Bible Strands
2 Kings 12:20
And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the violent end of King Joash of Judah, shifting from his official chronicle to the immediate aftermath of his assassination by his own staff.
The words — The Hebrew verbs וַיָּקֻמוּ (va.ya.ku.mu, "they arose") and וַיִּקְשְׁרוּ (va.yik.she.ru, "they conspired") frame the servants' coordinated rebellion, while בֵּית (beit, "house") in Beth-millo marks the specific location of the plot.
The thread — This assassination directly precedes 2 Kings 14:5, where Amaziah executes the very servants who killed his father, and echoes the use of Beth-millo as a political gathering site in Judges 9:6.
Why it lands — The text states the factual overthrow of a monarch by his own officials, demanding recognition that political continuity depends on covenant faithfulness rather than human loyalty.
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
And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 14:5 As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.
- 2 Chronicles 24:24 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.
- Judges 9:6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.
- 2 Samuel 5:9 So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.
- 1 Kings 11:27 and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
- 2 Chronicles 25:27 From the time that Amaziah turned from following the LORD, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there.
- 2 Chronicles 33:24 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed him in his palace.