Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Chronicles 25:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
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: “But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Amaziah's challenge ends in defeat and temple plunder.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 25:17–24
Read 2 Chronicles 25:20 with 25:17–24. 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 challenges Israel, Jehoash answers with a thistle-and-cedar fable, Judah loses at Beth-shemesh, Amaziah is captured, Jerusalem's wall is breached, and temple and palace goods are taken.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Amaziah's challenge ends in defeat and temple plunder,” 2 Chronicles 25:20 advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence through the wording “But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Pride after Edom victory turns outward into an unnecessary war whose costs fall on the city and temple. 2 Chronicles 25:11–16 has just established this prior 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. Together those details explain why “Amaziah's challenge ends in defeat and temple plunder” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 25:17–24 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 25:17–24 forms the complete movement “Amaziah's challenge ends in defeat and temple plunder”: Amaziah challenges Israel, Jehoash answers with a thistle-and-cedar fable, Judah loses at Beth-shemesh, Amaziah is captured, Jerusalem's wall is breached, and temple and palace goods are taken.
Verse 17. 17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.
Verse 18. 18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.
Verse 19. 19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
Verse 20. 20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
Verse 21. 21 So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
Verse 22. 22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
Verse 23. 23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
Verse 24. 24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
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 challenges Israel, Jehoash answers with a thistle-and-cedar fable, Judah loses at Beth-shemesh, Amaziah is captured, Jerusalem's wall is breached, and temple and palace goods are taken. In 2 Chronicles 25:20, the concrete line “But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand….” 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 challenges Israel, Jehoash answers with a thistle-and-cedar fable, Judah loses at Beth-shemesh, Amaziah is captured, Jerusalem's wall is breached, and temple and palace goods are taken.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 25:17–24 — Amaziah's challenge ends in defeat and temple plunderSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 25:17–24, 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 25:17–24
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 25:17–24, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗