Chapter 22

1 Ahaziah succeeding reigneth wickedly. 5 In his confederacy with Joram the son of Ahab, he is slain by Jehu. 10 Athaliah, destroying all the seed royal, save Joash, whom Jehoshabeath his aunt hid, usurpeth the kingdom.

1. Ahaziah. This section (vs. 1–9) is parallel to Kings 8:25–29.

To the camp. The limited details presented leave the situation obscure. The royal princes were apparently in some camp away from the capital when they were beset by a marauding band of Arabs, and were captured and slain.

2. Forty and two. This figure is given as 22 in 2 Kings 8:26. Ahaziah could not have been 42 years old when he took the throne, because his father died at 40 (2 Chron. 21:5, 20). Two explanations of this have been offered. One is that an error in transcription is responsible for the word “forty” instead of “twenty.” The other is that the Hebrew phrase “a son of 42 years” refers not to Ahaziah’s age at his accession, but to the number of years from the founding of the dynasty of Omri, since Ahaziah was a “son” of that dynasty through “Athaliah the daughter of [Ahab, son of] Omri.” That Ahaziah was under the tutelage of that royal house is evident from vs. 3–5 and from 2 Kings 8:27, where he is called a “son in law of the house of Ahab.” It should not be surprising to find a fragmentary reference to an era reckoning from Omri, since Omri was so important a ruler that other nations continued long after to call the land of Israel the land of Omri, and the kings of Israel sons of Omri (see on 2 Kings 8:26). From the beginning of Omri’s reign to the accession of Ahaziah was about 42 years.

The daughter of Omri. Actually the granddaughter of Omri, since Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab (ch. 21:6), who was the son of Omri. Omri is mentioned instead of Ahab because Omri was the founder of the house. On the use of son as grandson see on 1 Chron. 2:7.

3. Ways of the house of Ahab. Compare Chron. 21:6, 13; Micah 6:16.

His counsellor. This item is not found in Kings. Athaliah was a forceful woman, much like her mother Jezebel, and would naturally do much to introduce the worship of Baal into the southern kingdom (see on 2 Kings 11:18).

4. They were his counsellors. His mother Athaliah (v. 3) and her brother Jehoram, or Joram (vs. 5, 6), seem to be intended.

To his destruction. Giving heed to evil counselors was Ahaziah’s moral undoing that ultimately brought death upon him.

5. Went with Jehoram. As Jehoshaphat had gone with Joram’s father Ahab (ch. 18), so Ahaziah became a close partner of Joram and joined him in his expedition against the Syrians. No good can be expected from association with evil men.

6. Hazael. See on 2 Kings 8:28.

Azariah. Fifteen Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX, and the Syriac read, Ahaziah. The parallel passage (2 Kings 8:29), which is practically identical with Chronicles, also reads Ahaziah.

7. Of God. This statement is not found in Kings. Chronicles explains how the working out of divine providence was involved in the death of Ahaziah. The king’s untimely death was interpreted as a judgment upon him for his idolatry. Ahaziah’s visit to Jehoram (or Joram) of Israel came at the exact moment of Jehu’s revolt, whence it happened that Joram, Jezebel, and Ahaziah all met their doom.

Son of Nimshi. That is, the grandson of Nimshi. Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat, who was the son of Nimshi (2 Kings 9:2. On the usage of “son” for “grandson” see on 1 Chron. 2:7).

Anointed to cut off. Jehu was appointed to execute civil penalty upon the house of Ahab (1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 9:1–10).

8. Judgment. Jehu was carrying out a divine commission (2 Kings 9:7–9).

God works in various ways to punish sin. If men could carry out their lawless deeds with impunity they would be greatly emboldened in their iniquity. The purpose of civil penalty is to put a deterrent upon the transgressor. God Himself dictated the civil penalties to be meted out to the transgressors of Israel’s ancient code. The governments of the nations that today impose civil penalty do so under the charter of Heaven, so that whosoever “resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God” (Rom. 13:2; cf. Rom. 13:1, 3–7).

Because of the limitations of civil government, God sometimes works through other means to punish sin. Sometimes the natural consequences of evil acts are in themselves sufficient punishment, and no other action is necessary. At other times God removes His restraining hand in a measure from the agencies of evil, so that a train of circumstances arises that will punish sin with sin (see PP 728). Then, again, He intervenes directly as in the case of Uzzah (2 Sam. 6:7), and of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11), or appoints certain individuals to carry out sentences upon evil, as in the case of Jehu.

The fact that the commission to Jehu to punish the wicked crimes of Ahab and his house came from Heaven does not mean that Heaven sanctioned all the details of the procedure by which Jehu carried out the command. Likewise, when God removes His restraining hand and permits sin to punish sin, it must not be concluded that He prompts the wicked acts that follow (PP 739). See further PP 324–326.

Sons of the brethren of Ahaziah. See on 2 Kings 10:13, 14. If these were the sons of the king’s literal brothers, they were small children escorted by these “princes of Judah.” But it is probable that the term “brethren” is here employed in a broad sense to include such relatives as cousins as well as nephews of the king. There were 42 persons in this group who were slain.

9. Sought Ahaziah. Ahaziah was wounded by his pursuers at “the going up to Gur,” near Ibleam (2 Kings 9:27), while evidently fleeing south toward Jerusalem. He changed his course, for he was taken in hiding, but was apprehended and taken to Jehu. On the possible route of his flight see on Kings 9:27.

Buried him. His burial was “in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David” (2 Kings 9:28). It thus seems that Ahaziah was buried in the sepulchers of the kings, unlike his father Jehoram, to whom this final honor was refused (2 Chron. 21:20).

To keep still. Better, “to retain.” There was none of Ahaziah’s posterity who was able to rule the kingdom. He was only about 23 years old at his death (see 2 Kings 8:26) and thus would have no sons old enough to take the throne. This observation forms the introduction to the narrative of Athaliah’s usurpation of the crown.

10. When Athaliah saw. Verses 10–12 describe Athaliah’s seizure of the government. The parallel record is found in 2 Kings 11:1–3 (see comments there).

Destroyed. Heb. dabar, literally, “spoke,” which some have interpreted as “plotted against,” or “pronounced sentence.” More likely, with a number of Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX, the Syriac, the Targums, and Kings 11:1, we should read Хabad, “destroyed.”

11. Daughter of the king. That is, of King Jehoram (2 Kings 11:2).

The wife of Jehoiada. This information is not found in Kings. The fact that Jehoshabeath was the wife of Jehoiada the priest helps to explain her loyalty to the seed of David and also shows how she was in a position to hide the infant prince for so long a time.

Ellen G. White comments

1–12PK 214, 215

1–4PK 214

8–12PK 215