2 Chronicles 25:10

So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. And they were furious with Judah and returned home in great anger.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Amaziah commands the Ephraimite mercenaries he hired to return home after the prophet rebukes him for paying them. The dismissed troops turn their anger against Judah as they depart for their own territory.

The words — The verb וַיַּבְדִּלֵם (va/yavdillem) literally means "and he separated them," marking the formal dismissal of the hired force. The noun גְּדוּד (gedud) refers to the specific "troop[s]" or military band that had come to him from Ephraim.

The thread — This rupture between Judah and Ephraim echoes the tribal fractures in 2 Samuel 19:43 and 1 Kings 12:24, where shared political claims and divine warnings fail to prevent mutual hostility. The resulting bitterness also illustrates the principle in Proverbs 29:22 that an angry man stirs up dissension.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that obedience to prophetic correction requires immediate compliance, not partial retention. It confronts the reader with the practical cost of ignoring divine instruction when loyalty is divided.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיַּבְדִּילֵ֣םva/i.yav.di.Le/mand/ he separated/ them אֲמַצְיָ֗הוּ'a.matz.Ya.huAmaziah לְהַגְּדוּד֙le./ha./ge.Dud<to>/ the/ troop[s]אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which בָּ֤אba'it had come אֵלָיו֙'e.La/vto/ him מֵֽאֶפְרַ֔יִםme./'ef.Ra.yimfrom/ Ephraim לָלֶ֖כֶתla./Le.khetto/ go לִמְקוֹמָ֑םli/m.ko.Ma/mto/ place/ their וַיִּ֨חַרva/i.Yi.charand/ it burned אַפָּ֤ם'a.Pa/manger/ their מְאֹד֙me.'Odexceedingly בִּֽיהוּדָ֔הbi./hu.Dahon/ Judah וַיָּשׁ֥וּבוּva/i.ya.Shu.vuand/ they returned לִמְקוֹמָ֖םli/m.ko.Ma/mto/ place/ their בָּחֳרִי־bo./cho.ri-in/ [the] heat of אָֽף׃ פ'Afanger

King James Version

Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.

Cross-references

2 Samuel 19:43 “We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?” But the men of Judah spoke more fiercely than the men of Israel.
1 Kings 12:24 that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.
Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.

People named

Amaziah