Bible Strands
2 Kings 14:3
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. He did everything as his father Joash had done.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the accession details of King Amaziah of Judah, placing this religious assessment at the beginning of his twenty-nine-year reign. The statement functions as an official royal evaluation before the text details his subsequent military campaigns and religious compromises.
The words — The phrase הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה (ha-yashar be-enei Yahweh) literally renders "the right in the eyes of Yahweh," a fixed idiom for divine favor. The adversative particle רַק (rak) immediately qualifies the praise, translating to "only" or "however," which restricts the scope of that approval.
The thread — This qualified endorsement appears in 2 Chronicles 25:2, which specifies Amaziah's actions were "not wholehearted," and in 1 Kings 15:3, which notes Abijam's heart was "not fully devoted to the LORD." The pattern consistently tracks Judean monarchs who maintain external worship without achieving the covenant standard of David.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to distinguish between nominal obedience and complete covenant fidelity. It establishes that partial religious compliance, however commendable, remains insufficient against the standard of wholehearted devotion.
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 he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 25:2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.
- 1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
- 1 Kings 15:3 And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been.
- 2 Kings 12:2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.
- 2 Chronicles 24:2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
- 2 Chronicles 24:17 After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
- Zechariah 1:4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.
- 1 Peter 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,