Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 25:6
He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver.
Out of Israel; out of the kingdom of the ten tribes.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. He hired also an hundred thousandmighty men of valour . . . for an hundred talents of silverThissum was paid into the treasury of Jehoahaznot given as bounty tothe mercenaries who were obliged to serve at the sovereign’s call;their remuneration consisting only in the booty they might obtain. Itwas about 50,000 sterling, being 10s. per man, includingofficersa very paltry pay, compared with the bounty given for asoldier in this country. But it must be remembered that in ancienttimes campaigns were short and the hazards of the servicecomparatively small.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel,…. The ten tribes, judging his own army not sufficient for his expedition against the Edomites he was meditating:
for one hundred talents of silver; which amounted to 35,300 pounds sterling, and according to Beckius e were about five florins and a half to each soldier.
e Not. in Targum in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Amaziah Goes to War, 2Ch 25:6-16
2Ki 14:7 (; comments above) is the only record in that book of Amaziah’s war with Edom. Considerably more detail is found here in the Chronicles account. It is apparent that Amaziah conscripted the men of Judah and Benjamin for the purpose of going to war with Edom: However, he does not seem to have felt that he yet had sufficient men for success, so hired a mercenary force from the northern kingdom of Israel, numbering 100,000. For their service Amaziah paid 100,000 talents of silver, or about $2,184,000 in today’s valuation.
God sent a prophet to accost the king for hiring these men from the ungodly northern kingdom. He was told that he could not expect to succeed with men who had renounced God and treated lightly His blessings. In fact, Amaziah was warned to be prepared for defeat by the Edomites if he persisted in carrying the Israelites from the north. Amaziah protested concerning the huge sum he had expended to hire them, and was informed by the prophet that God is able to provide much more than the lost silver in blessings for their obedience (cf. De 8:18). So the king was persuaded to separate the mercenaries from his army, and they returned to their homes in great anger.
So Amaziah rallied his men and led them to battle against Edom. The battle occurred in the valley of salt, immediately south of the Dead Sea, and ten thousand Edomites perished in the battle. Ten thousand more were captured and slaughtered in a horrible manner, thrown from the top of a lofty rock to fall crushed and mangled at its foot. So God did allow Amaziah a great victory, and the decimation of the men would make Edom unable to revolt against Judah for some time to come. Actually this was an attempted reconquest of the nation which had been subject to Judah at an earlier time, but was lost to them in the wicked reign of Jehoram, after which they never again were wholly subject to Judah 2Ch 21:8-10.
The men of Israel, whom Amaziah sent homeward, thus denying them the spoil of battle which they desired, took their spoils from the cities of Judah on their return through them to Samaria. Three thousand were smitten, and much spoil taken from them, an act which would precipitate war eventually.
Meanwhile Amaziah was engaged in a very stupid and foolish act. He had captured the Edomite gods, and instead of destroying them as David would have done (2Sa 5:21), he brought them home to Jerusalem with him, set them up, and bowed himself in worship to them. God sent His prophet again, who chided him for worshipping the gods whose people he had shortly defeated. If they could not help the Edomites, their people, how amazing that Amaziah should think they could help him! But King Amaziah interrupted the prophet, demanding to know who had made him one of the king’s counselors. He was threatened with death if he persisted in lecturing the king.
So the prophet desisted from his preaching to the king, for his heart was not right with God, and he refused to hear. The prophet gave him a final warning. God had now determined to destroy King Amaziah because 1) he had turned to the false gods of Edom; 2) he rejected the Lord’s counsel through His prophet (cf. Jer 6:10).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(6) He hired also . . . out of Israeli.e., from the northern kingdom. The number has probably suffered in transmission. Thenius pronounces the fact historical, although not recorded in Kings.
An hundred talents of silver.Worth about 40,000 of our money, reckoning 400 to the talent. What such a sum would represent in the days of Amaziah cannot be determined with certainty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
See, Reader, how prone man is to look to an arm of flesh, to anything, rather than the Lord. And spiritually considered, doth not the believer do this when not living wholly upon Jesus?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 25:6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
Ver. 6. For a hundred talents of silver. ] This was no great hire, but the hope of spoil put them on; as it did likewise those thirteen thousand soldiers of Germany, almost all Lutherans, led by George Fransperg – a general in the imperial army under conduct of Charles Burbon, that sacked Rome in the time of Pope Clement VII – with no other pay but of one crown apiece of his own goods, and promise to lead them to Rome, where they should meet with good booty. a
a Hist. of Counc. of Trent, 43.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
an hundred talents of silver: Estimating the shekel at 2s. 6d., and the talent, being 3,000 shekels – see Exo 38:25, Exo 38:26, at 375, one hundred talents would amount to 37,500.; which, divided among 100,000 men, quotes only 7s. 6d.; hence we may suppose, that this was only an earnest of their pay, or that they expected to be enriched by the plunder of the Edomites.
Reciprocal: 1Ch 19:6 – a thousand
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 25:6. He hired a hundred thousand men out of Israel Out of the kingdom of the ten tribes. If he had advised with any of his prophets before he did this, or had but considered how little any of his ancestors had got by their alliances with Israel, he would not have thus done what he had soon to undo again. But rashness makes work for repentance.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
25:6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour {d} out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
(d) That is, out of the ten tribes who had separated themselves before both from God and their true king.