5–10 (not in Kings).
Amaziah prepares for War.
⁵Moreover 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.
5. three hundred thousand] Compare the much larger numbers recorded for Asa (xiv. 8) and Jehoshaphat (xvii. 14 ff.).
⁶He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
6. He hired also ... out of Israel] The sequel to the hiring of these mercenaries is given in verses 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.
⁷But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
7. the Lord is not with Israel] Compare 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.
⁸But if thou wilt go[¹], do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God shall cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
[¹] Or, go thou.