This is another composite portion, containing: first a brief account of two kings of Israel, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash or Joash (to be distinguished from the king of Judah of the same name); then two incidents connected with Elisha; and finally an account of the reigns of Amaziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam II of Israel.

1. What evidence is there that in the reign of Jehoahaz Israel was greatly impoverished?
   Also what reason is assigned for this state of things?
2. In what ways did all four kings, whose reigns are described in chapter 14, fall short of what God required of them?

Notes

1. 13:5. A reference to Jeroboam II; see 14:27.
2. 14:13. ‘Four hundred cubits’: about 180 meters.
3. 14:23. Jeroboam II had a long and successful reign, during which the northern kingdom of Israel was greatly extended. See verse 25.
4. 14:25. Lebo Hamath (or ‘the entrance of Hamath’, see NIV mg.) may refer to the pass between Hermon and Labanon in the north; ‘the sea of Arabah’ is the Dead Sea. There is no other reference in Scripture to this particular prophecy of Johan.