2 Kings 14:8

AMAZIAH FOOLISHLY DEMANDED WAR WITH ISRAEL

"Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, 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 trod down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: glory thereof, and abide at home; for why shouldest thou meddle to the hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?"

Our text in this narrative omits some of the important factors leading up to this declaration of war by Amaziah as revealed in 2 Chronicles 15 and in Josephus. When Amaziah was preparing to invade Edom, he paid a hundred talents in silver to hire some troops from the tribe of Ephraim. Upon the advice of a prophet he sent them back home, which dismissal they took as an insult; and during his campaign in Edom they raided cities in Judah. In the meantime, Amaziah's victory convinced him that he could reunite Israel under the Davidic dynasty; and Josephus tells us that, "Amaziah told the king of Israel that if he would not consent to such a restoration of united Israel, then he would have to fight for his dominion."[10]