Amariah

Biblical Record

The chief priest Amariah is named only once, in 2 Chronicles 19. After Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, returned from a war fought alongside Ahab, he was rebuked by the seer Jehu (2 Chronicles 19:1-3). Jehoshaphat then went out among the people and brought them back to God. He also appointed judges in each of the fortified cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 19:4-7). In Jerusalem he appointed Levites, priests, and heads of the fathers' houses of Israel "for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies" among the people (2 Chronicles 19:8).

The king then divided these responsibilities in two. The chief priest Amariah was to preside over "all matters of the LORD," while Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, "the ruler of the house of Judah," was to preside over "all the king's matters." The Levites were to serve as officers before them (2 Chronicles 19:11). Beyond this, Scripture records nothing about Amariah's life or deeds.

Significance in the Bible

Amariah appears as part of Jehoshaphat's judicial and religious reforms. His appointment is understood as a measure that placed matters of the law and of worship under the responsibility of the priestly line. The New Testament makes no mention of him.

The Hebrew name is understood to mean "the LORD has spoken." Several other people in the Bible bear the same name, but they are distinct from the subject of this article:

• A Levite of the sons of Hebron (1 Chronicles 23:19; 24:23)
• A Levite who served in the cities of the priests in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:15)
• Various figures of the postexilic period (Ezra 10:42; Nehemiah 10:3; 11:4; 12:2)
• The great-grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah (Zephaniah 1:1)

Interpretation and Debate

The high-priestly genealogy in 1 Chronicles 6 lists an Amariah son of Azariah (1 Chronicles 6:11). Some commentators identify him with the chief priest of Jehoshaphat's time. However, this genealogy is unlikely to be a complete list of every high priest, and it also includes an earlier Amariah (1 Chronicles 6:7). The two therefore cannot be identified with certainty. For the same reason, the identity of the Amariah in the ancestry of Ezra (Ezra 7:3) is likewise uncertain.

Interpretations differ regarding the passage that distinguishes "matters of the LORD" from "the king's matters." Some regard it as an example of distinguishing the religious sphere from the civil sphere and draw on it in discussions of the relationship between church and politics. Others hold that it was merely a division of administrative duties under the monarchy and that the modern concept of the separation of church and state cannot simply be read into it.

In the Korean Church

Amariah is rarely the subject of a sermon in his own right. He is generally mentioned only in passing when preachers treat Jehoshaphat's reforms or the passage on the appointment of judges (2 Chronicles 19).