The Thistle and the Cedar
fable attributed to Jehoash King of Israel and recounted in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 14
The fable of the thistle and the cedar (or cypress) tree is a fable attributed to Jehoash King of Israel, and recounted in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 14:9–10.
Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us face one another in battle". And Jehoash 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 your daughter to my son as wife'; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?" But Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the reply to the challenge was given in a formal letter:
King Joash to King Amaziah [sends greeting]:
Once upon a time there was in Mount Lebanon a very tall cypress, and also there was a thistle. And the thistle sent to the cypress, saying, 'Contract thy daughter in marriage to my son'. And while this was transacting, a wild beast passed by and trod down the thistle.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Thistle and the Cedar” as fable attributed to Jehoash King of Israel and recounted in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 14. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as fable attributed to Jehoash King of Israel and recounted in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 14. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q56277569. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Thistle and the Cedar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.