translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord .”


text: Heb “a complete heart.”


text: Heb “when the kingdom was secure upon him.”


text: Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded, saying.”


text: Heb “on account of sons.”


text: Heb “on account of fathers.”


text: Heb “Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy here for the people of Judah.


text: Heb “young men going out to war.”


text: Heb “holding a spear and a shield.”


text: The Hebrew word כִּכַּר ( kikar , “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).


text: Heb “man of God.”


text: Heb “Israel, all the sons of Ephraim.”


text: Heb “cause you to stumble.”


text: Heb “to cause to stumble.”


text: Heb “said to the man of God.”


text: Heb “and Amaziah separated them, the troops who came to him from Ephraim, to go to their place.”


text: Heb “and Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people and went to the Valley of Salt.”


text: Or “struck down.”


text: Heb “sons of Seir.”


text: Heb “sons.”


text: Heb “and threw them from the top of the cliff.”


text: Heb “all of them.”


text: Heb “smashed in pieces.”


text: Heb “had sent back from going with him to the battle.”


text: Heb “stripped.”


text: For location see Map2-B1 ; Map4-D3 ; Map5-E2 ; Map6-A4 ; Map7-C1 .


text: Heb “struck down.”


text: Heb “caused them to stand for him as gods.”


text: Heb “seeking,” perhaps in the sense of “consulting [an oracle from].”


text: Heb “the gods of the people.”


text: Heb “hand.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”


text: The verb יָעַץ ( ya ’ ats , “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ ( yo ’ ets , “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (’ etsah , “advice”) later in v. 16 . The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”


text: The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here not to a visit but to meeting in battle. See v. 21 .


text: Heb “you say [to yourself], ‘look, you have defeated Edom.’”


text: Heb “and your heart is lifted up.”


text: Heb “to glorify.”


text: Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”


text: Heb “did not listen.”


text: Heb “because it was from God in order to give them into the hand because they sought the gods of Edom.”


text: Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.” See the note on the expression “Come on, face me on the battlefield” in v. 17 .


text: Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”


text: Heb “400 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the distance would have been about 600 feet (180 m).


text: Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, the former and the latter, are they not – behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”


text: Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”


text: Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”


text: Heb “and they carried him on horses.”


text: Heb “fathers.”


label: NET textual note

text: The Hebrew text has “Judah,” but some medieval mss read “David,” as does the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 14:20 . sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7 .