Difference between revisions of "Ahaziah"

<p> ("whom [[Jehovah]] holds".) </p> <p> '''1.''' Son of [[Ahab]] and Jezebel; king of Israel; a worshipper of Jeroboam's calves, and of his mother's idols, [[Baal]] and Ashtoreth. After the [[Israelite]] defeat at [[Ramoth]] Gilead. [[Syria]] was master of the region E. of Jordan; so [[Moab]] (&nbsp;2 Kings 1:1; &nbsp;2 Kings 3:5), heretofore tributary to Israel, refused the yearly tribute of 100,000 rams with their wool, and 100,000 lambs (&nbsp;2 Samuel 8:2; &nbsp;Isaiah 16:1; &nbsp;2 Kings 3:4). [[Ahaziah]] was prevented by a fall through a lattice in his palace at [[Samaria]] from enforcing it; but [[Jehoram]] his brother subsequently attempted it. Ahaziah sent to [[Baalzebub]] (lord of flies), god of Ekron, to inquire, should he recover? Elijah, by direction of the angel of the Lord, met the messengers, and reproving their having repaired to the idol of [[Ekron]] as if there were no God in Israel, announced that Ahaziah should die. The king sent a captain of 50 and his men to take Elijah. At Elijah's word they were consumed by fire. The same death consumed a second captain and his 50. </p> <p> The third was spared on his supplicating Elijah. [[Elijah]] then in person announced to the king what he had already declared to his messenger. </p> <p> So accordingly Ahaziah died. He was in alliance with [[Jehoshaphat]] in building ships at Ezion [[Geber]] to go to Tarshish; but the ships were wrecked, the Lord, as He intimated by [[Eliezer]] son of [[Dodavah]] of Mareshah, thereby manifesting disapproval of the alliance of the godly, with Ahaziah "who did very wickedly. Jehoshaphat therefore, when he built a new fleet of merchant ships (as the phrase "ships of Tarshish" means; the other reading is "had ten ships"), in which undertaking Ahaziah wanted to share, declined further alliance; bitter experience taught him the danger of evil communications (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:33). Let parents and young people beware of affinity with the ungodly, however rich and great (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 6:14, etc.). </p> <p> '''2.''' [[Nephew]] of the former. At first viceroy during his father's sickness, then king of Judah, son of Jehoram of [[Judah]] and Athaliah, Ahab's cruel daughter (&nbsp;2 Kings 9:29, compare &nbsp;2 Kings 8:25). </p> <p> Called [[Jehoahaz]] (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:17-19). [[Azariah]] ("whom Jehovah helps," substantially equivalent to Ahaziah or Jehoahaz by transposition, a name sadly at variance with his character), in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:6, may be a transcriber's error for Ahaziah. In &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2, for 42 there should be, as in &nbsp;2 Kings 8:26, "twenty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign," for his father Jehoram was only 40 when he died (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:20). </p> <p> Ahaziah walked in all the idolatries of Ahab his maternal grandfather, his mother being his counselor to do wickedly. He allied himself with Jehoram of Israel, brother of the former Ahaziah (in spite of the warning God gave him in the fatal issue of the alliance of godly Jehoshaphat, his paternal grandfather, with wicked Ahab), against [[Hazael]] of Syria at Ramoth Gilead. Jehoram was wounded, and Ahaziah went to see him at Jezreel. There his destruction from God ensued by Jehu, who conspired against Joram. Akin to Ahab in character, as in blood, he might have overspread Judah with the same idolatry as Israel, but for God's intervention. </p> <p> Fleeing by the garden house, he was smitten in his chariot at the going up to Gur by Ibleam, and he fled to [[Megiddo]] and died there. </p> <p> God's people must separate from the world, lest they share the world's judgments (&nbsp;Revelation 18:4). In &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:9 we read Ahaziah was hid in Samaria, brought to Jehu, and slain. The two accounts harmonize thus. Ahaziah fled first to the garden house (Bethgan), and escaped to Samaria where were his brethren; thence brought forth from his hiding place to Jehu, he was mortally wounded in his chariot at the hill Gut beside Iblcam, and reaching Megiddo died there. [[Jehu]] allowed Ahaziah's attendants to bury him honorably in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David, "because, said they, he is the son grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart." [[Otherwise]] "in Samaria" may mean "in the kingdom of Samaria," or &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:9 may mean merely, he attempted to hide in Samaria, but did not reach it. The recurrence of the same names [[Joram]] and Ahaziah in both the dynasties of [[Israel]] and Judah is a delicate mark of truth, it being the natural result of the intermarriages. </p>

<p> '''Ahazi'ah.''' (sustained by the Lord). </p> <p> 1. Son of Ahab and Jezebel, eighth king of Israel, reigned B.C. 896-895. After the battle of Ramoth in Gilead, in which Ahab perished, see '''Ahab''' , the vassal king of Moab refused his yearly tribute; compare &nbsp;Isaiah 16:1. </p> <p> Before Ahaziah could take measures for enforcing his claim, he was seriously injured by a fall through a lattice in his palace at Samaria. Being an idolater, he sent to inquire of the oracle of Baalzebub in the [[Philistine]] city of Ekron whether he should recover his health. </p> <p> But Elijah, who now, for the last time, exercised the prophetic office, rebuked him for this impiety, and announced to him his approaching death. The only other recorded transaction of his reign, his endeavor to join the king of Judah in trading to Ophir, is related under '''Jehoshaphat''' . &nbsp;1 Kings 22:49-53; &nbsp;2 Kings 1:1; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35-37. </p> <p> 2. Fifth king of Judah, son of Jehoram and [[Athaliah]] (daughter of Ahab), and therefore, nephew of the preceding Ahaziah, reigned one year, B.C. 884. He is called '''Azariah''' , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2, probably by a copyist's error, and '''Jehoahaz''' . &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:17. </p> <p> He was 22 years old at his accession; &nbsp;2 Kings 8:26; (his age 42, in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2, is a copyist's error). Ahaziah was an idolater, and he allied himself with his uncle Jehoram, king of Israel, against Hazael, the new king of Syria. The two kings were, however, defeated at Ramoth, where Jehoram was severely wounded. </p> <p> The revolution, carried out in Israel by Jehu under the guidance of Elisha, broke out while Ahaziah was visiting his uncle at Jezreel. As Jehu approached the town, Jehoram and Ahaziah went out to meet him; the former was shot through the heart by Jehu, and Ahaziah was pursued and mortally wounded. He died when he reached Megiddo. </p>

<p> Israel and Judah, the northern and southern parts of the divided Israelite kingdom, each had a king named Ahaziah. Ahaziah of Israel was the son of Ahab and Jezebel, and during his brief two-year reign (853-852 BC) he continued to promote his parents’ Baal worship (&nbsp;1 Kings 22:51-53). When the godly King Jehoshaphat of Judah cooperated with the ungodly Ahaziah in establishing a shipping fleet, God wrecked the ships. It impressed upon Jehoshaphat that God did not want him to have any close association with Ahaziah (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35-37). After an accident, Ahaziah sought help from Baal gods, but Elijah stopped him. Ahaziah then plotted to kill Elijah, but his plans ended in his own death (&nbsp;2 Kings 1:1-16). </p> <p> After Ahaziah’s death, his brother Jehoram (or Joram) became king of Israel (&nbsp;2 Kings 1:17). Their sister Athaliah had married the Judean king (Jehoshaphat’s son), whose name also was Jehoram. Through the Judean Jehoram and his wife Athaliah, the [[Baalism]] of Ahab and Jezebel spread to Judah. When Jehoram of Judah died, his son Ahaziah came to the throne (840 BC; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:1; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:5-6; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:1-2). Being very much under the influence of his mother, Ahaziah promoted Baal worship in Judah (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:3-4). However, he was killed after reigning only one year (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2). He had gone to visit his uncle, Jehoram of Israel, who had been wounded in battle, and got caught in Jehu’s anti-Baal revolution (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:5-9; cf. &nbsp;2 Kings 9:16-28). </p>

<p> '''Ahaziah''' (â-ha-zî'ah). whom Jehovah holds. 1. The eighth king of Israel; he was the son and successor of Ahab. He reigned two years, alone and with his father, who associated him in the kingdom the year before his death. In the second year of his reign he fell through the lattice of an upper apartment of his palace, and died soon after, as Elijah had foretold, b.c. 895. Ahaziah imitated the impiety of his father and mother in the worship of Baal and Ashteroth. &nbsp;1 Kings 22:40-51; &nbsp;2 Kings 1:1-18; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:37. 2. The sixth king of Judah; he succeeded his father, and reigned only one year. &nbsp;2 Kings 8:26. In &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2, he is said, by an error of the scribes, to have been "forty-two years old" when he began to reign, which would make him two years older than his father. The correct age is "twenty-two," as stated in &nbsp;2 Kings 8:16-26. Ahaziah was governed by his idolatrous mother Athaliah; he received his mortal wound by the command of Jehu, and died at Megiddo, b.c. 883. &nbsp;2 Kings 9:27. In &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:9, the circumstances of the death of Ahaziah appear to be stated differently: but the account is only more full, and.follows the order of events. Ahaziah is also called "Jehoahaz," &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:17; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 25:23; and "Azariah," &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:6. </p>

<ul> <li> The son and successor of Ahab. He followed the counsels of his mother Jezebel, and imitated in wickedness the ways of his father. In his reign the Moabites revolted from under his authority (2Kings 3:5-7). He united with Jehoshaphat in an attempt to revive maritime trade by the Red Sea, which proved a failure (2Chronicles 20:35-37). His messengers, sent to consult the god of Ekron regarding his recovery from the effects of a fall from the roof-gallery of his palace, were met on the way by Elijah, who sent them back to tell the king that he would never rise from his bed (1Kings 22:51; &nbsp;2 Kings 1:18 ). </li> <li> The son of Joram, or Jehoram, and sixth king of Judah. Called Jehoahaz (2Chronicles 21:17; 25:23), and Azariah (2Chronicles 22:6). Guided by his idolatrous mother Athaliah, his reign was disastrous (2Kings 8:24-29; 9:29). He joined his uncle Jehoram, king of Israel, in an expedition against Hazael, king of Damascus; but was wounded at the pass of Gur when attempting to escape, and had strength only to reach Megiddo, where he died (2Kings 9:22-28). He reigned only one year. </li> </ul>

<p> '''''ā''''' -'''''ha''''' -'''''zı̄´a''''' ( אחזיה , <i> ''''''aḥazyāh''''' </i> and אחזיהוּ , <i> ''''''ăḥazyāhū''''' </i> , "Yah holds, or sustains"): </p> I. Ahaziah <p> Son of Ahab and Jezebel, eighth king of Israel (1 Ki 22:51 through 2 Ki 1:18). </p> <p> 1. His [[Reign]] </p> <p> Ahaziah became king over Israel in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned two years, 854-853 bc. There is, here an incongruity between the synchronism and the length of the reigns of the kings. Jehoshaphat began to reign in the fourth year of Ahab (&nbsp;1 Kings 22:41 ), and he reigned 22 years (&nbsp;1 Kings 16:29 ). Accordingly Ahaziah's first year, in the twenty-second year of Ahab, would fall in the nineteenth year of Jehoshaphat. The chronological statement in &nbsp;2 Kings 1:17 is probably taken from the Syriac, and both are in harmony wrath a method of computation followed by certain Greek manuscripts. </p> <p> 2. His Character </p> <p> A good name does not insure a good character. Ahaziah, the "God-sustained," served Baal and worshipped him, and provoked to anger Yahweh, the God of Israel, Just as his father before him had done. He appears to have been weak and unfortunate, and calamities in quick succession pursued him. </p> <p> 3. The [[Revolt]] of Moab </p> <p> Ahab had sought the good and became an enemy to the best. His house and the nation suffered the consequences. "Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab." Ahaziah appears to have been too weak to offer resistance. The [[Moabite]] Stone dates the revolt in the days of Ahab. No doubt it began at the time of Ahab's last campaign against Syria. </p> <p> 4. His Maritime [[Alliance]] </p> <p> According to &nbsp;1 Kings 22:48 f Ahaziah attempted to form an alliance with Jehoshaphat of Judah to revive the ancient maritime traffic, but failed. According to &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 20:35-37 the alliance was consummated, in consequence of which the enterprise came to nothing. See [[Jehoshaphat]] . </p> <p> 5. His [[Sickness]] and Death </p> <p> Ahaziah suffered a severe accident by falling through the lattice in his upper apartment in Samaria, and lay sick. As a worthy son of Jezebel and Ahab, he sent messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, regarding his recovery. But Israel belonged to Yahweh. Accordingly the messengers were met by the prophet Elijah who for the last time warns against the corrupting moral influences of the Baal religion. "Thus saith Yahweh, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?' Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die" was the message which he sent back to the embassy, and the death of the king speedily followed. </p> II. Ahaziah <p> Sixth king of Judah (&nbsp;2 Kings 8:25-29; &nbsp;2 Kings 9:16 f = &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 22:1-9 ); also written Jehoahaz (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:17; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 25:23 ), which is merely a transposition of the component parts of the compound. The form "Azariah" (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:6 ) is an error, fifteen [[Hebrew]] manuscripts and all the versions reading Ahaziah. </p> <p> 1. His Brief Reign </p> <p> Ahaziah, youngest son of Jehoram, began to reign in the twelfth year (&nbsp;2 Kings 8:25 ) of Jehoram of Israel. In &nbsp;2 Kings 9:29 it is stated as the eleventh. The former is probably the Hebrew, the latter the Greek method of computation, the [[Septuagint]] Luc also reading eleventh in &nbsp; 2 Kings 8:25 . He was 22 years old when he began to reign and he reigned one year (&nbsp;2 Kings 8:26 ). The reading "forty two" (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2 ) is a scribal error, since according to &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:5 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:20 Jehoram the father was only 40 years old at the time of his death. Syriac, Arabic and Luc read 22, Septuagint Codex Vaticanus 20. See [[Chronology Of The Old Testament]] . </p> <p> 2. His Character </p> <p> (Compare &nbsp;2 Kings 8:27; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:3 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:4 .) In view of the disaster which befell the royal house (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:16 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:17 ), the inhabitants of [[Jerusalem]] placed Ahaziah the youngest son upon the throne. That "he walked in the way of the house of Ahab" is exemplified by Chronicles to the effect that his mother, the daughter of Jezebel, counseled him in the ways of wickedness and that the house of Ahab led him to his destruction. The influence of Jezebel was at work in Judah. Ahaziah dedicated "hallowed things" to Yahweh (&nbsp;2 Kings 12:18 ), but he did evil in Yahweh's eyes. </p> <p> 3. His Alliance with Jehoram of Israel </p> <p> (Compare &nbsp;2 Kings 8:28 , &nbsp;2 Kings 8:29; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:5 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:6 .) Ahaziah cultivated the relations which had been established between the two kingdoms by Ahab. Accordingly he joined his uncle Jehoram of Israel in an expedition against Hazael, king of Syria. Ramoth-gilead was captured and held for Israel against the king of Syria (&nbsp;2 Kings 9:14 ). However, Jehoram of Israel was wounded and returned to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds. It appears that the army was left in charge of Jehu at Ramoth-gilead. Ahaziah apparently went to Jerusalem and later went down to Jezreel to visit Jehoram. In the meantime Jehu formed a conspiracy against Jehoram. </p> <p> 4. His Death </p> <p> The death of Ahaziah, as told in &nbsp;2 Kings 9:16 f, differs from the account in &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 22:7-9 . According to the account in Kings, Ahaziah who is visiting Jehoram, joins him in a separate chariot to meet Jehu. Jehoram suspecting treachery turns to flee, but an arrow from the bow of Jehu pierces his heart and he dies in his chariot. Ahaziah tries to escape, but is overtaken near [[Ibleam]] and mortally wounded by one of Jehu's men. He fled to the fortress of Megiddo, where he died. His servants conveyed his body in a chariot to Jerusalem, where he was buried. According to the Chronicler, this account is very much abbreviated (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:7 f). His destruction is of God because of his alliance with Jehoram. Jehu, who was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, first slew the kinsmen of Ahaziah. He then sought Ahaziah who was hiding in Samaria. When he was found, he was brought to Jehu and put to death. He was buried, but where and by whom we are not told. </p> <p> That there were other traditions respecting the death of Ahaziah, is proved by Josephus, who says that when Ahaziah was wounded he left his chariot and fled on horseback to Megiddo, where he was well cared for by his servants until he died ( <i> Ant. </i> , IX, vi, 3). </p>

<p> (Hebrew Achazyah', אֲחְְזיָה , held by Jehovah, &nbsp;2 Kings 1:2; &nbsp;2 Kings 9:16; &nbsp;2 Kings 9:23; &nbsp;2 Kings 9:27; &nbsp;2 Kings 9:29; &nbsp;2 Kings 11:2; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35; elsewhere in the prolonged form, Achazya'hu, אֲחְְזיָהוּ ''';''' Sept. Ο᾿χοζίας, but v. r. Ο᾿ζίας in &nbsp;1 Chronicles 3:11), the name of two [[Jewish]] kings. </p> <p> '''1.''' The son and successor of Ahab, and ninth king of Israel, who reigned two years (current, B.C. 895-4). Under the influence of his mother, Jezebel, Ahaziah pursued the evil courses of his father. The most signal public event of his reign was the revolt of the vassal king of the Moabites, who took the opportunity of the defeat and death of Ahab to discontinue the tribute which he had paid to the Israelites, consisting of 100,000 lambs and as many rams, with, their wool (comp. &nbsp;Isaiah 16:1). The difficulty of enforcing this tribute was enhanced by the fact that after the battle of Ramoth in Gilead, (See [[Ahab]]), the [[Syrians]] had the command of the country along the east of Jordan, and they cut off all communication between the [[Israelites]] and Moabites. Ahaziah became a party in the attempt of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to revive the maritime traffic by the Red Sea, in consequence of which the enterprise was blasted, and came to nothing (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35-37). Soon after, Ahaziah, having been much injured by a fall from the roof-gallery of his palace, had the infatuation to send to consult the oracle of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, respecting his recovery. But the messengers were met and sent back by Elijah, who announced to the king that he should rise no more from the bed on which he lay (&nbsp;1 Kings 22:51 to 2 Kings 1:50). (See [[Kingdom Of Israel]]). </p> <p> '''2.''' The son of Jehoram by Athaliah (daughter of Ahab and Jezebel), and sixth king of the separate kingdom of Judah; otherwise called JEHOAHAZ (See [[Jehoahaz]]) (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:17; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 25:23), and AZARIAH (See [[Azariah]]) (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:6). In &nbsp;2 Kings 8:26, we read that he was 22 years old at his succession, but in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:2, that his age at that time was 42. The former number is certainly right (comp. &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:1), as in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:5; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 21:20, we see that his father Jehoram was 40 when he died, which would make him younger than his own son, so that a transcriber must have confounded כב (22) and מב (42). (See the treatises on this difficulty in Latin by Lilienthal [Regiom. 1750], and in German by Mtihlenfeld [Nordhaus. 1753].) He reigned but one year (B.C. 884-883), and that ill, being guided by his idolatrous mother (&nbsp;2 Kings 8:24-29). He joined his uncle Jehoram of Israel in an expedition against Hazael, king of Damascene-Syria, for the recovery of Ramloth-Gilead, and afterward paid him a visit while he lay wounded in his summer palace of Jezreel. The two kings rode out in their several chariots to meet Jehu (q.v.); and when Jehoram was shot through the heart Ahaziah attempted to escape, but was pursued as far as the pass of Gur, and being there mortally wounded, had only strength to reach Megiddo, where he died (Guranmiller, Harmonia vitoe A chasiep, Jen. 1717). His body was conveyed by his servants in a chariot to Jerusalem for interment (&nbsp;2 Kings 9:22-28). The variation in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 22:7-9, is not substantial (see Poole's Synopsis, in loc.). It appears from the latter passage that Jehu was right in considering Ahaziah as included in his commission to root out the house of Ahab, his presence in Jezreel at the time of Jehu's operations being an arrangement of [[Providence]] for accomplishing his doom. (See [[Kingdom Of Judah]]). </p>