Bible Commentaries

A.M. 3119. — B.C. 885.

Ahaziah’s wicked reign, 2 Chronicles 22:1-4. Being confederate with Joram, he is slain by Jehu, 2 Chronicles 22:5-9. Athaliah destroys the seed royal, and usurps the kingdom, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12.

2 Chronicles 22:1. The band of men had slain all the eldest — A cruel sort of men, who came along with the Arabians, and therefore slew those whom the Arabians had spared, and only carried into captivity. Or the Philistines may be intended, who accompanied the Arabians in this expedition, (2 Chronicles 21:16,) and who lived near the kingdom of Judah, and therefore wished to destroy all the branches of the royal family, lest, if any of them survived, they should afterward gain strength, and revenge themselves upon them for plundering their country, and carrying so many of the seed royal away captive.

2 Chronicles 22:2. Forty and two years old was Ahaziah — It is said (2 Kings 8:26) that he was but two and twenty years old when he began to reign; so that, it is probable, an error has been committed here by the copyist or transcriber. For some Greek copies have here twenty-two years old, and it is so in the Syriac and Arabic translations, and particularly in that most ancient copy of the Syriac, which was used by the church at Antioch in the primitive times, and to this day is kept in the church of Antioch, from which Archbishop Usher did, at his own great charge, get an exact copy transcribed. Athaliah the daughter of Omri — That is, of Omri’s family; or, of Ahab, Omri’s son. Grand-children are often called sons or daughters in the Scriptures.

2 Chronicles 22:3-4. He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab — Called their ways, not because they were the first inventors of them in these parts, but the chief establishers. These ways did not consist merely in the worshipping of God by an image, which was the way of Jeroboam; but in the worship of other gods besides the God of Israel, namely, Baal-gods, or Baalim. For his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly — Being a crafty and an imperious woman. Those that counsel persons to do wickedly, counsel them to their destruction. It is bad enough when strangers do this, but when parents give such counsel to their own children, it is deplorable indeed! The counsel of the ungodly is the ruin of many young people of both sexes, especially if given to them when they are setting out in life. They were his counsellors after the death of his father — Who, while he lived, seduced his son by his counsel and authority, and kept him to idolatry, and so rendered other evil counsellors unnecessary.

2 Chronicles 22:5. He went with Jehoram to war against Hazael — Following the evil example of Jehoshaphat herein; though he would not follow him in what was good. But of this and the following verses, see notes on 2 Kings 8:28-29; 2 Kings 9:21; 2 Kings 9:27.

2 Chronicles 22:7-8. The destruction of Ahaziah was of God — By his providence so disposing occasions, and Ahaziah’s inclinations, that he should come, at that particular time, to receive his deserved judgment. See on 2 Kings 10:12-14.

2 Chronicles 22:9. They sought Ahaziah — Who, though wounded, had made his escape. They caught him, for he was hid in Samaria — He fled first to Megiddo, but not thinking himself safe there, he fled to Samaria, where he was taken, and sent thence, by Jehu’s order, to Megiddo, where he received the sentence of death. See note on 2 Kings 9:27.

2 Chronicles 22:10. But when Athaliah, &c. — This and 2 Chronicles 22:11-12, are explained 2 Kings 11:1-3.