ch.14-15 Questions

פרק י"ד
14:1-22 Amatzia ben Yoash (מלך יהודה)
#5 Why is this the first act that we see from Amatzia?
#6 He doesn’t kill their children (why would he?) on the basis of the passuk in Devarim 24:16. Explain.
#7 The defeat of Edom. What was the political situation in Edom prior to this? See מל"ב ח:כ"ב

#8 "לכה ונתראה פנים" - What is the implication of this phrase? And thus, what is Amatzia’s message to Yoash, the king of the northern kingdom? See passuk 11-12
#9-10 Explain the mashal. What is the balance of strength between Yisrael and Yehuda at this time? (remember, Yoash melech Yehuda gave all his money to the king of Aram!)
#12-14 The war.

· How does Amatzia die?

Fill in extra information from Divrei Hayamim II ch.25
Do you see any background to the tension between Yisrael and Yehuda that might have lead to the civil war between them?
25:14 Amatzia gets involved in Avoda Zara after his war against Edom. See the response of the Navi.
25:17 See how the call to war against the northern kingdom was a “calculated move.”

מל"ב י"ד:כ"א-כ"ב
Who ascends the throne in Yehuda after Amatzia?
What is the significant detail mentioned here? What does this tell us?

י"ד:כ"ג-כ"ט- ירבעם בן יואש
#25 In the area of national security, what is Yerovam’s achievement?
Geographically locate the places and explain the significance of a border מלבוא חמת עד ים הערבה
· Which prophet prophesied about this?
· Why does God help the Jewish people at this point? – see 13:23 – and note the pattern that is being revealed in regard to Malchut Yisrael.

ט"ו:א-ז'
Back to Azaria.
#5 Azaria/Uzzia’s Tzara’at. See Divrei Hayamim for the full story of Uzzia’s reign. Study ch.26 in its entirety.
· How does Uzzia’s reign appear in terms of socioeconomics/national security. Note a parallel in this regard with the state of things in Yisrael at this time.
· What motive prompted Uzzia to enter the Temple and offer Ketoret? This is characterised as a sin. What sin?

The rest of Chapter 15
Chart the kings which are listed in this perek.
· Note the religious and political information which is included in connection with each king.
· How do these kings come to the throne? Look over the last few chapters here and remind yourselves how many kings have risen to leadership via political assassination. (This will be important as we read Hoshea and other Sefarim of the Trei Assar.
· Just to orientate ourselves at this point regarding Trei Assar, see the opening lines of the following Sefarim:
o ישעיהו
o הושע
o עמוס
o מיכה
Identify the periods in which each of them prophesised. We shall be reading these Nevi’im as a commentary to the period. (It is the Gemara in Pesachim פ"ז עמ' א and בבא בתרא י"ד עמ' ב which refer to these Neviim as בפרק אחד נתנבאו ארבאה נביאים .)
· As you read through the perek, jot down the names of the Assyrian (Ashur) leaders that attack Am Yisrael. This will come in useful so that we can identify a particular period not just by the kings of Yehuda/Yisrael, but by their Assyrian adversaries.