You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in your victory, but stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?' — Joash's counsel, though mocking, contains genuine wisdom and a plea for restraint. He acknowledges Amaziah's Edomite success but warns that *pride* (הִגְדִּיל לִבְּךָ, *higdil libbekha*, "your heart has exalted itself") leads to ruin. The appeal to "stay at home" echoes the wisdom tradition's teaching on prudence. Yet Joash's words are unheeded, as they must be, for the narrative requires Amaziah's downfall to demonstrate the theological principle that pride *necessarily* precedes destruction.

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