TEXT [Commentary]

2. Jeroboam II rules in Israel (14:23-29)

23 Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, began to rule over Israel in the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria forty-one years. 24 He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. 25 Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea,[*] just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.

26 For the LORD saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. 27 And because the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them.

28 The rest of the events in the reign of Jeroboam II and everything he did—including the extent of his power, his wars, and how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah[*]—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 29 When Jeroboam II died, he was buried in Samaria[*] with the kings of Israel. Then his son Zechariah became the next king.

NOTES

14:23 Jeroboam II. He was the fourth and most important king of the dynasty of Jehu (for the probable meaning of the name Jeroboam, see the first note on 1 Kgs 11:26). A stamp seal “of exquisite design” found at Megiddo attests his name; it reads “belonging to Shema‘, servant of Jeroboam,” and a striking image of a roaring lion dominates the seal design (see Cogan and Tadmor 1988:160, also Plate 12[a]; cf. ANEP, picture 276).

forty-one years. This is an impressive regnal total—in fact, the longest of any of the 19 kings of the northern kingdom. The fact that we have so little annalistic information given here concerning this significant northern king will be discussed further in the commentary.

14:24 sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. Once again, we see the Deuteronomistic formulaic judgment concerning the “sins” of Jeroboam I appended to 15 of the 19 northern kings (cf. endnotes 1 and 27 of the Introduction for details). For a discussion concerning the actual nature of these infamous “sins of Jeroboam,” see the commentary on 1 Kgs 12:25-33.

14:25 recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea. In essence, this represents the territorial limits of the vast kingdom of Solomon (Cogan and Tadmor 1988:160-161; cf. Amos 6:14).

Lebo-hamath. See the first note on 1 Kgs 8:65 for the location of this site; also see Na’aman (1993:230-231), who argues that the powerful kingdom of Hamath never was actually conquered or subjugated by Jeroboam, whose northern boundary probably extended only to the region of Damascus (see the first note on 14:28 for details). Nevertheless, this still represented an impressive display of Israelite power, for the kingdom of Aram (southern Syria), whose capital was indeed Damascus, had been a powerful nemesis of Israel for well over a century (Haran 1967:266-284).

Dead Sea. Lit., “the Sea of the Arabah” (cf. NLT mg); the “Arabah” is the Judahite desert region including the rift valley of the Jordan River extending south to Elath (cf. Josh 3:16, NET).

Jonah son of Amittai. This is the only reference in the OT to this nationalistic prophet apart from the book that bears his name.

14:26 For the LORD saw. Once again (see the note on 13:23), this is a remarkably positive reference to Yahweh’s love and concern for the northern kingdom of Israel.

slave or free. Concerning this Hebrew idiom, see the second note on 1 Kgs 14:10; but note that this is the only occasion where the phrase is used in a tragic sense—there was, alas, no one, “slave or free,” able to help Israel (Sweeney 2007:368-369).

14:27 blot out the name. This is an idiom found only here in 1–2 Kings (cf. Deut 9:14; 29:20 for the only other uses in the OT). The image is that of washing a papyrus scroll clean prior to its reuse (Cogan and Tadmor 1988:161).

to save them. See the notes on 13:5 and 13:17, as well as the commentary on 13:1-9, for further discussion of terms related to yasha‘ [TH3467, ZH3828].

14:28 Damascus. The capital of Aram (southern Syria; cf. the first note on 8:7), which Na’aman (1993:230-231) thinks represented the actual northern boundary of Jeroboam’s domain: “It is inconceivable that Jeroboam was able either to conquer it [the Kingdom of Hamath to the north of Damascus] or to make it a tributary kingdom.” Rather, Jeroboam’s realm came to include most or all of Aram, and his northern boundary abutted the southern border of Hamath (which itself consisted of both Hamath proper in central Syria on the Orontes River [modern Hamah], and Hadrach to the north, near Aleppo).

Hamath, which had belonged to Judah. There was apparently another “Hamath” to the south although, as the NLT mg indicates, the precise meaning of this text remains obscure (the alternative reading, “Yaudi” [taken as an Akkadian reference for Sam’al in Asia Minor], instead of biblical “Judah,” now appears to be untenable [cf. Cogan and Tadmor 1988:162]). For a plausible emendation of the present text, see Na’aman (1993:230-234); he suggests translating, “and how he restored Damascus, and the war(s) of Judah against Israel” (thus reading wmlkhmwt [TH4421, ZH4878] yhwdh, “and the war(s) of Judah,” for the MT’s w’t khmth [TH2574, ZH2828] lyhwdh, “and Hamath (belonging) to Judah”). Na’aman goes on to show how recently uncovered archaeological evidence from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud in northeast Sinai (southwest of Judah) includes “Samaria ware” originating from the northern kingdom of Israel, thus indicating that in the first half of the eighth century BC, the valuable caravan trade from Israel apparently had to bypass Judah, following a western path through the Sinai (a less direct route). Among other things, this evidence corroborates the notice in 14:22 that, after the death of King Jehoash of Israel (cf. the note on that verse), Uzziah of Judah was able to regain control of the town of Elath at the north end of the gulf (and thus deny Israel access to that location).

are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. See “Literary Style” in the Introduction.

COMMENTARY [Text]

With the accession of Jeroboam II to the throne in the first decade or so of the eighth century BC, we move finally into the era of the so-called “writing prophets” (note the citation of Amos 6:14 in the first note on 14:25 [cf. Amos 1:1; 7:10-17]). Indeed, the only Old Testament reference to “Jonah son of Amittai,” apart from those found in the book that bears his name, is to be found in 14:25. Finally, the important northern prophet Hosea should also be dated to about this time (see Hos 1:1). We know from both Amos and Hosea that the nation of Israel became militarily and economically powerful during the reign of Jeroboam II, but we also know that it sadly experienced a widening disparity between the rich and the poor (see the economic data found in the Samaria Ostraca [ABD 5.921-926]). Once again, the present seven verses of 2 Kings only hint at Jeroboam’s power and prestige, as well as his apparently rocky relations with Uzziah of Judah (cf. Na’aman’s conclusions as cited in the notes on 14:28). As Cogan and Tadmor (1988:162) put it, “Jeroboam II’s forty-one year reign, the longest of all kings of Israel, is presented tersely and in no way proportionally to his notable accomplishments in political and military affairs.”

Probably not coincidentally, Jeroboam’s reign largely corresponded with an extended era of Assyrian weakness, although our available sources lack specifics. For example, the occurrence of the notoriously evil omen of a total solar eclipse on June 15, 763 BC, may well have been understood as presaging the arrival of uprisings, plagues, and other troubles in the land (as well as, ironically, greatly helping modern scholars to establish the absolute chronology of this period; cf. Cogan and Tadmor 1988:163). And some modern commentators have indeed linked this eclipse with the remarkable revival brought about by Jonah and his reluctant preaching in Nineveh (Jonah 3; cf. Archer 1974:311; also Stuart 1987:491-492). Regardless of one’s views on the extent of the impact of the eclipse, with both Aram and Assyria largely out of the picture, and with Egypt beset by continuing internal divisions, only the relatively weak nations of Phoenicia and Philistia (as well as the apparently now-independent kingdom of Judah [see the second note on 14:28]) could serve to dampen Jeroboam’s military ambitions. Most scholars, therefore, characterize his reign as vigorous and powerful. But, as we have already seen, Yahweh did speak through two important prophets—Amos and Hosea—concerning its actual tenuousness. And so we will not be surprised to read in the very next chapter (cf. 15:8-12) that Jeroboam’s son Zechariah lasted only some six months on the throne. Then, finally, the mighty dynasty of Jehu came to its ignominious and inevitable end.

Several comments are made in this passage about Yahweh’s love and concern for the northern kingdom of Israel, this time during Jeroboam’s reign (see the first note on 14:26 and the commentary on 13:14-25 for previous parallels). This flies in the face of the Deuteronomistic editor’s overall agenda of emphasizing the importance of the Davidic dynasty in the south while generally denigrating the northern kings (which, if Na’aman’s conclusions [cited in the first two notes on 14:28] about the relative power of Uzziah vis-à-vis Jeroboam are on target, would have been easy to do here). Hence, the present text seemingly harkens back not to Deuteronomistic theology but to an earlier tradition of Yahweh’s blessing on the Jehu kings (see the second note on 14:27 for parallels). In any case, it is clear that Yahweh is not yet ready to consign either the northern or the southern kingdom to utter annihilation. And that results in “salvation” mediated here through none other than King Jeroboam II.

This is, however, the last time we read such positive sentiments concerning the north or any of its kings. Although six northern kings are yet to be discussed, their history basically goes downhill from here. As Amos straightforwardly prophesied in reference to the future of King Jeroboam’s nation: “The people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland” (Amos 7:17b; cf. Amos 7:10-11). As will also be the case with Judah’s King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, a lengthy period of time on the throne may well come to represent something quite different than the clear blessing of God. Present successes can still lead to future disasters. Therefore, let us not lose sight of such sobering realities: In any era, a long and seemingly successful career, whether in politics, academia, or even ministry, may not necessarily indicate the unequivocal seal of God’s approval on an individual or that individual’s accomplishments. Maybe it is, after all, quite appropriate that we find here little discussion about the accomplishments of King Jeroboam II of Israel, but a fair amount about the love and faithfulness of his (and our) God.