2 Chronicles 22:1-12
1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.
2 Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.
3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.
4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction.
5 He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothgilead: and the Syrians smote Joram.
6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick.
7 And the destructiona of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.
8 And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.
9 And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.
10 But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.
11 But Jehoshabeath,b the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.
12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.
2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people
The *Kingdom called Judah
2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 22
Ahaziah – 2 Chronicles 22:1-9
v1 The people in Jerusalem chose Ahaziah to replace Jehoram as king. He was Jehoram’s youngest son. Those who came with the Arabs had attacked Jehoram’s camp. And they had killed all of his older sons. So, Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah began to rule.
v2 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. And he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri.
v3 Ahaziah lived in the manner of Ahab’s family. He followed the advice of his mother. And she encouraged him to do what was wrong. v4 He did what the *LORD considered wrong. He lived as the family of Ahab lived. After his father’s death, Ahab’s family advised him and this caused Ahaziah’s death. v5 They advised him to go with Joram, son of Ahab, the king of Israel to Ramoth in Gilead. There they fought against Hazael, king of Aram. The people from Aram struck Joram and they hurt him. v6 So, Joram returned to Jezreel town to recover from his injuries. He received those injuries at Ramoth when he fought Hazael, king of Aram. Then Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah went to Jezreel town. He went to visit Joram, son of Ahab, who had bad injuries.
v7 God caused the death of Ahaziah because he went to Joram. He went with Joram to meet Nimshi’s son Jehu. But the *LORD had sent Jehu to kill all of Ahab’s family. v8 Jehu killed the family of Ahab. Also, he found the leaders of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives. These people served Ahaziah. Jehu killed them all. v9 Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah. Jehu’s men caught him as he hid in Samaria. And they brought him to Jehu. Then they killed Ahaziah and they buried him. They buried him because they said, ‘He was a son of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat obeyed the *LORD with all his heart.’ There was nobody from Ahaziah’s family left to become king of Judah.
Verses 1-6 Ahaziah was the youngest son of Jehoram and Athaliah. The *Philistines and the Arabs had killed all of his brothers. So, the people made Ahaziah king in Jerusalem. He was 22 years old and he ruled for just one year (842 *BC). His mother was a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab’s father was Omri. Omri built Samaria. And he ruled there before Ahab did.
Jehoram was 18 or 19 years old when Ahaziah was born. He had no more sons before his death at the age of 40. But he did have sons before Ahaziah. At an early age, the royal princes had several wives. It was normal for them to have children as soon as they were able.
Joram was the king of *Israel. Ahaziah became king of Judah in the 12th year of Joram’s rule (2 Kings 8:25). They both died at the same time (2 Kings 9:24, 27).
His parents brought Ahaziah up in the ways of Ahab’s family. His mother and his grandmother were powerful women. They led the family away from the *LORD to *worship the god Baal. When Ahaziah became king, he followed the advice of his mother Athaliah. Also, he followed the bad advice of his mother’s relatives.
Ahaziah and King Joram went to Ramoth in Gilead. There they fought against Hazael, king of Aram. In the fight, Joram received a bad injury. He went to the town called Jezreel to recover from his injury. Then Ahaziah went to Jezreel to visit Joram.
Verses 7-9 Jehu, whose father was Nimshi, came to kill Joram. Jehu killed all of Ahab’s family. Ahaziah and the leaders of Judah were there when Jehu came to Jezreel. Ahaziah went out with Joram to meet Jehu. Then Joram and Azariah tried to run away from Jehu but Jehu killed Joram. Ahaziah hid in Samaria but Jehu’s men found him. There Ahaziah received an injury that he would not recover from. But he escaped to the town called Megiddo (2 Kings 9:27). And he died there. Ahaziah’s servants took him to Jerusalem and they buried him there. Because they respected Jehoshaphat, they gave Ahaziah a good funeral.
Jehu then met some of Ahaziah’s family and he killed them (2 Kings 10:14). So, there was nobody of the family of Ahaziah who could become king at that time. His children were too young and Jehu had killed all the other princes.
Athaliah – 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
Athaliah rules – 2 Chronicles 22:10-12
v10 Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, heard that her son was dead. Then she tried to kill all the royal family in Judah. v11 But King Jehoram’s daughter, Jehoshabeath, took Joash, Ahaziah’s son. She took him from among the other sons of the king. That was before Athaliah murdered the rest of the king’s sons. Jehoshabeath hid Joash and his nurse in a bedroom. She was King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister. Also, she was the wife of Jehoiada the priest. She hid Joash so that Athaliah could not kill him. v12 Jehoshabeath hid him with them in God’s *temple for 6 years. During that time, Athaliah ruled the country.
Verses 10-12 There was nobody in the royal family to replace Ahaziah. His sons were too young. Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah tried to murder all of his young sons. But a daughter of Jehoram, Jehoshabeath took and she hid one of these sons. His name was Joash. She was the wife of Jehoiada the priest. So, they hid the boy with his nurse in the *LORD’s *temple for 6 years. In this way, the *LORD preserved the family of David.
Athaliah did not know about Joash. She made herself the queen and she ruled Judah for 6 years (842 to 837 *BC). She was the only ruler in Judah who was not in the family of David.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Philistines ~ people who lived to the south and west of Judah. They were a nation that fought with the *Israelites.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.