Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 13
When David counted Israel’s soldiers, 800,000 men in northern and central Israel were able to fight with a sword (2 Samuel 24:9). Now, about two centuries later, Jehoahaz only counted 10,000 men in his army.
Horses and chariots – the simple vehicles that horses pulled – were important in ancient wars (Job 39:19-25; Psalm 20:7). It was a very weak and poor army that could only send 50 horses and 10 chariots into battle. So, at the time of Jehoahaz, northern and central Israel only just managed to exist as a nation. Another defeat in battle would have destroyed both the army and the nation.
That was the result of the actions of Hazael, the powerful and cruel king of Aram (8:12). After Hazael’s death, his son Ben-Hadad continued to act as he had done.
The author uses a powerful word-picture to explain what happened to Israel’s army. After the harvest of grain, the farmer prepared the grain in order to store it. This was called threshing. He first drove his strong farm animals over the grain, and they pulled a heavy board over it. The purpose was to separate the wheat from other dried plant material. He then threw the mixture of wheat and other material into the air. The wheat fell to the ground; the other materials would blow away in vast clouds like dust (Psalm 1:4). That was like what the king of Aram did to Israel’s army. He destroyed it. The men that he did not kill, he scattered like dust. In other words, they had to escape from Israel.
In the end, Jehoahaz was so desperate that he turned to God in prayer. As we have seen, God heard his prayer. He rescued northern and central Israel from the power of Aram (13:4-5).
Next part: A great leader whose nation became very weak (2 Kings 13:8-9)
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© 2025, Keith Simons.