Abijah
VIEW:58 DATA:01-04-2020
the Lord is my father
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
ABIJAH.1. Son and successor of Rehoboam (2Ch_13:1), also called Abijam (1Ki_14:31). The accounts of him in the Books of Kings and Chronicles are discrepant. The difference begins with the name of his mother, which 2 Ch. gives as Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, while 1Kings. makes her to have been Maacah, daughter of Abishalom. As the latter is also the name of Asas mother (1Ki_15:10, 2Ch_15:16), there is probably some confusion in the text. Beyond this, the Book of Kings tells us only that he reigned three years, that he walked in the sins of his father, and that he had war with Jeroboam, king of Israel. 2. Samuels second son (1Sa_8:2). The RV [Note: Revised Version.] retains the spelling Abiah in 1Ch_6:28. 3. A son of Jeroboam I. who died in childhood (1Ki_14:1-31). 4. One of the heads of fathers houses of the sons of Eleazar, who gave his name to the 8th of the 24 courses of priests (1Ch_24:3; 1Ch_24:10, 2Ch_8:14). To this course Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged (Luk_1:5). The name occurs also in the lists of priests who went up with Zerubbabel (Neh_12:4), and of those who sealed unto the covenant in the time of Nehemiah (Neh_10:7). 5. A son of Becher, son of Benjamin, 1Ch_7:8. 6. Wife of Hezron, eldest son of Perez, son of Judah, 1Ch_2:24, RV [Note: Revised Version.] Abiah. 7. Wife of Ahaz, and mother of Hezekiah (2Ch_29:1), named Abi in 2Ki_18:2.
H. P. Smith.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
("father of Jehovah," i.e. one whose will is that of God), or ABIJAM 1Ki_15:1; 2Ch_13:1 (called Abijah in Chronicles, not in Kings, because in the former his character is not represented as contrary to Jah's will, as it is in the latter; Abia in Mat_1:7).
1. Son and successor of Rehoboam, king of Judah (Clinton, 959 s.c.; Hales, 973); in the 18th year of Jeroboam I of Israel (1Ki_14:31; 2Ch_12:16). He endeavored to recover the ten tribes to Judah, and made war on Jeroboam. His speech on mount Zemaraim in mount Ephraim, before the battle, urged on Jeroboam the justice of his cause, that God had given the kingdom to David and his sons forever "by a covenant of salt," and that Judah had the regular temple service and priesthood, whereas Israel had made golden calves their idols, and had cast out the priests; therefore "fight not ye against the Lord God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper" (2 Chronicles 13).
Judah's appeal to God, in a crisis of the battle, when the enemy by an ambushment was both before and behind them, brought victory to their side; they took also Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephraim. 400,000 men are assigned to Abijah's army, 800,000 to Jeroboam's, of whom 500,000 fell. Kennicott thinks the numbers an error of transcribers for 40,000, 80,000, 50,000; and so Abarbanel. Elated by success, he multiplied his wives, like Solomon, and by his 14 wives had 22 sons and 16 daughters. Prosperity tempted him into the wickedness which is attributed to him in Kings; men may boast of temple privileges, yet love carnal practices (Jer_7:4-5). His reign lasted three years. His mother was Maachah (1Ki_15:2), or Michaiah (2Ch_13:2), doubtless named from her grandmother, Absalom's mother (2Sa_3:3). She was daughter of Uriel, of Gibeah, and granddaughter of Abishalom, or Absalom (1Ch_11:20). "Daughter" in Scripture often means granddaughter, a generation being skipped. Abijah thus was descended from David on both father's and mother's side. Uriel had married Tamar, Absalom's beautiful daughter (2Sa_14:27).
2. Son of Jeroboam I, "in whom alone of Jeroboam's house some good thing was found toward the Lord God of Israel" (1Ki_14:13); therefore, he alone was permitted to go down to the grave in peace. Jeroboam had sent his wife in disguise with a present to the prophet (See AHIJAH (see). Blind with age, he yet knew her and announced the tidings, sad to her but honoring to her son. So Abijah died, and "all Israel mourned for him."
3. 1Ch_24:10. Only four returned of the 24 courses of the priesthood, of which Abijah's course was not one (Ezr_2:36-39; Neh_7:39-42; Neh_12:1). But the four were divided into the original 24, with the original names. Hence, Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, is described as "of the course of Abia" (Luk_1:5).
4. Wife of Ahaz, and mother of good Hezekiah; perhaps a descendant of the Zechariah slain between the temple and the altar (2Ch_24:21; 2Ch_26:5; 2Ch_29:1); certainly daughter of Zechariah, probably the one through whom Uzziah sought God.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Abi'a, Abi'ah, or Abi'jah. (my father is Jehovah).
1. Son and successor of Rehoboam on the throne of Judah. 1Ki_4:21; 2Ch_12:16. He is called Abai, Abiah, or Abijah in Chronicles, Abijam in Kings. He began to reign B.C. 959, and reigned three years. He endeavored to recover the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and made war on Jeroboam. He was successful in battle, and took several of the cities of Israel. We are told that he walked in all the sins of Rehoboam. 1Ki_14:23-24.
2. The second son of Samuel, called Abai, Abiah, Abija, or Abia, Course of in our version. See Abai, Abiah, Abijam, or Abia, Course of.
3. Son of Jeroboam I, king of Israel; died in his childhood. 1Ki_14:1.
4. A descendant of Eleazar, who gave his name to the eighth of the 24 courses into which the priests were divided by David. 1Ch_24:10; 2Ch_8:14; Neh_12:4; Neh_12:17.
5. One of the priests who entered into a covenant with Nehemiah to walk in God's law, Neh_10:7, unless the name is rather that of a family, and the same with the preceding.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
the son of Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, who died very young, 1Ki_14:1, &c. A.M. 3046.
2. The son of Rehoboam, king of Judah, and of Maachah, the daughter of Uriel, who succeeded his father, A.M. 3046, 2Ch_11:20; 2Ch_13:2, &c. The Rabbins reproach this monarch with neglecting to destroy the profane altar which Jeroboam had erected at Bethel; and with not suppressing the worship of the golden calves there after his victory over that prince.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
a-bı̄?ja (אביּהוּ ר אביּה, 'ăbhı̄yāh or 'ăbhı̄yāhū (2Ch_13:20, 2Ch_13:21), ?my father is Yahweh,? or ?Yahweh is father?): The name of six or more men and two women in the Old Testament.
(1) The seventh son of Becher the son of Benjamin (1Ch_7:8).
(2) The second son of the prophet Samuel (1Sa_8:2; 1Ch_6:28 (1Ch_6:13)).
(3) The eighth among ?the holy captains and captains of God? appointed by lot by David in connection with the priestly courses (1Ch_24:10). Compare ?Zacharias of the course of Abijah? (Luk_1:5).
(4) A son of Jeroboam I of Israel (1 Ki 14:1-18). The narrative describes his sickness and his mother's visit to the prophet Ahijah. He is spoken of as the one member of the house of Jeroboam in whom there was ?found some good thing toward Yahweh.? With his death the hope of the dynasty perished.
(5) The son and successor of Rehoboam king of Judah (1Ch_3:10; 2 Ch 11:20 through 14:1). As to the variant name Abijam (1Ki_14:31; 1Ki_15:1, 1Ki_15:7, 1Ki_15:8) see ABIJAM.
The statements concerning Abijah's mother afford great opportunity for a person who is interested in finding discrepancies in the Bible narrative. She is said to have been Maacah the daughter of Absalom (1Ki_15:2; 2Ch_11:20, 2Ch_11:21, 2Ch_11:22). As more than 50 years elapsed between the adolescence of Absalom and the accession of Rehoboam, the suggestion at once emerges that she may have been Absalom's daughter in the sense of being his granddaughter. But Maacha the daughter of Absalom was the mother of Asa, Abijam's son and successor (1Ki_15:10, 1Ki_15:13; 2Ch_15:16). Further we are explicitly told that Absalom had three sons and one daughter (2Sa_14:27). It is inferred that the three sons died young, inasmuch as Absalom before his death built him a monument because he had no son (2Sa_18:18). The daughter was distinguished for her beauty, but her name was Tamar, not Maacah. Finally, the narrative tells us that the name of Abijah's mother was ?Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah? (2Ch_13:2).
It is less difficult to combine all these statements into a consistent account than it would be to combine some pairs of them if taken by themselves. When all put together they make a luminous narrative, needing no help from conjectural theories of discrepant sources or textual errors. It is natural to understand that Tamar the daughter of Absalom married Uriel of Gibeah; that their daughter was Maacah, named for her great-grandmother (2Sa_3:3; 1Ch_3:2); that Micaiah is a variant of Maacah, as Abijah is of Abijam. Maacah married Rehoboam, the parties being second cousins on the father's side; if they had been first cousins perhaps they would not have married. Very likely Solomon, through the marriage, hoped to conciliate an influential party in Israel which still held the name of Absalom in esteem; perhaps also he hoped to supplement the moderate abilities of Rehoboam by the great abilities of his wife. She was a brilliant woman, and Rehoboam's favorite (2Ch_11:21). On Abijah's accession she held at court the influential position of king's mother; and she was so strong that she continued to hold it, when, after a brief reign, Abijah was succeeded by Asa; though it was a position from which Asa had the authority to depose her (1Ki_15:13; 2Ch_15:16).
The account in Chronicles deals mainly with a decisive victory which, it says, Abijah gained over northern Israel (2 Ch 13), he having 400,000 men and Jeroboam 800,000, of whom 500,000 were slain. It is clear that these numbers are artificial, and were so intended, whatever may be the key to their meaning. Abijah's speech before the battle presents the same view of the religious situation which is presented in Kings and Amos and Hosea, though with fuller priestly details. The orthodoxy of Abijah on this one occasion is not in conflict with the representation in Kings that he followed mainly the evil ways of his father Rehoboam. In Chronicles coarse luxury and the multiplying of wives are attributed to both father and son.
(6) A priest of Nehemiah's time, who sealed the covenant (Neh_10:7). Conjecturally the same with the one mentioned in Neh_12:4, Neh_12:17.
(7) The wife of Judah's grandson Hezron, to whom was traced the origin of Tekoa (1Ch_2:24).
(8) The mother of King Hezekiah (2Ch_29:1), called Abi in 2 Ki. See ABI.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Abijah, 1
Abi?jah (See signif. in Abiah 2Ch_13:1). He is also called Abijam (1 Kings 15). Abijah was the second king of the separate kingdom of Judah, being the son of Rehoboam, and grandson of Solomon. He began to reign B.C. 957, in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel; and he reigned three years. At the commencement of his reign Abijah made a vigorous attempt to bring back the ten tribes to their allegiance. In this he failed; although a signal victory over Jeroboam, who had double his force and much greater experience, enabled him to take several cities which had been held by Israel. The numbers reputed to have been present in this action are 800,000 on the side of Jeroboam, 400,000 on the side of Abijah, and 500,000 left dead on the field. The book of Chronicles mentions nothing concerning Abijah adverse to the favorable impressions which we receive from his conduct on this occasion; but in Kings we are told that 'he walked in all the sins of his father' (1Ki_15:3). He had fourteen wives, by whom he left twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. Asa succeeded him.
Abijah, 2
Abijah, son of Jeroboam I, king of Israel. His severe and threatening illness induced Jeroboam to send his wife with a present, suited to the disguise in which she went, to consult the prophet Ahijah respecting his recovery. This prophet was the same who had, in the days of Solomon, foretold to Jeroboam his elevation to the throne of Israel. Though blind with age, he knew the disguised wife of Jeroboam, and was authorized, by the prophetic impulse that came upon him, to reveal to her that, because there was found in Abijah only, of all the house of Jeroboam, 'some good thing towards the Lord,' he only, of all that house, should come to his grave in peace, and be mourned in Israel. Accordingly, when the mother returned home, the youth died as she crossed the threshold of the door. 'And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him' (1Ki_14:1-18).
Abijah, 3
Abijah, one of the descendants of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, and chief of one of the twenty-four courses or orders into which the whole body of the priesthood was divided by David (1Ch_24:10; Luk_1:5). Of these the course of Abijah was the eighth.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Abijah
(Heb. Abiyah', אֲבַיָּהfather [i.e. possessor or worshipper] of Jehovah; also in the equivalent protracted form Abiya'hu, אֲבַיָּהוּ, 2Ch_13:20-21; Sept. and N.T. Αβιά but Αβία in 1Ki_14:1; Neh_10:7; Αβίας in 1Ch_24:10; Neh_12:4; Neh_12:17; Αβιού v. r. Αβιούδ, in 1Ch_7:8; Josephus, Αβίας, Ant. 7:10, 3; Auth. Vers. Abiah in 1Sa_8:2; 1Ch_2:24; 1Ch_6:28; 1Ch_7:8; Abia in 1Ch_3:10; Mat_1:7; Luk_1:5), the name of six men and two women. 1. A son of Becher, one of the sons of Benjamin (1Ch_7:8). B.C. post 1856.
2. The daughter of Machir, who bore to Hezron a posthumous son, Ashur (1Ch_2:24). B.C. cir. 1612.
3. The second son of Samuel (1Sa_8:2; 1Ch_6:28). Being appointed by his father a judge in Beersheba, in connection with his brother, their corrupt administration induced such popular discontent as to provoke the elders to demand a royal form of government for Israel, B.C. 1093. SEE SAMUEL.
4. One of the descendants of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, and chief of one of the twenty-four courses or orders into which the whole body of the priesthood was divided by David (1Ch_24:10), B.C. 1014. Of these the course of Abijah was the eighth. Only four of the courses returned from the captivity, of which that of Abijah was not one (Ezr_2:36-39; Neh_7:39-42; Neh_12:1). But the four were divided into the original number of twenty-four, with the original names; and it hence happens that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is described as belonging to the course of Abijah (Luk_1:5). SEE PRIEST.
5. The second king of the separate kingdom of Judah, being the son of Rehoboam, and grandson of Solomon (1Ch_3:10). He is also called (1Ki_14:31; 1Ki_15:1-8) ABIJAMI SEE ABIJAMI (q.v.). He began to reign B.C. 956, in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, and he reigned three years (2Ch_12:16; 2Ch_13:1-2). At the commencement of his reign, looking on the well-founded separation of the ten tribes from the house of David as rebellion, Abijah made a vigorous attempt to bring them back to their allegiance (2Ch_13:3-19). In this he failed; although a signal victory over Jeroboam, who had double his force and much greater experience, enabled him to take several cities which had been held by Israel (see J. F. Bahrdt, De bello Abice et Jerob. Lips. 1760). The speech which Abijah addressed to the opposing army before the battle has been much admired (C. Simeon, Works, 4:96). It was well suited to its object, and exhibits correct notions of the theocratical institutions (Keil, Apolog. d. Chron. p. 336). His view of the political position of the ten tribes with respect to the house of David is, however, obviously erroneous, although such as a king of Judah was likely to take. The numbers reputed to have been present in this action are 800,000 on the side of Jeroboam, 400,000 on the side of Abijah, and 500,000 left dead on the field. Hales and others regard these extraordinary numbers as corruptions, and propose to reduce them to 80,000, 40,000, and 50,000 respectively, as in the Latin Vulgate of Sixtus V, and many earlier editions, and in the old Latin translation of Josephus; and probably also in his original Greek text, as is collected by De Vignoles from Abarbanel's charge against the historian of having made Jeroboam's loss no more than 50,000 men, contrary to the Hebrew text (Kennicott's Dissertations, 1:533; 2:201 sq., 564). See NUMBER. The book of Chronicles mentions nothing concerning Abijah adverse to the impressions which we receive from his conduct on this occasion; but in Kings we are told that he walked in all the sins of his father (1Ki_15:3). He had fourteen wives, by whom he left twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters (2Ch_13:20-22). Asa succeeded him (2Ch_14:1; Mat_1:7). SEE JUDAH.
There is a difficulty connected with the maternity of Abijah. In 1Ki_15:2, we read, His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom (comp. 2Ch_11:20; 2Ch_11:22); but in 2Ch_13:2, His mother's name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. Maachah and Michaiah are variations of the same name; and Abishalom is in all likelihood Absalom, the son of David. The word (בִּת) rendered daughter (q.v.), is applied in the Bible not only to a man's child, but to his niece, granddaughter, or great-granddaughter. It is therefore possible that Uriel of Gibeah married Tamar, the beautiful daughter of Absalom (2Sa_14:27), and by her had Maachah, who was thus the daughter of Uriel and granddaughter of Absalom. SEE MAACHAH.
6. A son of Jeroboam 1, king of Israel. His severe and threatening illness induced Jeroboam to send his wife with a present [ SEE GIFT ] suited to the disguise in which she went, to consult the prophet Ahijah respecting his recovery. This prophet was the same who had, in the days of Solomon, foretold to Jeroboam his elevation to the throne of Israel. Though blind with age, he knew the disguised wife of Jeroboam, and was authorized, by the prophetic impulse that came upon him, to reveal to her that, because there was found in Abijah only, of all the house of Jeroboam, some good thing toward the Lord, he only, of all that house, should come to his grave in peace, and be mourned in Israel (see S. C. Wilkes, Family Sermons, 12; C. Simeon, Works, 3, 385; T. Gataker, Sermons, pt. 2:291). Accordingly, when the mother returned home, the youth died as she crossed the threshold of the door. And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him (1Ki_14:1-18), B.C. cir. 782. SEE JEROBOAM.
7. The daughter of Zechariah, and mother of King Hezekiah (2Ch_29:1), and, consequently, the wife of Ahaz, whom she survived, and whom, if we may judge from the piety of her son, she excelled in moral character. She is elsewhere called by the shorter form of the name, ABI SEE ABI (2Ki_18:2). B.C. 726. Her father, may have been the same with the Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah, whom Isaiah took as a witness of his marriage with the prophetess (Isa_8:2; comp. 2Ch_26:5).
8. One of those (apparently priests) who affixed their signatures to the covenant made by Nehemiah (Neh_10:7), B.C. 410. He is probably the same (notwithstanding the great age this implies) who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Neh_12:4), B.C. 536, and who had a son named Zichri (Neh_12:17).
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
ABIJAH.1. Son and successor of Rehoboam (2Ch_13:1), also called Abijam (1Ki_14:31). The accounts of him in the Books of Kings and Chronicles are discrepant. The difference begins with the name of his mother, which 2 Ch. gives as Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, while 1Kings. makes her to have been Maacah, daughter of Abishalom. As the latter is also the name of Asas mother (1Ki_15:10, 2Ch_15:16), there is probably some confusion in the text. Beyond this, the Book of Kings tells us only that he reigned three years, that he walked in the sins of his father, and that he had war with Jeroboam, king of Israel. 2. Samuels second son (1Sa_8:2). The RV [Note: Revised Version.] retains the spelling Abiah in 1Ch_6:28. 3. A son of Jeroboam I. who died in childhood (1Ki_14:1-31). 4. One of the heads of fathers houses of the sons of Eleazar, who gave his name to the 8th of the 24 courses of priests (1Ch_24:3; 1Ch_24:10, 2Ch_8:14). To this course Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged (Luk_1:5). The name occurs also in the lists of priests who went up with Zerubbabel (Neh_12:4), and of those who sealed unto the covenant in the time of Nehemiah (Neh_10:7). 5. A son of Becher, son of Benjamin, 1Ch_7:8. 6. Wife of Hezron, eldest son of Perez, son of Judah, 1Ch_2:24, RV [Note: Revised Version.] Abiah. 7. Wife of Ahaz, and mother of Hezekiah (2Ch_29:1), named Abi in 2Ki_18:2.
H. P. Smith.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
("father of Jehovah," i.e. one whose will is that of God), or ABIJAM 1Ki_15:1; 2Ch_13:1 (called Abijah in Chronicles, not in Kings, because in the former his character is not represented as contrary to Jah's will, as it is in the latter; Abia in Mat_1:7).
1. Son and successor of Rehoboam, king of Judah (Clinton, 959 s.c.; Hales, 973); in the 18th year of Jeroboam I of Israel (1Ki_14:31; 2Ch_12:16). He endeavored to recover the ten tribes to Judah, and made war on Jeroboam. His speech on mount Zemaraim in mount Ephraim, before the battle, urged on Jeroboam the justice of his cause, that God had given the kingdom to David and his sons forever "by a covenant of salt," and that Judah had the regular temple service and priesthood, whereas Israel had made golden calves their idols, and had cast out the priests; therefore "fight not ye against the Lord God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper" (2 Chronicles 13).
Judah's appeal to God, in a crisis of the battle, when the enemy by an ambushment was both before and behind them, brought victory to their side; they took also Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephraim. 400,000 men are assigned to Abijah's army, 800,000 to Jeroboam's, of whom 500,000 fell. Kennicott thinks the numbers an error of transcribers for 40,000, 80,000, 50,000; and so Abarbanel. Elated by success, he multiplied his wives, like Solomon, and by his 14 wives had 22 sons and 16 daughters. Prosperity tempted him into the wickedness which is attributed to him in Kings; men may boast of temple privileges, yet love carnal practices (Jer_7:4-5). His reign lasted three years. His mother was Maachah (1Ki_15:2), or Michaiah (2Ch_13:2), doubtless named from her grandmother, Absalom's mother (2Sa_3:3). She was daughter of Uriel, of Gibeah, and granddaughter of Abishalom, or Absalom (1Ch_11:20). "Daughter" in Scripture often means granddaughter, a generation being skipped. Abijah thus was descended from David on both father's and mother's side. Uriel had married Tamar, Absalom's beautiful daughter (2Sa_14:27).
2. Son of Jeroboam I, "in whom alone of Jeroboam's house some good thing was found toward the Lord God of Israel" (1Ki_14:13); therefore, he alone was permitted to go down to the grave in peace. Jeroboam had sent his wife in disguise with a present to the prophet (See AHIJAH (see). Blind with age, he yet knew her and announced the tidings, sad to her but honoring to her son. So Abijah died, and "all Israel mourned for him."
3. 1Ch_24:10. Only four returned of the 24 courses of the priesthood, of which Abijah's course was not one (Ezr_2:36-39; Neh_7:39-42; Neh_12:1). But the four were divided into the original 24, with the original names. Hence, Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, is described as "of the course of Abia" (Luk_1:5).
4. Wife of Ahaz, and mother of good Hezekiah; perhaps a descendant of the Zechariah slain between the temple and the altar (2Ch_24:21; 2Ch_26:5; 2Ch_29:1); certainly daughter of Zechariah, probably the one through whom Uzziah sought God.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Abi'a, Abi'ah, or Abi'jah. (my father is Jehovah).
1. Son and successor of Rehoboam on the throne of Judah. 1Ki_4:21; 2Ch_12:16. He is called Abai, Abiah, or Abijah in Chronicles, Abijam in Kings. He began to reign B.C. 959, and reigned three years. He endeavored to recover the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and made war on Jeroboam. He was successful in battle, and took several of the cities of Israel. We are told that he walked in all the sins of Rehoboam. 1Ki_14:23-24.
2. The second son of Samuel, called Abai, Abiah, Abija, or Abia, Course of in our version. See Abai, Abiah, Abijam, or Abia, Course of.
3. Son of Jeroboam I, king of Israel; died in his childhood. 1Ki_14:1.
4. A descendant of Eleazar, who gave his name to the eighth of the 24 courses into which the priests were divided by David. 1Ch_24:10; 2Ch_8:14; Neh_12:4; Neh_12:17.
5. One of the priests who entered into a covenant with Nehemiah to walk in God's law, Neh_10:7, unless the name is rather that of a family, and the same with the preceding.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
the son of Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, who died very young, 1Ki_14:1, &c. A.M. 3046.
2. The son of Rehoboam, king of Judah, and of Maachah, the daughter of Uriel, who succeeded his father, A.M. 3046, 2Ch_11:20; 2Ch_13:2, &c. The Rabbins reproach this monarch with neglecting to destroy the profane altar which Jeroboam had erected at Bethel; and with not suppressing the worship of the golden calves there after his victory over that prince.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
a-bı̄?ja (אביּהוּ ר אביּה, 'ăbhı̄yāh or 'ăbhı̄yāhū (2Ch_13:20, 2Ch_13:21), ?my father is Yahweh,? or ?Yahweh is father?): The name of six or more men and two women in the Old Testament.
(1) The seventh son of Becher the son of Benjamin (1Ch_7:8).
(2) The second son of the prophet Samuel (1Sa_8:2; 1Ch_6:28 (1Ch_6:13)).
(3) The eighth among ?the holy captains and captains of God? appointed by lot by David in connection with the priestly courses (1Ch_24:10). Compare ?Zacharias of the course of Abijah? (Luk_1:5).
(4) A son of Jeroboam I of Israel (1 Ki 14:1-18). The narrative describes his sickness and his mother's visit to the prophet Ahijah. He is spoken of as the one member of the house of Jeroboam in whom there was ?found some good thing toward Yahweh.? With his death the hope of the dynasty perished.
(5) The son and successor of Rehoboam king of Judah (1Ch_3:10; 2 Ch 11:20 through 14:1). As to the variant name Abijam (1Ki_14:31; 1Ki_15:1, 1Ki_15:7, 1Ki_15:8) see ABIJAM.
The statements concerning Abijah's mother afford great opportunity for a person who is interested in finding discrepancies in the Bible narrative. She is said to have been Maacah the daughter of Absalom (1Ki_15:2; 2Ch_11:20, 2Ch_11:21, 2Ch_11:22). As more than 50 years elapsed between the adolescence of Absalom and the accession of Rehoboam, the suggestion at once emerges that she may have been Absalom's daughter in the sense of being his granddaughter. But Maacha the daughter of Absalom was the mother of Asa, Abijam's son and successor (1Ki_15:10, 1Ki_15:13; 2Ch_15:16). Further we are explicitly told that Absalom had three sons and one daughter (2Sa_14:27). It is inferred that the three sons died young, inasmuch as Absalom before his death built him a monument because he had no son (2Sa_18:18). The daughter was distinguished for her beauty, but her name was Tamar, not Maacah. Finally, the narrative tells us that the name of Abijah's mother was ?Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah? (2Ch_13:2).
It is less difficult to combine all these statements into a consistent account than it would be to combine some pairs of them if taken by themselves. When all put together they make a luminous narrative, needing no help from conjectural theories of discrepant sources or textual errors. It is natural to understand that Tamar the daughter of Absalom married Uriel of Gibeah; that their daughter was Maacah, named for her great-grandmother (2Sa_3:3; 1Ch_3:2); that Micaiah is a variant of Maacah, as Abijah is of Abijam. Maacah married Rehoboam, the parties being second cousins on the father's side; if they had been first cousins perhaps they would not have married. Very likely Solomon, through the marriage, hoped to conciliate an influential party in Israel which still held the name of Absalom in esteem; perhaps also he hoped to supplement the moderate abilities of Rehoboam by the great abilities of his wife. She was a brilliant woman, and Rehoboam's favorite (2Ch_11:21). On Abijah's accession she held at court the influential position of king's mother; and she was so strong that she continued to hold it, when, after a brief reign, Abijah was succeeded by Asa; though it was a position from which Asa had the authority to depose her (1Ki_15:13; 2Ch_15:16).
The account in Chronicles deals mainly with a decisive victory which, it says, Abijah gained over northern Israel (2 Ch 13), he having 400,000 men and Jeroboam 800,000, of whom 500,000 were slain. It is clear that these numbers are artificial, and were so intended, whatever may be the key to their meaning. Abijah's speech before the battle presents the same view of the religious situation which is presented in Kings and Amos and Hosea, though with fuller priestly details. The orthodoxy of Abijah on this one occasion is not in conflict with the representation in Kings that he followed mainly the evil ways of his father Rehoboam. In Chronicles coarse luxury and the multiplying of wives are attributed to both father and son.
(6) A priest of Nehemiah's time, who sealed the covenant (Neh_10:7). Conjecturally the same with the one mentioned in Neh_12:4, Neh_12:17.
(7) The wife of Judah's grandson Hezron, to whom was traced the origin of Tekoa (1Ch_2:24).
(8) The mother of King Hezekiah (2Ch_29:1), called Abi in 2 Ki. See ABI.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Abijah, 1
Abi?jah (See signif. in Abiah 2Ch_13:1). He is also called Abijam (1 Kings 15). Abijah was the second king of the separate kingdom of Judah, being the son of Rehoboam, and grandson of Solomon. He began to reign B.C. 957, in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel; and he reigned three years. At the commencement of his reign Abijah made a vigorous attempt to bring back the ten tribes to their allegiance. In this he failed; although a signal victory over Jeroboam, who had double his force and much greater experience, enabled him to take several cities which had been held by Israel. The numbers reputed to have been present in this action are 800,000 on the side of Jeroboam, 400,000 on the side of Abijah, and 500,000 left dead on the field. The book of Chronicles mentions nothing concerning Abijah adverse to the favorable impressions which we receive from his conduct on this occasion; but in Kings we are told that 'he walked in all the sins of his father' (1Ki_15:3). He had fourteen wives, by whom he left twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. Asa succeeded him.
Abijah, 2
Abijah, son of Jeroboam I, king of Israel. His severe and threatening illness induced Jeroboam to send his wife with a present, suited to the disguise in which she went, to consult the prophet Ahijah respecting his recovery. This prophet was the same who had, in the days of Solomon, foretold to Jeroboam his elevation to the throne of Israel. Though blind with age, he knew the disguised wife of Jeroboam, and was authorized, by the prophetic impulse that came upon him, to reveal to her that, because there was found in Abijah only, of all the house of Jeroboam, 'some good thing towards the Lord,' he only, of all that house, should come to his grave in peace, and be mourned in Israel. Accordingly, when the mother returned home, the youth died as she crossed the threshold of the door. 'And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him' (1Ki_14:1-18).
Abijah, 3
Abijah, one of the descendants of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, and chief of one of the twenty-four courses or orders into which the whole body of the priesthood was divided by David (1Ch_24:10; Luk_1:5). Of these the course of Abijah was the eighth.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Abijah
(Heb. Abiyah', אֲבַיָּהfather [i.e. possessor or worshipper] of Jehovah; also in the equivalent protracted form Abiya'hu, אֲבַיָּהוּ, 2Ch_13:20-21; Sept. and N.T. Αβιά but Αβία in 1Ki_14:1; Neh_10:7; Αβίας in 1Ch_24:10; Neh_12:4; Neh_12:17; Αβιού v. r. Αβιούδ, in 1Ch_7:8; Josephus, Αβίας, Ant. 7:10, 3; Auth. Vers. Abiah in 1Sa_8:2; 1Ch_2:24; 1Ch_6:28; 1Ch_7:8; Abia in 1Ch_3:10; Mat_1:7; Luk_1:5), the name of six men and two women. 1. A son of Becher, one of the sons of Benjamin (1Ch_7:8). B.C. post 1856.
2. The daughter of Machir, who bore to Hezron a posthumous son, Ashur (1Ch_2:24). B.C. cir. 1612.
3. The second son of Samuel (1Sa_8:2; 1Ch_6:28). Being appointed by his father a judge in Beersheba, in connection with his brother, their corrupt administration induced such popular discontent as to provoke the elders to demand a royal form of government for Israel, B.C. 1093. SEE SAMUEL.
4. One of the descendants of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, and chief of one of the twenty-four courses or orders into which the whole body of the priesthood was divided by David (1Ch_24:10), B.C. 1014. Of these the course of Abijah was the eighth. Only four of the courses returned from the captivity, of which that of Abijah was not one (Ezr_2:36-39; Neh_7:39-42; Neh_12:1). But the four were divided into the original number of twenty-four, with the original names; and it hence happens that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is described as belonging to the course of Abijah (Luk_1:5). SEE PRIEST.
5. The second king of the separate kingdom of Judah, being the son of Rehoboam, and grandson of Solomon (1Ch_3:10). He is also called (1Ki_14:31; 1Ki_15:1-8) ABIJAMI SEE ABIJAMI (q.v.). He began to reign B.C. 956, in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, and he reigned three years (2Ch_12:16; 2Ch_13:1-2). At the commencement of his reign, looking on the well-founded separation of the ten tribes from the house of David as rebellion, Abijah made a vigorous attempt to bring them back to their allegiance (2Ch_13:3-19). In this he failed; although a signal victory over Jeroboam, who had double his force and much greater experience, enabled him to take several cities which had been held by Israel (see J. F. Bahrdt, De bello Abice et Jerob. Lips. 1760). The speech which Abijah addressed to the opposing army before the battle has been much admired (C. Simeon, Works, 4:96). It was well suited to its object, and exhibits correct notions of the theocratical institutions (Keil, Apolog. d. Chron. p. 336). His view of the political position of the ten tribes with respect to the house of David is, however, obviously erroneous, although such as a king of Judah was likely to take. The numbers reputed to have been present in this action are 800,000 on the side of Jeroboam, 400,000 on the side of Abijah, and 500,000 left dead on the field. Hales and others regard these extraordinary numbers as corruptions, and propose to reduce them to 80,000, 40,000, and 50,000 respectively, as in the Latin Vulgate of Sixtus V, and many earlier editions, and in the old Latin translation of Josephus; and probably also in his original Greek text, as is collected by De Vignoles from Abarbanel's charge against the historian of having made Jeroboam's loss no more than 50,000 men, contrary to the Hebrew text (Kennicott's Dissertations, 1:533; 2:201 sq., 564). See NUMBER. The book of Chronicles mentions nothing concerning Abijah adverse to the impressions which we receive from his conduct on this occasion; but in Kings we are told that he walked in all the sins of his father (1Ki_15:3). He had fourteen wives, by whom he left twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters (2Ch_13:20-22). Asa succeeded him (2Ch_14:1; Mat_1:7). SEE JUDAH.
There is a difficulty connected with the maternity of Abijah. In 1Ki_15:2, we read, His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom (comp. 2Ch_11:20; 2Ch_11:22); but in 2Ch_13:2, His mother's name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. Maachah and Michaiah are variations of the same name; and Abishalom is in all likelihood Absalom, the son of David. The word (בִּת) rendered daughter (q.v.), is applied in the Bible not only to a man's child, but to his niece, granddaughter, or great-granddaughter. It is therefore possible that Uriel of Gibeah married Tamar, the beautiful daughter of Absalom (2Sa_14:27), and by her had Maachah, who was thus the daughter of Uriel and granddaughter of Absalom. SEE MAACHAH.
6. A son of Jeroboam 1, king of Israel. His severe and threatening illness induced Jeroboam to send his wife with a present [ SEE GIFT ] suited to the disguise in which she went, to consult the prophet Ahijah respecting his recovery. This prophet was the same who had, in the days of Solomon, foretold to Jeroboam his elevation to the throne of Israel. Though blind with age, he knew the disguised wife of Jeroboam, and was authorized, by the prophetic impulse that came upon him, to reveal to her that, because there was found in Abijah only, of all the house of Jeroboam, some good thing toward the Lord, he only, of all that house, should come to his grave in peace, and be mourned in Israel (see S. C. Wilkes, Family Sermons, 12; C. Simeon, Works, 3, 385; T. Gataker, Sermons, pt. 2:291). Accordingly, when the mother returned home, the youth died as she crossed the threshold of the door. And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him (1Ki_14:1-18), B.C. cir. 782. SEE JEROBOAM.
7. The daughter of Zechariah, and mother of King Hezekiah (2Ch_29:1), and, consequently, the wife of Ahaz, whom she survived, and whom, if we may judge from the piety of her son, she excelled in moral character. She is elsewhere called by the shorter form of the name, ABI SEE ABI (2Ki_18:2). B.C. 726. Her father, may have been the same with the Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah, whom Isaiah took as a witness of his marriage with the prophetess (Isa_8:2; comp. 2Ch_26:5).
8. One of those (apparently priests) who affixed their signatures to the covenant made by Nehemiah (Neh_10:7), B.C. 410. He is probably the same (notwithstanding the great age this implies) who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Neh_12:4), B.C. 536, and who had a son named Zichri (Neh_12:17).
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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