=1‒4= (= 2 Kings viii. 25‒27).
THE REIGN OF AHAZIAH.
¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah¹ 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.
¹ In chapter xxi. 17, _Jehoahaz_.
=1.= _the inhabitants of Jerusalem_, etc.] In consequence of the great
disaster to the royal house, the people play a more prominent part than
usual in deciding the succession to the throne; compare 2 Kings xxiii.
30.
_to the camp_] or _to the host_. The sense seems to be that the princes
of the royal house were with the army in the field and were slain by
a surprise attack of a party from the Philistine and Arabian forces
(xxi. 16). The LXX. reads, Ἄραβες οἱ Ἀλειμαζονεϊς, i.e. apparently “the
Arabians of Mazin”; but in all probability this reading is a mere error
derived from a transliteration of the Hebrew word rendered “to the
camp” (see Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, p. 74).
²Forty and two¹ years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign;
and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was
Athaliah the daughter² of Omri. ³He also walked in the ways of
the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do
wickedly.
¹ In 2 Kings viii. 26, _Two and twenty_.
² Or, _granddaughter_.
=2.= _Forty and two years old_] The LXX. “twenty years old” is
preferable, agreeing nearly with 2 Kings viii. 26, “two and twenty
years old” (Hebrew and LXX.).
_daughter of Omri_] So 2 Kings viii. 26, but more correctly “daughter
of Ahab” (2 Kings viii. verse 18).
⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did
the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death
of his father, to his destruction.
=4.= _after the death of his father_] This phrase suggests that he
acted as regent in his father’s lifetime during his father’s two years’
illness.
=5, 6= (= 2 Kings viii. 28, 29).
THE ALLIANCE WITH JEHORAM OF ISRAEL.
⁵He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the
son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria
at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.
=5.= _Joram_] or =Jehoram=. The variation is unimportant.
⁶And he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds¹ which
they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king
of Syria. And Azariah² the son of Jehoram king of Judah went
down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was
sick.
¹ 2 Kings viii. 29, and in the Septuagint and Syriac versions.
The text has, _because the wounds which &c._
² In verse 1, _Ahaziah_.
=6.= _Jezreel_] A city some distance to the north of Samaria, giving
its name to the plain of Jezreel (Esdraelon). Ahab had a house there
(1 Kings xxi. 1), probably a _country_ house judging from the incident
of Naboth’s vineyard. It is the modern _Zer‘in_, a town situated on
a hill commanding a wide view towards the west and the east, Bädeker,
_Palestine_⁵, p. 244.
_Ramah_] i.e. Ramoth-gilead (see xviii. 2, note).
_Azariah_] Read, as margin, =Ahaziah=.
=7‒9= (compare 2 Kings ix. 16‒26, 27, 28, x. 11‒14).
THE DEATH OF AHAZIAH.
=7‒9.= These verses give a hasty summary of the passages in Kings
The Chronicler’s version differs in some particulars from Kings The
divergences may largely be due to the extreme brevity of Chronicles,
and they do not absolutely require a variant form of the tradition
for their explanation (so Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, p. 74), particularly
if _Samaria_ here in Chronicles denotes not the city but simply the
province. Verse 7 is a brief but sufficient abridgment of 2 Kings ix.
16‒26 from the point of view of Ahaziah’s concern in the affair. On the
other hand there is great probability in the view that the Chronicler’s
account goes back to a version of the tradition independent of that in
Kings; see the notes on verses 8, 9; and compare Cook in the _Jewish
Quarterly Review_ for 1908, p. 612.
⁷Now the destruction¹ of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went
unto 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.
¹ Hebrew _treading down_.
=7.= _destruction_] Rather, =ruin=, or =downfall=, LXX., καταστροφή).
Ahaziah’s brethren fell with him (verse 8).
_had anointed_] compare 2 Kings ix. 1‒10.
⁸And it came to pass, when Jehu was executing judgement upon the
house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons
of the brethren of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah, and slew
them.
=8.= _the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah_] LXX. “the brethren (i.e.
the kinsmen) of Ahaziah”: so also 2 Kings x. 13. The brethren (in the
strict sense of the word) of Ahaziah had already been killed (verse 1).
_ministering_] According to 2 Kings they were going to “salute the
children of the king and the children of the queen” (probably a courtly
expression for “salute the king and the queen”). Their murder in
Kings is clearly regarded as subsequent to Ahaziah’s death, whereas in
Chronicles the attack on Ahaziah (verse 9) apparently is placed _after_
the murder of the brethren as recorded in the present verse. It is
possible, however, to suppose that verses 8 and 9 are not meant to be
related to each other in a time sequence, and that verses 7, 8, 9 are
all relatively independent statements.
⁹And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him, (now he was hiding
in Samaria,) and they brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and
they buried him, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat,
who sought the LORD with all his heart. And the house of Ahaziah
had no power¹ to hold the kingdom.
¹ Or, _And there was none of the house of Ahaziah that had
power &c._
=9.= _now he was hiding in Samaria_] If Samaria means the city,
then according to Chronicles Ahaziah fled southward from Jezreel;
while according to 2 Kings his flight was westward to Megiddo (to be
identified with Khan el-Lejjun, Bädeker, _Palestine_⁵, p. 228). Perhaps
however Samaria means the _province_ (as in xxv. 13; Ezekiel iv. 10).
Even so this account of Ahaziah’s wounding and death differs markedly
from that in Kings, where nothing is said of his _hiding_, but simply
that he went out with Joram when Jehu encountered Joram (so here verse
7), was wounded, fled to Megiddo, and died there, but was carried back
by his servants to Jerusalem and there buried. Here it is stated that
he was captured, brought to Jehu, and slain (?before him). The place
of his burial is unnamed, but it would readily be supposed that he was
buried by _Jehu’s_ servants and not at Jerusalem. These divergences in
verses 8, 9 are curious and are most naturally explained as originating
in a variant form of the tradition.
=10‒12= (= 2 Kings xi. 1‒3).
THE REIGN OF ATHALIAH.
¹⁰Now 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.
=10.= _destroyed_] This is the reading of Kings and of the LXX. of
Chronicles The Hebrew reads _spake with_, which is perhaps a euphemism;
compare the English “deal with.”
¹¹But Jehoshabeath¹, the daughter of the king, took Joash the
son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons
that were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber².
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.
¹ In 2 Kings xi. 2, _Jehosheba_.
² Or, _chamber for the beds_.
=11.= _Jehoshabeath_] In Kings “Jehosheba.” The two are forms of the
same name; compare “Elisabeth” (Luke i. 7) and “Elisheba” (Exodus vi.
23), a similar pair.
_in the bedchamber_] margin, =in the chamber for the beds=, i.e.
perhaps in a store room in which bed furniture was kept: a convenient
but an uncertain interpretation.
_the wife of Jehoiada the priest_] Compare xxiii. 1. This relationship
is not given in Kings.
¹²And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and
Athaliah reigned over the land.
=12.= _with them_] i.e. with Jehoiada and Jehoshabeath. In Kings “with
her.”
_in the house of God_] “The chamber for beds” (which was perhaps in the
palace) was only a temporary hiding-place.