And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. (2 Kings 14:9)
The king of Israel replied by sending a message expressing his disdain for the king of Judah. Had Amaziah been successful against Edom? Jehoash had also been successful against the much stronger kingdom of Syria. His retort was that of a superior gentleman who considers it an insult to receive a challenge from so unworthy a foe. The cedar was the largest, strongest, most majestic tree of Palestine. The thistle was a lowly, useless, contemptible shrub that one would crush underfoot.
Give thy daughter.
Jehoshaphat had entered into an alliance with Ahab. The arrangement was sealed by the marriage of Ahab’s daughter Athaliah to Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram (1 Kings 22:44; 2 Kings 8:18, 26; 2 Chron. 18:1). The royal families further indicated their friendship for each other by giving their children the same names, Jehoram and Ahaziah in Judah, and Ahaziah and Jehoram in Israel. The king of Israel, whom Amaziah was now challenging to battle, bore the same name as Amaziah’s father, Jehoash, suggesting a continued period of friendship between the two nations. It is entirely possible that Amaziah had made overtures to Jehoash about a formal alliance to be sealed by the marriage of the daughter of Jehoash to the son of Amaziah. If so, Jehoash was now taunting Amaziah about the overture.