This verse highlights the respect given to Amaziah in death and points to God’s ongoing promise to preserve the line of David.
Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. (v.20)
In this verse, King Amaziah’s life on earth comes to a close as he is brought back to Jerusalem and laid to rest. The text says, “They brought him on horses,” indicating both urgency and the king’s dignity even after death. Amaziah was the son of Joash, and he ruled over Judah from around 796 BC to 767 BC. His reign, while filled with moments of both faithfulness and failures, came to a tragic end when he was conspired against and killed. Nevertheless, he was returned and honored with a royal burial among his forefathers.
The Scripture then notes, “he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.” Jerusalem was captured by King David around 1000 BC and was thereafter sometimes called the city of David, since it became the prized capital of David’s kingdom. It was originally known as Jebus, inhabited by the Jebusites, but after David took it, the city became the spiritual and political heart of Judah. This tradition of burying kings in Jerusalem placed them alongside their royal ancestors and underscored the sacred legacy that connected each leader to David’s original covenant with God. It also set a perpetual reminder of God’s promise that from David’s line would come a worldwide blessing through the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
Like many of the Judean kings, Amaziah’s story helps us see that earthly leadership, no matter how strong, bows to the sovereign hand of God. Even when they faltered, the kings of Judah were still recipients of the promise that He would preserve a line to raise up His ultimate King, Jesus, in the fullness of time (Luke 1:32-33). That sense of continuity is reflected in the solemn reverence of Amaziah’s burial in the same royal collective tombs where David and his line were interred.
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2 Kings 14:20 meaning
Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. (v.20)
In this verse, King Amaziah’s life on earth comes to a close as he is brought back to Jerusalem and laid to rest. The text says, “They brought him on horses,” indicating both urgency and the king’s dignity even after death. Amaziah was the son of Joash, and he ruled over Judah from around 796 BC to 767 BC. His reign, while filled with moments of both faithfulness and failures, came to a tragic end when he was conspired against and killed. Nevertheless, he was returned and honored with a royal burial among his forefathers.
The Scripture then notes, “he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.” Jerusalem was captured by King David around 1000 BC and was thereafter sometimes called the city of David, since it became the prized capital of David’s kingdom. It was originally known as Jebus, inhabited by the Jebusites, but after David took it, the city became the spiritual and political heart of Judah. This tradition of burying kings in Jerusalem placed them alongside their royal ancestors and underscored the sacred legacy that connected each leader to David’s original covenant with God. It also set a perpetual reminder of God’s promise that from David’s line would come a worldwide blessing through the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
Like many of the Judean kings, Amaziah’s story helps us see that earthly leadership, no matter how strong, bows to the sovereign hand of God. Even when they faltered, the kings of Judah were still recipients of the promise that He would preserve a line to raise up His ultimate King, Jesus, in the fullness of time (Luke 1:32-33). That sense of continuity is reflected in the solemn reverence of Amaziah’s burial in the same royal collective tombs where David and his line were interred.