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2 Crônicas 25

BLIVRE · Chapter 25/36

1De vinte e cinco anos era Amazias quando começou a reinar, e vinte e nove anos reinou em Jerusalém: o nome de sua mãe foi Jeoadã, de Jerusalém.

2Fez ele o que era correto aos olhos do SENHOR ainda que não de coração íntegro.

3E logo que foi confirmado no reino, matou os seus servos que haviam matado o seu pai, o rei;

4Mas não matou aos filhos deles, segundo o que está escrito na lei no livro de Moisés, de onde o SENHOR mandou, dizendo: Não morrerão os pais pelos filhos, nem os filhos pelos pais; mas cada um morrerá por seu pecado.

5Juntou logo Amazias a Judá, e com arranjo às famílias pôs-lhes capitães de milhares e comandantes de cem por todo Judá e Benjamim; e tomou-os por lista de vinte anos acima, e foram achados neles trezentos mil escolhidos para sair à guerra, que tinham lança e escudo.

6E de Israel contratou a dinheiro cem mil homens valentes, por cem talentos de prata.

7Mas um homem de Deus veio a ele, dizendo-lhe: Rei, não vá contigo o exército de Israel; porque o SENHOR não é com Israel, nem com todos os filhos de Efraim.

8Porém se tu vais, se o fazes, e te esforças para lutar, Deus te fará cair diante dos inimigos; porque em Deus está a força, ou para ajudar, ou para derrubar.

9E Amazias disse ao homem de Deus: Que, pois, se fará de cem talentos que dei ao exército de Israel? E o homem de Deus respondeu: Do SENHOR é dar-te muito mais que isto.

10Então Amazias separou o esquadrão da gente que havia vindo a ele de Efraim, para que se fossem a suas casas: e eles se iraram grandemente contra Judá, e voltaram a suas casas encolerizados.

11Esforçando-se então Amazias, tirou seu povo, e veio ao vale do sal: e feriu dos filhos de Seir dez mil.

12E os filhos de Judá tomaram vivos outros dez mil, os quais levaram ao cume de um penhasco, e dali os atiraram abaixo, e todos se fizeram em pedaços.

13Porém os do esquadrão que Amazias havia despedido, porque não fossem com ele à guerra, derramaram-se sobre as cidades de Judá, desde Samaria até Bete-Horom, e feriram deles três mil, e tomaram um grande despojo.

14Regressando logo Amasias da matança dos edomitas, trouxe também consigo os deuses dos filhos de Seir, e os pôs para si por deuses, e encurvou-se diante deles, e queimou-lhes incenso.

15Acendeu-se, portanto, o furor do SENHOR contra Amasias, e enviou a ele um profeta, que lhe disse: Por que buscaste os deuses de gente estrangeira, que não livraram a seu povo de tuas mãos?

16E falando-lhe o profeta estas coisas, ele lhe respondeu: Puseram a ti por conselheiro do rei? Deixa-te disso: por que queres que te matem? E ao cessar, o profeta disse logo: Eu sei que Deus decidiu destruir-te, porque fizeste isto, e não obedeceste a meu conselho.

17E Amazias rei de Judá, havido seu conselho, enviou a dizer a Joás, filho de Jeoacaz filho de Jeú, rei de Israel: Vem, e vejamo-nos face a face.

18Então Joás rei de Israel enviou a dizer a Amazias rei de Judá: O cardo que estava no Líbano, enviou ao cedro que estava no Líbano, dizendo: Da tua filha a meu filho por mulher. E eis que os animais selvagens que estavam no Líbano, passaram, e pisotearam o cardo.

19Tu dizes: Eis que feri a Edom; e teu coração se enaltece para gloriar-te: agora fica-te em tua casa; para que te intrometes em mal, para cair tu e Judá contigo?

20Mas Amasias não quis ouvir; porque isto era da parte de Deus, que queria os entregar nas mãos de seus inimigos, porquanto haviam buscado os deuses de Edom.

21Subiu, pois, Joás rei de Israel, e vieram face a face ele e Amazias rei de Judá, em Bete-Semes, a qual é de Judá.

22Porém caiu Judá diante de Israel, e fugiu cada um a sua morada.

23E Joás rei de Israel prendeu em Bete-Semes a Amazias rei de Judá, filho de Joás filho de Jeoacaz, e levou-o a Jerusalém: e derrubou o muro de Jerusalém desde a porta de Efraim até a porta da esquina, quatrocentos côvados.

24Assim tomou todo o ouro e prata, e todos os vasos que se acharam na casa de Deus em casa de Obede-Edom, e os tesouros da casa do rei, e os filhos dos príncipes, e voltou-se a Samaria.

25E viveu Amazias filho de Joás, rei de Judá, quinze anos depois da morte de Joás filho de Jeoacaz rei de Israel.

26Os demais dos feitos de Amazias, primeiros e últimos, não estão escritos no livro dos reis de Judá e de Israel?

27Desde aquele tempo que Amazias se separou do SENHOR, maquinaram contra ele conspiração em Jerusalém; e havendo ele fugido a Laquis, enviaram atrás ele a Laquis, e ali o mataram;

28E trouxeram-no em cavalos, e sepultaram-no com seus pais na cidade de Judá.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Amaziah succeeds his father Joash and initially rules with justice, but makes a grave mistake by adopting the idols of the Edomites he had defeated in battle. He challenges the king of Israel to an unnecessary war, suffers a humiliating defeat, and is eventually assassinated in a conspiracy.

Explanation

Amaziah begins well, following the law of Moses by not punishing children for their parents' crimes (referring to the assassination of his own father), but his military success against Edom leads him into a strange and tragic mistake: he begins worshiping the very gods of the people he had just defeated, an illogical choice that a prophet confronts directly, asking why he would seek out gods that could not even deliver their own people from defeat. His subsequent pride leads him to needlessly challenge the king of Israel to battle, resulting in a humiliating defeat, with the walls of Jerusalem torn down and its treasures plundered. Amaziah's story serves as a warning that success in one area of life does not automatically guarantee wisdom in other decisions.

Fun facts

  • The king of Israel's parable comparing Amaziah to a 'thistle' trying to arrange a marriage alliance with a 'cedar' (referring to himself) is an example of poetic language used to arrogantly mock an adversary before a battle.
  • Amaziah's practice of hiring mercenaries from Israel before dismissing them on prophetic instruction, and the subsequent revenge attack by these same dismissed mercenaries against cities of Judah, shows the unforeseen complications of getting involved with mercenary military forces.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crônicas 25:1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he governed twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem.
  2. 2 Crônicas 25:2The Chronicler’s verdict already comes with a qualifier: Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a whole heart — a formula that foreshadows trouble.
  3. 2 Crônicas 25:3As soon as he consolidates power, Amaziah executes the servants who had assassinated his father, Joash.
  4. 2 Crônicas 25:4Following the law of Moses, Amaziah does not punish the children of these assassins, respecting the principle that each person answers only for their own sin.
  5. 2 Crônicas 25:5Amaziah organizes the army of Judah and Benjamin by family, counting three hundred thousand men above twenty years old, ready to fight with spear and shield.
  6. 2 Crônicas 25:6In addition, Amaziah hires a hundred thousand mercenary soldiers from the kingdom of Israel, paying a hundred talents of silver for their service.
  7. 2 Crônicas 25:7A man of God warns Amaziah not to bring the army of Israel along, because the Lord is not with that kingdom, especially not with the tribe of Ephraim.
  8. 2 Crônicas 25:8The prophet assures him that, even without those extra soldiers, God has the power both to help Judah and to make anyone fall before the enemy.
  9. 2 Crônicas 25:9Amaziah had already paid a hundred talents of silver to hire soldiers from Israel, but a prophet warns him that God is not with that kingdom and tells him to send them away. When the king protests about the lost money, the answer is direct: “The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.”
  10. 2 Crônicas 25:10Amaziah obeys and sends the soldiers from Ephraim back home, but they are furious at being dismissed and go home in a rage.
  11. 2 Crônicas 25:11With his reduced army, Amaziah confidently marches to the Valley of Salt and there defeats ten thousand men of Seir.
  12. 2 Crônicas 25:12Besides those killed in battle, Judah captures ten thousand more alive and throws them off the top of a cliff, killing all of them on impact.
  13. 2 Crônicas 25:13Meanwhile, the soldiers from Ephraim whom Amaziah had dismissed raid cities of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon, kill three thousand people, and carry off a large amount of plunder — revenge for being sent home.
  14. 2 Crônicas 25:14After defeating the Edomites, Amaziah comes back bringing their own gods with him and begins to worship them — an odd choice, adopting the religion of the very people he had just defeated in battle, and the text marks it as a plain mistake.
  15. 2 Crônicas 25:15Seeing that Amaziah has begun worshiping the gods of Edom, the Lord’s anger burns against him, and a prophet is sent to confront him directly.
  16. 2 Crônicas 25:16Amaziah arrogantly cuts the prophet off, asking whether he has been made a counselor to the king — the prophet stops, but warns that God has already decided to destroy him for not listening to his advice.
  17. 2 Crônicas 25:17Puffed up by his victory over Edom, Amaziah challenges Joash, king of Israel, to a direct confrontation — “Come, let us see one another in the face.”
  18. 2 Crônicas 25:18Joash answers with an ironic fable, comparing Amaziah to a small thistle trying to match itself with a great cedar, one that ends up trampled by any wild animal passing by.
  19. 2 Crônicas 25:19Puffed up by his victory over Edom, Amaziah provokes the king of Israel into an unnecessary war, and the reply he gets is an ironic comparison: he is like a thistle comparing itself to a cedar. Pride after a victory becomes the direct cause of the defeat that follows.
  20. 2 Crônicas 25:20Amaziah does not listen to the warning, because it came from God Himself, who was determined to hand him over to his enemies because of the idolatry he had taken up.
  21. 2 Crônicas 25:21Joash advances, and the two kings meet in direct battle at the city of Beth-shemesh, in the territory of Judah.
  22. 2 Crônicas 25:22Judah is defeated before Israel, and every soldier flees back to his own home.
  23. 2 Crônicas 25:23Joash captures Amaziah at Beth-shemesh, takes him prisoner to Jerusalem, and tears down a huge stretch of the city wall, from one gate to another.
  24. 2 Crônicas 25:24Joash also plunders the gold, the silver, and the vessels of the temple, along with the treasures of the palace and hostages, before returning to Samaria.
  25. 2 Crônicas 25:25Amaziah lives fifteen years after the death of Joash, king of Israel, continuing his own reign in Judah.
  26. 2 Crônicas 25:26The rest of Amaziah’s deeds, from beginning to end, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
  27. 2 Crônicas 25:27After Amaziah turns away from the Lord, a conspiracy forms against him in Jerusalem; he flees to Lachish, but the conspirators catch up with him there and kill him.
  28. 2 Crônicas 25:28Amaziah’s body is brought back on horses and buried with his ancestors in the city of Judah, closing out a reign that began well and ended in betrayal.

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