1) How Old was Ahaziah?

We have two records, two witnesses, regarding Ahaziah's life.

(2Kings 8:26) Twenty and two years old Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah daughter of Omri king of Israel.

(2Chronicles 22:2) Forty and two years old Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah daughter of Omri.

These appear contradictory. Opponents of the Bible may say here is a case of an error. But there is strong evidence in the situation and events that this is not a scribe's error. The text in Hebrew is identical as if copied except for forty and twenty, and in Hebrew 'forty' (ארבעים) cannot be mistaken for 'twenty' (עשׂרים).

If it is assumed the scribes both meant what they wrote, a logical explanation emerges. As we will show there can be no mistake as to how old Ahaziah was, not only do all the other details of the record itself confirm it, but everyone of that era and subsequent generations must have known it. That they must have known, in the historical context, is a powerful argument that this may be the scribe's political comment, that the God of Israel was happy the scribe made. Because it appears that Ahaziah never really reigned at all, even for a year, but rather was subject to those who held the real power. And the fact that there were two records allowed the events to be told in two ways.

Let us graphically sort out how old Ahaziah was when he was made king from the Bible record. There is a lot of evidence which fits together.

Ahaziah was the son of Jehoram and grandson of Jehoshaphat kings of Judah. Jehoram began his reign co-regent with his father, Jehoshaphat. Jehoram was married to Athaliah the daughter of Ahab (who was son of Omri the famous king of Israel).

(2Kings 8:16) And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.

(17) Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

(18) And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

We learn it was in the 5th year of Joram that Jehoram became co-regent with his father Jehoshaphat. This means their reigns overlapped for 4 years. This makes sense when we learn Jehoshaphat and Joram both went together to battle with the kings of Edom about that time (2 Kings 3), allowing Jehoram to rule while Jehoshaphat was away.

The key to understanding how old Ahaziah was when he began to reign, is in the lives of Jehoshaphat and Ahab, his two grandfathers, and the role of his father Jehoram and mother Athaliah. The record of the kings of Judah gives their ages, which often cross-check, which is very useful.

2) Daughter of Omri: Ahab blotted out

Firstly it must be explained why Athaliah was named as 'the daughter of Omri' the king of Israel in both accounts of Ahaziah her son's reign, and not the daughter of Ahab. Ahab was son of Omri, and therefore he was of the House of Omri, as Omri was the first of that dynasty ruling Israel. But it was prophesied there would be no posterity of Ahab. Though Omri was evil, Ahab did worse over the matter of being complicit in murdering Naboth and taking his inheritance. This ensured the end of the dynasty. Elijah is told to bring Ahab the news.

Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, 'Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'

And Ahab said to Elijah, 'Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?'

And he answered, 'I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every man child, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,' (1Kings 21:18-21)

Ahab's name was blotted even from the record of the kings of Judah, as he was to have no male posterity. Ahab's fate was determined by the influence of his wife Jezebel.

But there was none like unto Ahab, who did give himself over to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. (1Kings 21:25)

Yet despite this condemnation (which 2 Kings 9:8 repeats), I Kings 22 establishes that Jehoshaphat, when king of Judah and having been made wealthy by God, ended the war with the Northern kingdom of Israel by making peace with Ahab king of Israel. In alliance with Ahab, Jehoshaphat (when about 53 years old) went to war with Syria and witnessed Ahab's death in that battle, which occurred as had been prophesied by Elijah. After that a prophet comes to Jehoshaphat,

At that time a prophet named Jehu (son of Hanani) come to Jehoshaphat and tells king Jehoshaphat, Should thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God. (2Chronicles 19:2-3)

3) About Jehoshaphat

After this Jehoshaphat further reforms Judah. But the Moabites and Ammonites invade. Jehoshaphat prays a most remarkable public prayer,

“O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rule not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2Chronicles 20:6-12)

The people of Judah are given a miraculous victory against the Moabites and Ammonites in a place up from Engedi near Tekoa in a place afterwards called; the valley of Berachah

And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. (2Ch 20:26-30)

The warning from Jehu at the death of Ahab was not enough. In 1 Kings 22:49 it is recorded that Jehoshaphat refused a co-operative merchant venture shortly after with Ahaziah the son of Ahab. The Kings record does not explain why. The record in Chronicles explains why,

And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish. (2Ch 20:35-37)

Jehoshaphat had to refuse the offer as the ships were broken!

But already there must have been a tie Jehoshaphat had with Ahab's house. This tie would almost ruin the kingdom of Judah. At some point the son of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, married the daughter of Ahab, whose name was Athaliah. When the warning is given to Jehoshaphat against alliance with Ahaziah son of Ahab, the son of his own son Jehoram's union with Ahab's house would already be at least 11 years old whose name was also Ahaziah.

This tie by marriage of the two Royal houses might explain why the unsatisfactory reform that Joram king of Israel carried out in removing an altar of Baal after the death of father and brother was enough to bring Jehoshaphat on side. When Joram king of Israel, calls Jehoshaphat to go to battle against Edom, Jehoshaphat agrees to go. Significantly Jehoshaphat replied

I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. (2Kings 3:7)

They are given a victory, but only because of Jehoshaphat, Elisha is blunt before them both,

And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. (2Kings 3:14)

The truth was that Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram, who was at that time newly co- regent with his father was married to the sister of Joram the king of Israel. The plot and subtle influence is thicker as whereas Ahab is dead, Jezebel his wife is still alive in Israel. Joram, himself was not a Baal worshipper, but his mother still was, and, as Jehu shows plainly, Baal worship was still allowed, and popular, despite the miracles of Elijah.

4) Ahaziah killed with sons of Ahab

Whereas Elisha can't bear to be even in the presence of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat's grandson Ahaziah, sadly, has great affection for Joram. So much so that he willingly goes to the centre of Jezebel's power in Jezreel,

And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. (2Kings 8:29)

So well known in Israel was this strong connection with the house of Ahab, that Jehu treats Ahaziah king of Judah as a son of Ahab. When Ahaziah is king of Judah and goes to work with his uncle Joram son of Ahab the king of Israel, Jehu on a mission to kill all the sons of Ahab, kills Ahaziah, king of Judah!

The destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to 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. (2Chr 22:7)

Ahaziah does not die immediately, but makes it to Megiddo. His servants return his body to Jerusalem (2 Kings 9:27-28).

At the time when Ahaziah is killed, his brethren and all their entourage are on their way to visit both the king and queen in Israel.

So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way, Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, 'Who are ye?'

And they answered, 'We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.' (2Kings 10:11-13)

Who was the queen in Israel at the time? Was it Jezebel, who even Jehu respects calling her 'a king's daughter'? In any case Jezebel was still in the Royal house in Jezreel, and the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah were heading towards her influence, which was the men who she had chosen to bring up her own and Ahab's sons in Samaria. Jehu spoke of this influence,

When Joram saw Jehu, that he said, 'Is it peace, Jehu?'

And he answered, 'What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?' (2Kings 9:22)

The brethren of Ahaziah never made it back to Jerusalem, as their bodies with their companions (42 people in all) were buried in a mass grave in Samaria. Ahaziah's body was brought back to Jerusalem, and what happened then is remarkable. Was he 23? or 43? As a clue his mother Athaliah was still very active, and remarkably powerful.

5) Jehosphat vs Jezebel, Ahaziah & Athaliah

The accounts and interactions all fit together. Jehoshaphat was a contemporary of Ahab. When Jehospahat was 24 his son Jehoram was born. When Jehoram was elevated to be co-regent with his father, he was 32 and his father 56. The 32 year old Jehoram was co-regent at time of warfare when Jehoshaphat was allied with Joram, son of Ahab. Jehoram and Joram were contemporaries, and seem to have been of a similar age.

The generations match also as the wife of Jehoram king of Judah was Joram's sister, Athaliah.

But there is more evidence. The record in Kings, has a condemnation of Jehoram and his wife Athaliah very similar to the condemnation of Ahaz and his wife Jezebel.

he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children. (2King 8:18-19)

How evil was Jehoram? When Jehoshaphat dies at age 60, Jehoram clearly prompted by an evil faithless, power-grasping wife, kills all his brothers, all the other sons of Jehoshaphat. For this sin Elijah writes a letter,

'Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, But have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also have slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself: Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shall have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. (2Chronicles 21:12-15)

Jehoram's sons were all killed as the prophecy said. His oldest grown up sons were killed very soon after the prophecy was given when the Arabians invaded Judah leaving only Jehoahaz (which means 'Yah has seized', the same name as Ahaziah ('seized of Yah'). Then Jehu kills all the youngest of his sons after Joram's death at the time when he kills Ahaziah. When Jehoram died of a disease which Yahweh Elohim had sent in judgement, he was only 40 years old. The record is very clear. Ahaziah is the son of Jehoram and of Athaliah.

Two and twenty years old Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab. (2Kings 8:26-27)

As Jehoram died at 40, his son Ahaziah could not have been 42 years old when he died! He must have been 22 years old. So why does the scribe of Chronicles write 42 years old? In context the passage in Chronicles, unlike the passage in kings, features one other person: Athaliah.

And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his (Jehoram's) 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. Forty and two years old Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name Athaliah the daughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction. (2Chronicles 22:1-4)

Notice the word “they” in the Chronicles record. Ahaziah, it appears, is both son of Athaliah and son-in-law to the house of Ahab though having married a (grand?)daughter of Ahab, no doubt hand picked by his mother Athaliah from her family. In addition, we know it is impossible Ahaziah is much more than 22, being the younger (or least important) son of those slain by the Arabians (his father being 18 or 19 at his birth). The Chronicles record makes it clear that the real monarch was Athaliah. This again is consistent with Ahaziah being a young man, just turned 22. She was his counsellor. If Athaliah's husband was 40 at the time Ahaziah her son was turning 22, how old would Athaliah be at that time? Would 42 be reasonable?

It is not unreasonable to think the scribes were so unimpressed with Ahaziah's weakness and total subjection to his mother, they put his mother's age for the age of the monarch. Athaliah had sought power. Possibly she saw Jehoram as a way to achieve her proper place as the grandaughter of both King Omri and (likely as the daughter of Jezebel) the king of the Zidonians. She prompted her husband to kill his rival brothers. She would no doubt try to deny the prophecy given to her husband that she and her sons would be smitten. Ahaziah her son had survived and he was her way to continue to rule.

Then Jehu is anointed by Elijah, in one day Athaliah's brother, her son Ahaziah and possibly her children not yet grown up, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, and those that ministered to Ahaziah are killed, as well as her mother Jezebel. (Curiously if Athaliah was 42 years old, it is mentioned specifically that 42 of Ahaziah's sons and relatives and ministers died at the hand of Jehu). When the body of Ahaziah comes back to Jerusalem, to Athaliah, there is none left to either Ahab (her father) or Jehoram (her husband). There is no successor seen to Ahaziah.

So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. But 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. (2Chronicles 22:9-10)

We see that Athaliah is enraged, and openly seizes power in the same way she taught her husband, by killing all her rivals including, it appears, even her baby grandchildren. One might imagine that if there were any left of Jehoshaphat they would have died. There were no sons of Jehoram left, except Ahaziah's very young children. She kills even those, except that a sister of Ahaziah (possibly not a daughter of Athaliah) hid the baby Joash. But she does not prosper as Elijah said all the wives of Jehoram would be smitten, including the main perpetrator: Athaliah herself. She managed to seize power and hold it for six years, then she is smitten.

When she is smitten it is revealed that she had established Baal worship in Jerusalem.

Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. (2Chronicles 23:17)

Except for the discrepancy between 22 and 42 years in the two records, Ahaziah would be irrelevant. He barely reigned one year, and when he reigned his mother was the real monarch. But the contradiction, makes us stop and pause and consider. From Chronicles, and we are not dogmatic, it is possible we could understand, forty and two years old was Athaliah when she reigned through her son, introducing Baal worship and doing evil. She reigned one year and six years. In fact all of Athaliah's sons were Baal worshippers.

For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim. (2Chronicles 24:7)

The detail that Athaliah was 42 years old at the time she began to rule through Ahaziah, apart from being logical, suggests two things: Ahab's alliance with Jezebel occurred early in the reign of his father Omri and Jehoram's alliance marriage with Athaliah was made within the first 7 years of Jehoshaphat's reign over Judah. We might tend to consider an earlier date for the marriage as Ahaziah was the younger son of at least 3 sons. If the alliance was formed from the first to the third year of Jehoshaphat's reign, then Jehoram his son was about 12-14 and Athaliah could have been about 14-16 years old. These ages explain how there were sons older than Ahaziah. At 14-16 she was old enough to be trained in the ways of her mother. She may have seemed to Jehoshaphat to be a compliant youth, suitable to be moulded. But it was Jehoram who was moulded, and because of that influence of Jezebel, through Athaliah, there was nearly none left to Jehoshaphat.

Except for this discrepancy we might not consider how Yahweh Elohim maintained his promise to David to give him always 'a light' (a son) in Jerusalem, despite those very sons' own failure. For Ahaziah was the only one left of many sons, and even he was appointed to be destroyed by Yahweh, and Joash was the only one left of the sons of Ahaziah not destroyed. In addition, it must be more than chance that Joash, before he was able to remember anything, was hidden from idolatry and given into the hands of Jehoiada the priest to bring up. There might be a tinge of derision for Ahaziah and his mother on the part of the scribe, by putting he was 42 years when everyone of that era, and everyone who might think about it afterwards, knew it was not his age when his power-grasping mother was mentioned in the same breath.

Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, does hear? But thou, O LORD, shall laugh at them; thou shall have all the heathen in derision. (Psalm 59:7-8)

In the detail we see how Yahweh prevailed even though Jehoshaphat failed by making peace with the apostate Israel, in particular with Ahab who was marked for destruction due to his alliance with a woman promoting the absolute abomination of Baal worship. Jehoshaphat sought peace by a peace treaty with an enemy, which was not Yahweh's way. Jehoshaphat was rebuked, 'Should thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.' Ahab by his actions hated Yahweh.

Before understanding the depth of the connections it seems inexplicable how much effort was put by Yahweh into converting Ahab, when compared to Omri, yet his repentance was fleeting. The reason is clear when we know just how important the witness in Israel was in Judah because of the relationship of Ahab with Jehoshaphat and his family. Perhaps the marriage connection was part of the peace agreement, but the taking of Ahab's daughter in marriage by Jehoshaphat's son, was Jehoshaphat's truly great failure. When the boundaries are blurred between the worship of Yahweh and Baal, and tolerance of error begins, it ends in destruction of a generation.

The name Jezebel (Isabel) is given to those who are singled out for condemnation in Revelation 2:20. It seems that just as she comes to influence and brings Baal worship to Israel (and then through her daughter to Judah), Yahweh Elohim gives the great witness of the work of Elijah and Elisha and also great victories to Jehoshaphat. Athaliah set up the worship of Baal in Jerusalem within ten years of the great victory given by Yahweh to Jehoshaphat and Judah in the valley of Beracha. In the light of the evidence for Jezebel's role as representative of an arrogant apostasy, we can see why Jehoshaphat is given the great honour of being named in the place Yahweh chooses to plead with the nations. Jehoshaphat's name is mentioned twice in Joel 3. So to is Jezebel's Zidon,

Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: (Joel 3:4-5)

The God of Israel will not have the place of his worship taken over by idolators of any sort.

Elijah speaks of the great struggle,

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, 'How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.'

And the people answered him not a word. (1Kings 18:21)

There at Carmel Yahweh pleaded and reasoned for the soul of his people lest they be scattered to the nations. He then gave evidence of his Great Power. Yet some did not believe. Yahweh will do the same with the nations at the valley of Jehoshaphat, he will plead and reason with them,

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joel 3:2)

But many nations, despite the evidence, will not believe.

The events revealed by considering the two accounts of the age of Ahaziah show how Yahweh prevailed as Ahaziah was smitten as Elijah prophesied, within five years. Smitten also was Athaliah his mother, the real ruler of Judah at the time Ahaziah ruled. She was smitten just as Elijah prophesied, within 10 or 11 years of the prophecy. Despite the strong will of those from the idolatrous nations, the line of David continued as a witness, though not ruling after the Exile, until Joseph. Then a heir was given who would live and be always a light, because,

Yet Yahweh would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children (2Kings8:18-19)

For more see Earthquake in the days of Uzziah

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