Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.

2 CHRONICLES 25:10KJV
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2 Chronicles 25:10 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 25:10 mean?

2 Chronicles 25:10 describes King Amaziah dismissing soldiers he had hired from Ephraim instead of taking them into battle. The decision angered the soldiers so much that they went home furious with Judah, the kingdom Amaziah ruled.

The verse follows a warning to Amaziah not to take these troops with him. “To wit” means “that is”: the phrase identifies the army he sent away. Ephraim here stands for the northern kingdom of Israel, while Judah was the southern kingdom.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 25:10

  • “separated” — בָּדַל (badal): The word often means to divide or set apart. Here it describes Amaziah removing the Ephraimite troops from the force that would go to battle.
  • “kindled” — חָרָה (charah): The word can picture anger becoming hot or burning. The KJV’s “anger was greatly kindled” conveys the intensity of the soldiers’ reaction.

Why 2 Chronicles 25:10 matters

  • The troops’ anger becomes important to the story that follows. In verse 13, the dismissed soldiers raid towns of Judah while Amaziah is away fighting.
  • The dismissal also involved a financial loss for Amaziah. In verses 6 and 9, the account says he had paid the troops a hundred talents of silver and had asked what would happen to that payment.
  • The soldiers’ anger was directed beyond Amaziah himself. Verse 10 says their anger was kindled “against Judah,” the kingdom on whose behalf they had been hired.

Where else these words appear

“great” Hebrew H2750 · used in 6 verses

  • Exodus 11:8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.
  • Deuteronomy 29:24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
  • Isaiah 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

“army” Hebrew H1416 · used in 29 verses

  • Genesis 49:19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
  • 2 Kings 6:23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
  • 2 Chronicles 25:13 But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

“Amaziah” Hebrew H558 · used in 39 verses

  • 2 Kings 12:21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
  • 2 Kings 15:1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
  • 2 Chronicles 25:17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.

“separated” Hebrew H914 · used in 40 verses

  • Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
  • Numbers 8:14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.
  • Ezra 8:24 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,