2 Chronicles 22 Study Notes

22:1 Ahaziah: Sixth king of Judah; son of Jehoram and Athaliah; killed when Jehu annihilated the house of Ahab. Despite the people’s dissatisfaction with Jehoram, when he died they acclaimed his son Ahaziah as the next king.

In order to make sense out of the events in this section, one must recognize the duplication of the names of the kings in the southern and northern kingdoms. In the northern kingdom of Israel, Ahab had two sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram. When Ahab died, his son Ahaziah succeeded him, and he in turn was succeeded by his brother, Jehoram (aka Joram). In the southern kingdom of Judah, Jehoshaphat was succeeded by his son Jehoram, and his successor was his son (and Jehoshaphat’s grandson), Ahaziah (aka Jehoahaz). Thus, the successions in the north were: Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram; in the south the successions were: Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah.

22:2-4 Ahaziah of Judah was just as evil as his father Jehoram. His mother Athaliah received a large share of the blame by misleading him. Because of the family connection to the house of Ahab, Ahaziah received advice from his relatives in the northern kingdom. Ahaziah followed the practices of the northern kingdom, including idolatry and violence.

22:5-6 Just as Jehoshaphat had gone with Ahab of Israel to Ramoth-gilead to fight against the Arameans, so Ahaziah of Judah went along with Joram of Israel to the same place for the same purpose. The result was almost identical. Joram was seriously wounded.

Joram (also called Jehoram): Eighth king of Israel, son of Ahab, brother of Ahaziah; killed by Jehu after he and Ahaziah of Judah fought against Hazael of Aram; last king of the house of Ahab in Israel.

22:7-9 God had appointed Jehu to put an end to the dynasty of Ahab and to become king himself (2Kg 9:1-10). Jehu went too far in eliminating Judah’s King Ahaziah, thus setting up the situation where Athaliah almost eliminated the line of David when she seized the Davidic throne (2Ch 22:10-12).

22:10 Athaliah: Usurper of the throne of Judah; daughter of Jezebel and Ahab; wife of Jehoram; executed in Jehoiada’s plot to reinstall Joash as king. Who would fill the vacant throne of Judah? There were some male heirs who were toddlers, but of course they were unable to rule the country. Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, leaped at the chance and made herself queen of Judah. She had no legitimate claim to the throne because she was not descended from David. She followed her husband’s earlier practice and killed anyone who had a claim to the throne, even her own grandchildren.

22:11-12 There was one heir whom Athaliah was not able to eliminate. Joash was a baby, having been born about the time of Ahaziah’s accession. Ahaziah’s sister Jehoshabeath and her husband Jehoiada the high priest raised Joash in seclusion in the temple for six years.