2 Chronicles 22:1-7

Ahaziah’s Reign

22:1 The residents of Jerusalem ¹  made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. ²  So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 22:2 Ahaziah was twenty-two ³  years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter ⁴  of Omri. 22:3 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty, ⁵  for his mother gave him evil advice. ⁶  22:4 He did evil in the sight of ⁷  the Lord like Ahab’s dynasty because, after his father’s death, they ⁸  gave him advice that led to his destruction. 22:5 He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son King Joram ⁹  of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syria ¹⁰  at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 22:6 Joram ¹¹  returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians ¹²  in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah ¹³  son of King Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had been wounded. ¹⁴ 

22:7 God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram. ¹⁵  When Ahaziah ¹⁶  arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had commissioned ¹⁷  to wipe out Ahab’s family. ¹⁸ 

[22:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:1]  ² tn Heb “for all the older [ones] the raiding party that came with the Arabs to the camp had killed.”

[22:2]  ³ tc Heb “forty-two,” but the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 8:26 reads “twenty-two” along with some mss of the LXX and the Syriac.

[22:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term בַּת (bat, “daughter”) can refer, as here, to a granddaughter. See HALOT 165-66 s.v. I בַּת 1.

[22:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and also he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.”

[22:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “for his mother was his adviser to do evil.”

[22:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[22:4]  ⁸ tn That is, the members of Ahab’s royal house.

[22:5]  ⁹ sn Jehoram and Joram are alternate spellings of the Israelite king’s name (also in vv. 6-7). The shorter form is used in these verse to avoid confusion with King Jehoram of Judah, father of Azariah.

[22:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Aram” (also in v. 6).

[22:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:6]  ¹² tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”

[22:6]  ¹³ tc Most Hebrew mss read “Azariah.” A few Hebrew mss, the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac read “Ahaziah” (cf. 2 Kgs 8:29).

[22:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “because he was sick,” presumably referring to the wounds he received in the battle with the Syrians.

[22:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “From God was the downfall of Ahaziah by going to Joram.”

[22:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “anointed.”

[22:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to cut off the house of Ahab.”