Chapter 22
Very odd. 21:17 says Jehoram's youngest son, the only one left alive, was named Jehoahaz. But in 22:1, it says Ahaziah, his youngest son, was made King. MSB does not address the discrepancy. Perhaps he had another son, after the invaders had gone home, that became the new youngest son??? In 2Kgs 7, it looks like Joram and Jehoram are the same person, son and successor to Jehoshaphat...NO, Joram is King in Israel, and is the son of Ahab...No, not that either. 2Kg 8:23 calls Joram the King of Judah. Very confusing. So, whomever this Ahaziah might be, he becomes King in Judah. The simplest answer is that Ahaziah actually IS Jehoahaz, but changed his name to escape being murdered by the invading Arabians. Doesn't say this, but this could be it. FINALLY! Ahaziah is the youngest son of the King of Israel, and is coming to power in the north, per a chart I have...but this doesn't get me there either. I am very confused, and will continue reading anyway.
2021 - Vs 1 clearly says that Ahaziah was the son of Jehoram. It also says. for the second time, that only Jehoram's youngest son was still alive. I think, therefore, that Jehoahaz and Ahaziah are the same. You can put them together as Jehoahaziah. Easy to make them the same name.
2024 - Jehoahaz means "Jehovah has seized". Perhaps a reference to the fact that all of Jehoram's sons were seized by Arabs, EXCEPT for Jehoahz, whom God "seized" and kept.
Ahaziah means "Jehovah holds". So Jehovah kept Jehoahaz from the Arabs, and now "keeps/holds" him as King of Judah. Maybe that's why the names are different. Clearly, from vs one, Ahaziah is Jehoram's youngest son, and from 21:17, Jehoahaz is his youngest son. If A=C and B=C, then A=B.
Still a couple more complications...Look at the timeline. Elijah sends this letter promising earthly problems for Jehoahaz. Some time later - we don't know how long - many nations make war on Judah, and the Arabs conquer the city and kill all but one of the sons. That son becomes King when he is 22. Was he born when Elijah's letter came? Jehoram was already 32 when he became king, and he only reigns 8 years. So Ahaziah would have to have been born before Jehoram was made King. Ahaziah was 22 when he became King, so he was born when Jehoram was just 18 years old, since Jehoram was 40 when he died. That means Jehoram had other sons BEFORE he was even 18. You can kind of see the setup for Ahaziah not being a very good king, even he hadn't been so heavily influenced by "Israel's royalty" being right there in the family to steer him wrong!
This son reigns only one year. His mother is Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri. Ahaziah does as Ahab in Israel, because his own mother counsels him in evil. The verses from 3 through 6 are long and confusing. I am not sure what all they say. At some point it seems that Ahaziah goes to visit a wounded Joram, son of Ahab, in Jezreel, after Israel has been in a battle with Hazael, King of Syria.
This is all confusing. It says that Jehu, who was chosen of God to execute judgement on the house of Ahab, came across Azariah's attendants while he was killing Ahab's descendants. So he killed Azariah's men, seeks and finds Azariah hiding in Samaria (the town, not the country), and kills him too. Azariah has no descendant able to rule the kingdom at this point. Doesn't say he has no children, just that none are able to rule.
So as a result of all this, Athaliah, his mother, kills all the royal family of the house of Judah. Holy cow! How many people would this have been??? What a horror! Even so, one of Azariah's daughters manages to steal Joash, one of Azariah's sons, and secret him away from the others so that he survives. He is in hiding for six years. The sister, named Jehoshabeath, is married to Jehoiada, the priest.
2024 - This all makes more sense in the 2Kings version - the part about how Ahaziah dies. I note that in the north, I note that Ahab had a son named Jehoram - the same name as the King of Judah who succeeded Jehoshaphat. Same name, different person entirely...but there are too many names in common...I need to come back sometime and work this all out. It is here, and each time I read it I get a better picture. Half an hour would do it. There is a lot of unraveling here that needs doing...I think I have also gotten confused about which Southern King allied with which Northern King against whom. Jehoshaphat did not - I don't think - ally himself with two different northern Kings after all. This really needs to be done.
2024 - It also tells us here that Hazael was King of Aram (Syria) at Ramoth-gilead. So that battle that killed Ahab was an attempt to recover this city in Gilead from the Syrians. Gilead was previously a part of Israel on the East side of the Jordan.