the Fourth Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Dictionaries
Ahaziah
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
or 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 (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 (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 (2 Kings 1:1-16).
After Ahaziah’s death, his brother Jehoram (or Joram) became king of Israel (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; 2 Chronicles 21:1; 2 Chronicles 21:5-6; 2 Chronicles 22:1-2). Being very much under the influence of his mother, Ahaziah promoted Baal worship in Judah (2 Chronicles 22:3-4). However, he was killed after reigning only one year (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 (2 Chronicles 22:5-9; cf. 2 Kings 9:16-28).
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Fleming, Don. Entry for 'Ahaziah'. Bridgeway Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/bbd/a/ahaziah.html. 2004.
