Amaziah: After the house of David was saved from extinction in the previous royal narrative, Amaziah continues the Davidic line as king after the death of his father, Joash. His reign (ca. 796–767 B.C.) lasted for twenty-nine years. The ambiguity in the Chronicler’s presentation of many of Judah’s kings—for example Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Joash—continues in the next episode.

The Chronicler’s version features two prominent insertions into the source material, 2 Kings 14:1–20. Second Chronicles 25:5–10 (from the Chronicler’s own hand) describes Amaziah’s mustering of his troops and hiring of additional mercenaries from his northern neighbor, Israel. An anonymous “man of God” warns him in this section that it would be fatal if he were to ally with northern military resources, and he therefore di…