He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
The verse belongs in the Old Testament reading block from 2 Chronicles 25 through Ezra 5, to be read with 2 Chronicles 26-27, which covers ground previously covered in Kings with fuller detail on the kings of Judah. It records King Amaziah's preparation for war against Edom, when he hired one hundred thousand mighty fighting men out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver. The one hundred talents paid for the hire is estimated at about $15,000.
The price paid did not justify keeping the hired troops after God's prophet warned that God was not with Israel, and Amaziah could trust that God was able to give him much more than the money he would lose. He gained the victory without Israel's army. Amaziah's course stands in direct contrast to Jehoshaphat's: he served God and welcomed a prophet's testimony when it pleased him, but when the prophet brought reproof for the course he was pursuing he resented it at once, drove the prophet from his counsel with a threat of punishment, and refused to listen, so God determined to destroy him.
After Judah defeated Edom, Amaziah turned to Edom's gods, though they had been unable to deliver their own people, and thereby incurred the Lord's anger. As history for today, the account warns a delivered people not to honor the powers or religious influences connected with those they overcame. The hiring warns against allying with people opposed to God in order to advance a cause called religious, since such an alliance does not make the cause righteous or in harmony with God. The remainder of the chapter is the history of many others who follow their own counsel instead of accepting the counsel of the Lord's prophet.
The verse belongs in the Old Testament reading block from 2 Chronicles 25 through Ezra 5, to be read with 2 Chronicles 26-27, which covers ground previously covered in Kings with fuller detail on the kings of Judah. It records King Amaziah's preparation for war against Edom, when he hired one hundred thousand mighty fighting men out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver. The one hundred talents paid for the hire is estimated at about $15,000.
The price paid did not justify keeping the hired troops after God's prophet warned that God was not with Israel, and Amaziah could trust that God was able to give him much more than the money he would lose. He gained the victory without Israel's army. Amaziah's course stands in direct contrast to Jehoshaphat's: he served God and welcomed a prophet's testimony when it pleased him, but when the prophet brought reproof for the course he was pursuing he resented it at once, drove the prophet from his counsel with a threat of punishment, and refused to listen, so God determined to destroy him.
After Judah defeated Edom, Amaziah turned to Edom's gods, though they had been unable to deliver their own people, and thereby incurred the Lord's anger. As history for today, the account warns a delivered people not to honor the powers or religious influences connected with those they overcame. The hiring warns against allying with people opposed to God in order to advance a cause called religious, since such an alliance does not make the cause righteous or in harmony with God. The remainder of the chapter is the history of many others who follow their own counsel instead of accepting the counsel of the Lord's prophet.