Ahaziah

The Hebrew name Ahaziah is usually interpreted to mean "the LORD has taken hold." Scripture records two kings who bore this name. Both were connected to the house of Ahab.

Biblical Account

Ahaziah, King of Israel

The son of Ahab, he reigned two years in Samaria (1 Kings 22:51). Scripture judges that he walked in the ways of his father and mother and served Baal (1 Kings 22:52–53). According to 2 Chronicles 20:35–37, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined with him to build ships at Ezion-geber, but the ships were wrecked. 1 Kings 22:49, however, records that Jehoshaphat refused Ahaziah's proposal of a joint venture.

According to 2 Kings 1, Ahaziah was injured in a fall through the lattice of his upper chamber and sought to send messengers to Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover. Elijah intercepted the messengers and rebuked them, asking, "Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?" (2 Kings 1:3). The king sent a captain of fifty with his men three times to seize Elijah. The first two companies were consumed by fire from heaven, and the third captain fell on his knees and begged for his life. In the end Ahaziah died, just as Elijah had declared. Because he had no son, his brother Jehoram succeeded him (2 Kings 1:17).

Ahaziah, King of Judah

He was the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, and Athaliah, a daughter of the house of Ahab. Ahaziah reigned one year in Jerusalem (2 Kings 8:25–27). In 2 Chronicles 21:17 he also appears under the name Jehoahaz. He fought alongside his maternal uncle Joram, king of Israel, against Hazael, king of Aram, and when he went to Jezreel to visit the wounded Joram, he was caught up in the revolt of Jehu. According to 2 Kings 9:27–28, he was wounded by an arrow as he fled and reached Megiddo, where he died. His servants carried his body to Jerusalem and buried him there. After his death his mother, Athaliah, destroyed the royal family and seized power, but his son Joash was hidden away and survived (2 Kings 11:1–3).

Significance Within Scripture

The account of Ahaziah of Israel is read as a rebuke of those who turn from the true God to seek other gods. Ahaziah of Judah is seen as illustrating the consequences that the marriage alliance with the house of Ahab brought upon the royal house of Judah (2 Chronicles 22:3–4).

Neither king is mentioned by name in the New Testament. However, the scene in Luke 9:54, in which James and John wish to call down fire from heaven, is commonly explained as an allusion to 2 Kings 1. Some manuscripts add the words "even as Elias did" to this verse. In addition, the genealogy in Matthew 1:8 passes directly from Joram to Uzziah, omitting Ahaziah and the two kings who followed him.

Interpretation and Debate

• The two books give different accounts of the death of Ahaziah of Judah. 2 Kings states that he died at Megiddo, while 2 Chronicles 22:9 states that he hid in Samaria, was captured, and was put to death by Jehu. Some interpreters harmonize the two accounts into a single sequence of events, while others hold that each book preserves a different tradition.
• His age at accession is also reported differently. 2 Kings 8:26 gives twenty-two, while the Masoretic Text of 2 Chronicles 22:2 gives forty-two. Some translations render the Chronicles figure as twenty-two.
• The omission of the three kings from Matthew's genealogy is most often explained by its arrangement into groups of fourteen generations (Matthew 1:17). Another interpretation attributes the omission to their descent from the house of Ahab.
• Interpretations differ on the scene in which Elijah called down fire and the soldiers died. Some read it as a judgment by which God upheld the authority of His prophet, while others read it in contrast with Jesus' rebuke of His disciples in Luke 9:55.

In the Korean Church

Ahaziah is rarely the main subject of sermons or Sunday school lessons. The account of Ahaziah of Israel is usually introduced through 2 Kings 1 in sermons on the ministry of Elijah. Ahaziah of Judah is mentioned mainly as background to the revolt of Jehu or to the story of Athaliah and Joash.