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2 Chronicles 25 · a question people ask

Was Amaziah a good king or not?

In the text

The chapter says both things, and in that order. First: "He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, but not with a perfect heart" (25:2). He kept the law of Moses when he spared the children of his father's killers (25:4), and he sent the hired army home at a man of God's word, though it cost him a hundred talents (25:7-10). Then, after Edom, "he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods" (25:14), and he told the prophet, "Stop!" (25:16). The chapter dates the plot against him "from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD" (25:27). 2 Kings gives its verdict as "He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, yet not like David his father" (2 Kings 14:3), and doesn't tell of the gods of Seir. The two books are set side by side here, and these notes add no verdict of their own.

The verses

“He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, but not with a perfect heart.”
2 Chronicles 25:2 · World English Bible
“But he didn’t put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.””
2 Chronicles 25:4 · World English Bible
“Now after Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them and burned incense to them.”
2 Chronicles 25:14 · World English Bible
“As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.””
2 Chronicles 25:16 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Chronicles 25

2 Chronicles 25: Much more than this

Only 2 Chronicles tells of the hundred talents: when Amaziah asked what to do about the silver he had paid for Israel's soldiers, the man of God said, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this" (25:9). And the king who did right "but not with a perfect heart" (25:2) went on to set up the gods of the people he had just defeated as his own (25:14).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions