{"id":64079,"date":"2019-10-06T12:36:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T09:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64079"},"modified":"2023-05-03T07:42:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T04:42:06","slug":"the-cedar-and-the-thistle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-cedar-and-the-thistle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cedar And The Thistle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The text does not give enough information to verifiably determine the cause of the war. But the correlative story in Chronicles provides enough information to explain the catalyst to the flare-up:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amaziah assembled the men of Judah…300,000 chosen men, fit for service, able to bear spear and shield. He hired 100,000 warriors from Israel for with talents of silver. Then a man of God came to him and said, “O King! Do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel \u2014 all these Ephraimites. But go by yourself and do it…. So Amaziah detached the force that came to him from Ephraim, [ordering them] to go back to their place. They were greatly angered against Judah and returned to their place in a rage. Amaziah took courage and, leading his army, he marched to the Valley of Salt. He slew 10,000 men of Seir…. The men of the force that Amaziah had sent back…made forays against the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-Horon. They slew 3,000 of them, and took much booty (II Chr. 25:6-10, 13).<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally Amaziah had indeed proposed “a marriage,” a military alliance against Edom. And Joash had accepted his offer when he sent his 100,000 troops to boost the Judahite army. However, as the troops mobilized, Amaziah, on prophetic instruction, discharged the northern troops and sent them home. The infuriated soldiers responded by rampaging through Judahite territory, killing three thousand people and despoiling the towns and villages en route. Here we understand the second clause of the parable; if one had to express it in poetic form, one might say: “A wild beast in Lebanon went and trampled down the thistle.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did the northern troops react with such ferocity? Their violent reprisal was presumably motivated by a dual factor. First is the king’s insulting rejection of the northern troops, on the prophet’s proclamation: “The Lord is not with Israel.” Second is the financial aspect. The mercenaries were hired for a sum of one hundred talents of silver. It would seem that this modest payment was to be supplemented by looting and despoiling the enemy. But now, as Ahaziah relieves them from active duty, their anticipated income, the spoils of war, had been taken away. When the Israelite troops loot Judahite towns, they are unleashing their frustration while also recouping what they perceived as their financial loss.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amaziah hears about this rampage and declares war on the north. Joash warns him that their forces are mismatched; he is the “cedar” compared with the lowly “thistle.” This explanation shifts some of the weight off Amaziah. After all, he was responding to a northern provocation. Amaziah made a dreadful tactical miscalculation; his indignation blinding his better judgment. There is little doubt that this civil war was a total blunder for Amaziah. The southern army is defeated, Jerusalem is penetrated, and Amaziah and members of his clan are taken captive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind,<\/em> Maggid Books, 2019, Amaziah (Judah)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63310,"id":63310,"title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","filename":"Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-hairy-prophet\/alex-israel-2_kings_cover\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"alex-israel-2_kings_cover","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63117,"date":"2019-09-23 13:43:41","modified":"2019-09-23 13:53:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Excerpts from: II Kings - 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