Amaziah
The name Amaziah belongs to four men in the UPDV: a Levite in the line of Ethan, the father of Joshah among the sons of Simeon, the priest who confronts Amos at Beth-el, and — most prominently — the eighth king of Judah, whose reign begins in obedience and ends in idolatry, defeat, and assassination.
Amaziah King of Judah
Amaziah son of Joash takes the throne of Judah at twenty-five and reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; his mother is Jehoaddin of Jerusalem (2Ki 14:1). The Kings narrative gives a measured verdict — "he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not like David his father: he did according to all that Joash his father had done" (2Ki 14:1). Chronicles sharpens it: "he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, but not with a perfect heart" (2Ch 25:2). His first act once power is secured is to execute the courtiers who had murdered his father, but he refuses to extend the killing to their children, "according to that which is written in the Book of the Law of Moses" (2Ki 14:6).
The Edomite Campaign
Amaziah musters Judah and Benjamin from twenty years old and upward — three hundred thousand "chosen men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield" (2Ch 25:5) — and hires another hundred thousand mercenaries from Israel for a hundred talents of silver (2Ch 25:6). A man of God forbids it: "O king, don't let the army of Israel go with you; for Yahweh is not with Israel" (2Ch 25:7). When Amaziah protests the loss of his hundred talents, the answer is plain — "Yahweh is able to give you much more than this" (2Ch 25:9). The promise comes with a charge: "if you will go, do [valiantly], be strong for the battle: God will cast you down before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to cast down" (2Ch 25:8). Amaziah dismisses the Israelite army home — "their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger" (2Ch 25:10) — and in the Valley of Salt slaughters ten thousand of Edom and takes Sela by war, renaming it Joktheel (2Ki 14:1).
Idolatry After Victory
The turn comes, in Chronicles, at the moment of triumph. "After that Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense to them" (2Ch 25:14). A prophet is sent with the question that names the absurdity: "Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which haven't delivered their own people out of your hand?" (2Ch 25:15). The king cuts him off — "Have we made you of the king's counsel? Forbear; why should you be struck?" — and the prophet withdraws with a sentence: "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and haven't listened to my counsel" (2Ch 25:16).
The Challenge to Jehoash
Flush with the Edomite victory, Amaziah sends to Jehoash king of Israel: "Come, let us look one another in the face" (2Ki 14:8; 2Ch 25:17). Jehoash answers with a parable: "The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle" (2Ki 14:9). The warning that follows is direct — "You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up: glory of it, and remain at home; for why should you meddle to [your] hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?" (2Ki 14:10).
Defeat at Beth-shemesh
Amaziah will not hear, and the two kings meet at Beth-shemesh. "Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits" (2Ki 14:13). The Chronicler adds the looting: "[he took] all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria" (2Ch 25:24). Amaziah lives fifteen years past Jehoash (2Ki 14:1).
Conspiracy at Lachish
The end comes exactly where the earlier obedience had begun to slip. "Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there" (2Ch 25:27; cf. 2Ki 14:19). His body is brought back on horses and buried with his fathers in the city of David, and the people of Judah make his sixteen-year-old son Azariah king in his place (2Ki 14:1, 21).
Amaziah Priest of Beth-el
A separate Amaziah serves as priest at Beth-el under Jeroboam II and sends word against the prophet Amos: "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos says, Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely be led away captive out of his land" (Am 7:10-11). To Amos himself he says, "O you seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there: but don't prophesy again anymore at Beth-el; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house" (Am 7:12-13). Amos answers that he is no professional prophet — "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees: and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel" (Am 7:14-15) — and delivers Yahweh's word against Amaziah personally: "Your wife will whore in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided by line; and you yourself will die in a land that is unclean, and Israel will surely be led away captive out of his land" (Am 7:17).
Two Lesser Amaziahs
Two other men carry the name. In the Levitical genealogies, an Amaziah stands in the line of Ethan the singer: "the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah" (1Ch 6:45). Among the sons of Simeon, an Amaziah is named as the father of Joshah, one of the chiefs who go to seek pasture for their flocks: "Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah" (1Ch 4:34).