Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Chronicles 25:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence: “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Victory over Edom turns into cruelty and idolatry.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 25:11–16
Read 2 Chronicles 25:14 with 25:11–16. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Amaziah defeats Edom, Judah throws ten thousand captives from a cliff, and the king then worships captured gods and silences a prophet's warning.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Victory over Edom turns into cruelty and idolatry,” 2 Chronicles 25:14 advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence through the wording “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The narrative refuses to call battlefield success moral success by immediately exposing atrocity, contradiction, and rejected counsel. 2 Chronicles 25:1–10 has just established this prior movement: Amaziah begins with qualified faithfulness, executes his father's killers without killing their children, musters Judah, hires northern troops, and reluctantly dismisses them after a man of God warns against the alliance. Together those details explain why “Victory over Edom turns into cruelty and idolatry” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 25:11–16 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 25:11–16 forms the complete movement “Victory over Edom turns into cruelty and idolatry”: Amaziah defeats Edom, Judah throws ten thousand captives from a cliff, and the king then worships captured gods and silences a prophet's warning.
Verse 11. 11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.
Verse 12. 12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.
Verse 13. 13 But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.
Verse 14. 14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
Verse 15. 15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?
Verse 16. 16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
Follow the Context
- Amaziah defeats Edom, Judah throws ten thousand captives from a cliff, and the king then worships captured gods and silences a prophet's warning.
- The narrative refuses to call battlefield success moral success by immediately exposing atrocity, contradiction, and rejected counsel.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Chronicles 25:14 does not permit the wording “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. This account does not authorize killing captives, humiliating defeated peoples, ethnic stigma toward Edomites, or treating victory as permission for cruelty.
What Remains True
Temple repair, prophetic truth, warfare, royal strength, priestly boundaries, illness, and succession show that good beginnings and institutional service never excuse later abuse. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Amaziah defeats Edom, Judah throws ten thousand captives from a cliff, and the king then worships captured gods and silences a prophet's warning. In 2 Chronicles 25:14, the concrete line “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he….” Use transparent finances and skilled work, protect prophets and workers, refuse cruelty after victory, maintain role boundaries, and never stigmatize disease or disability. This response follows from the unit's own movement: Amaziah defeats Edom, Judah throws ten thousand captives from a cliff, and the king then worships captured gods and silences a prophet's warning.
Teach It Back
Explain why 2 Chronicles 25:14 turns Edomite victory into Amaziah's adoption of captured gods. Use 25:11–16, paraphrase “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 25:11–16 — Victory over Edom turns into cruelty and idolatrySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The enormous totals and cult transfer are part of a theological narrative; the mass killing must not be euphemized even where event-level reconstruction is limited.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 25:11–16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 25:11–16
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 25:11–16, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗