Amaziah אמציהו
king of Judah for twenty-nine years; defeated by Israel
Amaziah became king at twenty-five and reigned twenty-nine years. Having executed his father's murderers, he did not touch their children—according to the word of the Torah, "fathers shall not be put to death for children, nor children for fathers" (2 Kings 14:6). This is the first case in Kings where a monarch explicitly cites what is written in the Torah as a law limiting his own power.
He defeated the Edomites in the Valley of Salt, but brought back their gods and bowed to them; a prophet asked him: "Why have you sought the gods of a people who could not deliver their own from your hand?" After that he sent a challenge to Jehoash king of Israel. The answer was a parable of the thistle that sought the cedar's daughter. Judah was broken at Beth-Shemesh, the king taken captive, four hundred cubits of Jerusalem's wall pulled down, and the Temple and palace stripped. AM 3093–3122, approximate; academically 796–767 BCE.
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Tanakh
- Melachim II (2 Kings) 14:1–20 — the Torah's law on fathers and children, the war with Edom, and the defeat at Beth-Shemesh
- 2 Chronicles 25:14–16 — the gods of Edom brought into Judah and the prophet's words
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.