2 Kings 14:14

And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) That were found.—This expression seems to hint that there was not much treasure to carry off. (Comp. 2Kings 13:18.)

Hostages.—Literally, the sons of sureties. Having humbled the pride of Amaziah, Jehoash left him in possession of his throne, taking hostages for his future good behaviour. Similar acts of clemency are recorded of themselves by the Assyrian kings of the dynasty of Sargon.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:8-14 For some time after the division of the kingdoms, Judah suffered much from the enmity of Israel. After Asa's time, it suffered more by the friendship of Israel, and by the alliance made with them. Now we meet with hostility between them again. How may a humble man smile to hear two proud and scornful men set their wits on work, to vilify and undervalue one another! Unholy success excites pride; pride excites contentions. The effects of pride in others, are insufferable to those who are proud themselves. These are the sources of trouble and sin in private life; but when they arise between princes, they become the misery of their whole kingdoms. Jehoash shows Amaziah the folly of his challenge; Thine heart has lifted thee up. The root of all sin is in the heart, thence it flows. It is not Providence, the event, the occasion, whatever it is, that makes men proud, secure, discontented, or the like, but their own hearts do it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This is the only distinct mention of "hostages" in the Old Testament. It would seem that the Oriental conquerors generally regarded the terror of their arms as sufficient to secure the performance of the engagements contracted toward them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11-14. But Amaziah would not hear—The sarcastic tenor of this reply incited the king of Judah the more; for, being in a state of judicial blindness and infatuation (2Ch 25:20), he was immovably determined on war. But the superior energy of Joash surprised him ere he had completed his military preparations. Pouring a large army into the territory of Judah, he encountered Amaziah in a pitched battle, routed his army, and took him prisoner. Then having marched to Jerusalem [2Ki 14:13], he not only demolished part of the city walls, but plundered the treasures of the palace and temple. Taking hostages to prevent any further molestation from Judah, he terminated the war. Without leaving a garrison in Jerusalem, he returned to his capital with all convenient speed, his presence and all his forces being required to repel the troublesome incursions of the Syrians.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Hostages; to assure their peaceable carriage towards him.

Returned to Samaria: he did not keep Jerusalem, nor seek to gain the possession and dominion of that kingdom; partly because he thought he could not keep it, considering the difficulty he found in keeping his own from such potent and near enemies as the Syrians were, and the great affection which all Judah bare to David’s house; and partly because God so inclined his heart, that he might make good his promise to David and his family.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord,.... In 2 Chronicles 25:24 it is added, "with Obededom", who, and his family, had the care of them by lot, see 1 Chronicles 26:15.

and in the treasures of the king's house; which were also spoiled and plundered:

and hostages; either such as the king of Judah had taken from Edom, as pledges of their fidelity, that they might not rebel; or which the king of Israel took of Judah, even sons of the princes, as the Targum, for security, that they would give him no more trouble:

and returned to Samaria; without attempting to bring the kingdom of Judah into subjection to him, which he might suppose he could not hold, and having enough to do with the Syrians, his avowed enemies.

Geneva Study Bible

And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and {g} hostages, and returned to Samaria.

{g} That is, which the Israelites had given to them from Judah for an assurance of peace.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. and he took all the gold and silver] The conquest appears to have been most complete. The Chronicler mentions the name of Obed-edom as the man who had charge at this time over the treasures of the house of the Lord.

and hostages] R.V. the hostages also. As in Chronicles. There is no other mention in the sacred history of persons taken as pledges for the fulfilment of the conditions of a peace. This circumstance marks the occasion as of unusual character, and makes it clear that terms were exacted from Amaziah for which the king of Israel held some distinguished persons of Judah, perhaps sons of the king, as security till they were fulfilled.

and returned to Samaria] Having so disposed the affairs of the southern kingdom as to secure the peace of his own, and probably having made it clear to the people of Judah that there was no hope for better days while Amaziah was their king.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord. As Joash of Judah had, fifteen or twenty years previously, stripped the temple of its treasures to buy off the hostility of Hazael (2 Kings 12:18), there could not have been at this time very much for Joash of Israel to lay his hands on. Still, whatever there was passed into the possession of the Israelite king. And in the treasures of the king's house. Neither can this have amounted to much, unless the booty taken from Hazael after his defeats (2 Kings 14:25) was very considerable. And hostages. This is a new feature in the warfare of the time; but hostages were given and taken from an early date by the Persians (Xen., 'Cyrop.,' 4:2. § 7; Herod., 6:99), the Greeks, and the Romans. 2 Kings 14:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Jehoash took king Amaziah prisoner, and then came to Jerusalem, and had four hundred cubits of the wall broken down at the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, and then returned to Samaria with the treasures of the palace and temple, and with hostages. the Chethb ויבאו is to be pointed ויּאו, the vowel ו being placed after א, as in several other cases (see Ewald, 18, b.). There is no ground for altering יביאהוּ after the Chronicles (Thenius), although the reading in the Chronicles elucidates the thought. For if Jehoash took Amaziah prisoner at Beth-shemesh and then came to Jerusalem, he no doubt brought his prisoner with him, for Amaziah remained king and reigned for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash (2 Kings 14:17). The Ephraim gate, which is generally supposed to be the same as the gate of Benjamin (Jeremiah 37:13; Jeremiah 38:7; Zechariah 14:10; compare Nehemiah 8:16; Nehemiah 12:39), stood in the middle of the north wall of Jerusalem, through which the road to Benjamin and Ephraim ran; and the corner gate was at the north-western corner of the same wall, as we may see from Jeremiah 31:38 and Zechariah 14:10. If, then, Jehoash had four hundred cubits of the wall thrown down at the gate Ephraim to the corner gate, the distance between the two gates was not more than four hundred cubits, which applies to the northern wall of Zion, but not to the second wall, which defended the lower city towards the north, and must have been longer, and which, according to 2 Chronicles 32:5, was probably built for the first time by Hezekiah (vid., Krafft, Topographie v. Jerus. pp. 117ff.). Jehoash destroyed this portion of the Zion wall, that the city might be left defenceless, as Jerusalem could be most easily taken on the level northern side.

(Note: Thenius takes a different view. According to the description which Josephus gives of this event (Ant. ix. 9, 3), he assumes that Jehoash had the four hundred cubits of the city wall thrown down, that he might get a magnificent gate (?) for himself and the invading army; and he endeavours to support this assumption by stating that the space between the Ephraim gate and the corner gate was much more than four hundred cubits. But this assertion is based upon an assumption which cannot be sustained, namely, that the second wall built by Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:5) was already in existence in the time of Amaziah, and that the gates mentioned were in this wall. The subjective view of the matter in Josephus has no more worth than that of a simple conjecture.)

- The treasures of the temple and palace, which Jehoash took away, cannot, according to 2 Kings 12:19, have been very considerable. התּערבות בּני, sons of the citizenships, i.e., hostages (obsides, Vulg.). He took hostages in return for the release of Amaziah, as pledges that he would keep the peace.