Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 25:14
When Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the Seirites, set them up as his own gods, bowed before them, and burned sacrifices to them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes King Amaziah’s actions immediately after returning from his campaign against the Edomites, prior to the Lord’s anger and the prophet’s rebuke.
The words — אַחֲרֵ֨י ('a.cha.Rei) = after, marking the exact moment Amaziah shifted from military victory to adopting foreign worship.
The thread — The account directly violates the command in Exodus 20:3 to have no other gods, ignores Deuteronomy 7:5’s instruction to destroy foreign altars, and mirrors the later pattern in 2 Chronicles 28:23 where a king sacrifices to the gods of his conquerors.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that covenant faithfulness requires rejecting foreign deities, and that adopting them provokes immediate divine judgment regardless of prior military success.
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
King James Version
Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 28:23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.
- Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- Deuteronomy 7:25 You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.
- 2 Samuel 5:21 There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away.
- Isaiah 44:19 And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”