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.
- What evidence is there that in the reign of Jehoahaz Israel was greatly impoverished?
Also what reason is assigned for this state of things? - In what ways did all four kings, whose reigns are described in chapter 14, fall short of what God required of them?
Notes
- 13:5. A reference to Jeroboam II; see 14:27.
- 14:13. ‘Four hundred cubits’: about 180 meters.
- 14:23. Jeroboam II had a long and successful reign, during which the northern kingdom of Israel was greatly extended. See verse 25.
- 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.