King Jehoash of Israel reacts with the telling of a fable (compare Judges 9:8–18). Perhaps Amaziah had become overconfident after his victory over Edom and according to Jehoash that was surely the case (see 2 Kings 14:10). But Jehoash, too, is certainly not modest, as he compares himself to a cedar; after all, something is requested from the cedar as Amaziah requests something from Jehoash. The thistle Amaziah is being trampled by wild beasts (these could be the armies of Israel).
9 And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.