2 Chronicles 25:23

And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) Jehoahaz.—Several Hebrew MSS. read Ahaziah, as in 2Kings 14:13, with which the rest of the verse agrees: see the Notes there. (See Note on 2Chronicles 21:17.)

The corner gate.—So 2Kings 14:13, rightly. Our Hebrew text has, “gate of the turning one,” or “gate that turneth;” which would require some word indicating the direction of the turning. (Comp. Ezekiel 8:3, “gate that turneth northward.”) Some MSS., and all the versions, agree with Kings. It is merely a matter of different points. (Comp. also 2Chronicles 26:9.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:17-28 Never was a proud prince more thoroughly mortified than Amaziah by Joash king of Israel. A man's pride will bring him low, Pr 29:23; it goes before his destruction, and deservedly brings it on. He that exalteth himself shall be abased. He that goes forth hastily to strive, will not know what he shall do in the end thereof, when his neighbour has put him to shame, Pr 25:8. And what are we when we offer to establish our own righteousness, or presume to justify ourselves before the Most High God, but despicable thistles, that fancy themselves stately cedars? And are not various temptations, is not every corruption, a wild beast of the desert, which will trample on the wretched boaster, and tread his haughty pretensions to the dust? A man's pride shall bring him low; his ruin may be dated from his turning from the Lord.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Art thou made of the king's counsel? - A subtle irony: "Have I made thee one of my council? If not what entitles thee to offer thy advice?"

For the fulfillment of the prophecy, see 2 Chronicles 25:22-24, 2 Chronicles 25:27.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ch 25:17. He Provokes Joash to His Overthrow.

17. Then Amaziah … sent to Joash … Come, let us see one another in the face—(See on [452]2Ki 14:8-20).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But Amaziah would not hear,.... What the king of Israel advised him to, not to meddle to his hurt:

for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies; Amaziah and his army into the hands of Joash and his; this was the will of God, and was brought about by his providence; and that it might be, Amaziah was given up to blindness and hardness of heart, as a punishment of his idolatry:

because they sought after the gods of Edom; he and his nobles, and many of the people following his example; from hence to the end of the chapter the same things are recorded as in 2 Kings 14:11, see the notes there; see Gill on 2 Kings 14:11, 2 Kings 14:12, 2 Kings 14:13, 2 Kings 14:14, 2 Kings 14:15, 2 Kings 14:16, 2 Kings 14:17, 2 Kings 14:18, 2 Kings 14:19, 2 Kings 14:20

Geneva Study Bible

And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. the son of Jehoahaz] i.e. the son of Ahaziah, Jehoahaz and Ahaziah being varying forms of the same name; cp. 2 Chronicles 21:17 (note).

brake down the wall] Rather, made a breach (or breaches) in the wall. The same verb is used in Nehemiah 1:3 (“broken down”) and ibid. Nehemiah 4:7 (“the breaches”).

the gate of Ephraim] This gate cannot be identified, but its name suggests that it was on the north.

the corner gate] Heb. text doubtful, but LXX. ἕως πύλης γωνίας. Cp. 2 Chronicles 26:9; Jeremiah 31:38; Zechariah 14:10. Most probably this gate also was on the north, but nothing certain is known of its position.

four hundred cubits] About 600 feet according to the ancient cubit, and 700 according to the later standard; cp. 2 Chronicles 3:3 (note).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - Joash... took; Hebrew, תָּפַּשׂ, "seized" (as Genesis 39:12), or "caught up" (as Deuteronomy 9:17), or "capture" (as Joshua 8:8). The gate of Ephraim (see Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 343). It led out on the north or north-west side of the city. There is very little to identify it with the high gate of Benjamin (see ditto, p. 346). The corner gate. This is not the translation of our Hebrew text (שַׁעַר הַפּונֶה, which, see margin, means "that looketh"), but of the Hebrew text of the parallel (חַפִנָּה); see pp. 343-346 of Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' and map facing p. 334, 2nd edit. Four hundred cubits. Probably about a hundred and eighty yards. 2 Chronicles 25:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The war with Joash, king of Israel. - Instead of following the counsel of the prophet, Amaziah consulted (sc., with his public officials or courtiers), and challenged King Joash of Israel to war. The challenge, and the war which followed, are also narrated in 2 Kings 14:8-14 in agreement with our account, and have been already commented upon at that place, where we have also considered the occasion of this war, so fatal to Amaziah and the kingdom of Judah, on account of which has been handed down to us only in the supplementary narrative of the Chronicle. לך in 2 Chronicles 25:17 for לכה, come, as in Numbers 23:13 and Judges 19:13. - In 2 Chronicles 25:20 the chronicler explains Amaziah's refusal to hear the warning of Joash before the war with him, by a reference to the divine determination: "For it (came) of God (that Amaziah still went to war), that He might deliver them (the men of Judah) into the hand, because they had sought the gods of Edom." בּיד נתן, to give into the power of the enemy. - In 2 Chronicles 25:23, הפּונה שׁער is a manifest error for הפּנּה (2 Kings 14:13). Were הפּונה, the gate that turns itself, faces (in some direction), correct, the direction would have to be given towards which it turned, e.g., Ezekiel 8:3. - וגו וכל־הזּהב, 2 Chronicles 25:24, still depends upon תּפשׂ, 2 Chronicles 25:23 : and (took away) all the gold, etc. In 2 Kings 14:14, ולקח is supplied.