful, and His grace reaches even those who least deserve it. Do not mistake God's patience for His approval, or His blessings for permission to keep sinning. Every mercy is a call to turn to Him. Receive His grace, but do not receive it in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1); let His kindness lead you to repentance.
Chapter in Review
Second Kings 14 sets the reigns of Amaziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel side by side, and both teach about the heart. Amaziah begins well, doing right and honoring God's written law even in restraining his justice, and God gives him victory over Edom. But success lifts up his heart in pride; deaf to wise counsel, he provokes a needless war with Israel, is defeated and captured, his city plundered, and he ends slain by conspiracy, a good beginning undone by pride and idolatry. In the north, Jeroboam II, though an evil king, is granted the longest and most prosperous reign of the northern kingdom, its borders restored, not because he deserved it, but "for the LORD saw the affliction of Israel" and, in mercy, saved them by his hand, as Jonah had foretold. The chapter warns that success and pride can ruin a good start, and reveals a God whose grace reaches the undeserving, a mercy that is a call to repentance, not a license to keep sinning.
Key Takeaways
- Let God's word govern your conduct. Amaziah obeyed the law even in his power; submit your choices to Scripture.
- Pride after success leads to a fall. A lifted-up heart cannot hear counsel; hold your victories humbly.
- A good beginning must be matched by a faithful end. Amaziah started right and finished in ruin; endure to the end.
- God's grace reaches the undeserving. He saved Israel because He "saw the affliction," not because they merited it.
- Do not mistake mercy for approval. Prosperity is no proof of God's favor; His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you submit even your power and choices to the word of God, as Amaziah did at first?
- Has success ever lifted up your heart in pride and made you deaf to counsel?
- Are you not only beginning well but pressing on to finish faithfully?
- Do you marvel that God's grace reaches the undeserving, and does it lead you to repentance?
- Are you mistaking God's patience or blessing for approval of something He calls you to turn from?
References
- Scripture: 2 Kings 14:1-29, King James Version.
- Cross-references: Exodus 3:7; Deuteronomy 24:16; 2 Chronicles 25:1-28; Proverbs 11:2; 16:18; Ecclesiastes 7:8; Ezekiel 18:20; Jonah 4:2; Romans 2:4; 5:8; 14:12; 1 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Corinthians 6:1; Philippians 2:7-8; 2 Timothy 4:7; 1 Peter 2:24; 5:5.
- Hebrew word meanings: standard lexical sources (Strong's, BDB) for nasa lev and oni; historical background of Edom, Beth-shemesh, and the reign of Jeroboam II.