Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/344

280 servants which had killed the king his father. But he put not their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin. Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and ordered them according to their fathers' houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upward, and found them three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver. But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. But if thou wilt go, do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God shall cast thee down before

4. he put not their children to death] Contrast Jos. vii. 24 ff.; 2 Kin. ix. 26. Clearly the sparing of the children is here mentioned as being a practice unknown or still very unusual at the time.

according to that which is written] i.e. in Deut. xxiv. 16 (cp. Ezek. xviii. 20).

5—10 (not in Kings).&emsp;

5. three hundred thousand] Cp. the much larger numbers recorded for Asa (xiv. 8) and Jehoshaphat (xvii. 14 ff.).

6. He hired also out of Israel] The sequel to the hiring of these mercenaries is given in vv. 10 and 13. The episode, which is entirely unknown apart from the present passage, is most interesting. It agrees most admirably with the Chronicler's way of thinking; for the sin of seeking Israelite help is punished through the damage inflicted by the disappointed soldiers after their dismissal, whilst the virtue of dismissing them in obedience to the prophet's command is rewarded by the victory gained by Amaziah over Edom. The story seems too subtle to be wholly an invention, and several scholars consider it probable that the hiring of the Israelites and their subsequent plundering has a basis in some old tradition.

7. the is not with Israel] Cp. xiii. 8—12.

all the children of Ephraim] the phrase is added to show that here the writer has used "Israel" in the sense of the Northern Kingdom.

8. God shall cast thee down] i.e. If despite the warning he persists