2 Chronicles 25:18

"King Joash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, ‘A thorn bush on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife'; but a wild animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thorn bush'" (2 Chronicles 25:18).

Comment:

This passage is part of a much larger story, and it can be tricky to isolate one particular piece. The two books known as Chronicles (which were once one book in the Hebrew scriptures) essentially retells—sometimes word for word—the events described in the two Books of Samuel and the two Books of Kings. The point is not literal history but to interpret things from a particular religious perspective. All of chapter 25 is a retelling of chapter 14 in 2 Kings; it's interesting to compare the two and see what a difference the author's personal bias can have in describing the same events.

At this time in the history of the Hebrew people, the original kingdom has been split into the much larger kingdom of Israel and the smaller kingdom of Judah. They are often in conflict, as they are here, and Amaziah, king of Israel, is attempting to make peace, saying to Joash, king of Judah, "Come, let us look one another in the face" (v. 17). But Joash does not trust Amaziah (with good reason—he has imported foreign gods into Israel) and replies in this passage. Amaziah is the 'thorn bush,' which is a pretty insulting description considering he ruled the larger kingdom. Judah is the cedar, and Judah is also the wild animal, which destroys the thorn bush just as Joash predicts Judah will do to Israel. (As it turns out, he's wrong, and Israel conquers Judah and trashes Jerusalem.)

Blessings!

Rev. Ed