Amaziah אמציהו
king of Judah for twenty-nine years; defeated by Israel
Amaziah became king at twenty-five and reigned twenty-nine years. Having executed his father's murderers, he did not touch their children — according to the word of the Torah, «fathers shall not be put to death for children, nor children for fathers» (2 Kings 14:6). This is the first case in Kings where a monarch explicitly cites what is written in the Torah as a law limiting his own power.
He defeated the Edomites in the Valley of Salt, but brought back their gods and bowed to them; a prophet asked him: «Why have you sought the gods of a people who could not deliver their own from your hand?» After that he sent a challenge to Jehoash king of Israel. The answer was a parable of the thistle that sought the cedar's daughter. Judah was broken at Beth-Shemesh, the king taken captive, four hundred cubits of Jerusalem's wall pulled down, and the Temple and palace stripped. AM 3093–3122, approximate; academically 796–767 BCE.
Sources
Tanakh
- Melachim II (2 Kings) 14:1–20 — the Torah's law on fathers and children, the war with Edom, and the defeat at Beth-Shemesh
- 2 Chronicles 25:14–16 — the gods of Edom brought into Judah and the prophet's words
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.