Amaziah

Overview

• Testament: Old
• Role: King of Judah; priest of Bethel who opposed Amos
• Family: Son of Joash, king of Judah
• Key Books: 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Amos

Biography

Amaziah king of Judah (2 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 25) reigned for 29 years. He began well — executing his father’s murderers but sparing their children in accordance with the Law — and won a significant victory over Edom in the Valley of Salt. However, he brought back Edomite gods and began to worship them, drawing a prophetic rebuke. He then made the fatal mistake of challenging the northern king Joash to battle; Joash’s parable of the thistle and cedar warned him off, but Amaziah pressed ahead and was decisively defeated at Beth-shemesh. He ended his reign as a captive, stripped of Jerusalem’s temple treasures, and was eventually assassinated.

Amaziah the priest of Bethel (Amos 7:10-17) is a different figure — a priest in service to the golden calf cult at Bethel who reported Amos’s prophecies to King Jeroboam II and commanded Amos to leave Israel and prophesy in Judah instead. Amos responded with a sharp personal oracle against Amaziah, declaring his wife would become a prostitute, his children would fall by the sword, and he himself would die in an unclean land. This confrontation illustrates the conflict between institutional religion serving political power and the prophetic word that answers only to God.

Key Events

• Victory over Edom — Amaziah king of Judah defeats Edom
• Defeat at Beth-shemesh — Overreach against the northern kingdom
• Confrontation with Amos — Amaziah the priest tried to silence God’s prophet

Relationships

• Joash — Father (king of Judah)
• Jeroboam II — Contemporary king of Israel whom Amaziah the priest served

Important Verses

• 2 Kings 14:1-20
• 2 Chronicles 25
• Amos 7:10-17

Cross-References

• Amos — Prophetic confrontation with Amaziah the priest
• 2 Chronicles — Account of Amaziah king of Judah
• Jeroboam II — Northern king in whose reign Amaziah the priest served

Notes

• Two distinct figures bear this name in the OT — the king of Judah and the priest of Bethel. Context determines which is intended.
• Amaziah the priest is the most dramatic example in the prophetic books of religious authority being used to suppress the prophetic word.
• Amaziah king of Judah illustrates a recurring pattern in Chronicles: initial obedience leads to blessing, but pride after victory leads to downfall.