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Easton's Bible Dictionary
father (i.e., "possessor or worshipper") of Jehovah.
(1) 1 Chronicles 7:8 .
(2) 1 Chronicles 2:24 .
(3) The second son of Samuel ( 1 Samuel 8:2 ; 1 Chronicles 6:28 ). His conduct,
along with that of his brother, as a judge in Beer-sheba, to which office his
father had appointed him, led to popular discontent, and ultimately provoked the
people to demand a royal form of government.
(4) A descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, a chief of one of the twenty-four
orders into which the priesthood was divided by David ( 1 Chronicles 24:10 ).
The order of Abijah was one of those which did not return from the Captivity (
Ezra 2:36 - 39 ; Nehemiah 7:39 - 42 ; 12:1 ).
(5) The son of Rehoboam, whom he succeeded on the throne of Judah ( 1 Chronicles
3:10 ). He is also called Abijam ( 1 Kings 14:31 ; 15:1 - 8 ). He began his three
years' reign ( 2 Chronicles 12:16 ; 13:1 , 13:2 ) with a strenuous but unsuccessful
effort to bring back the ten tribes to their allegiance. His address to "Jeroboam
and all Israel," before encountering them in battle, is worthy of being specially
noticed ( 2 Chronicles 13:5-12 ). It was a very bloody battle, no fewer than 500,000
of the army of Israel having perished on the field. He is described as having
walked "in all the sins of his father" ( 1 Kings 15:3 ; 2 Chronicles 11:20 - 22
). It is said in 1 Kings 15:2 that "his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter
of Abishalom;" but in 2 Chronicles 13:2 we read, "his mother's name was Michaiah,
the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah." The explanation is that Maachah is just a variation
of the name Michaiah, and that Abishalom is probably the same as Absalom, the
son of David. It is probable that "Uriel of Gibeah" married Tamar, the daughter
of Absalom ( 2 Samuel 14:27 ), and by her had Maachah. The word "daughter" in
1 Kings 15:2 will thus, as it frequently elsewhere does, mean grand-daughter.
(6) A son of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. On account of his severe illness
when a youth, his father sent his wife to consult the prophet Ahijah regarding
his recovery. The prophet, though blind with old age, knew the wife of Jeroboam
as soon as she approached, and under a divine impulse he announced to her that
inasmuch as in Abijah alone of all the house of Jeroboam there was found "some
good thing toward the Lord," he only would come to his grave in peace. As his
mother crossed the threshold of the door on her return, the youth died, and "all
Israel mourned for him" ( 1 Kings 14:1 - 18 ).
(7) The daughter of Zechariah ( 2 Chronicles 29:1 ; Compare Isaiah 8:2 ), and
afterwards the wife of Ahaz. She is also called Abi ( 2 Kings 18:2 ).
(8) One of the sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin ( 1 Chronicles 7:8 ). "Abiah,"
A.V.
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
the Lord is my father
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(my father is Jehovah).
(1) Son and successor of Rehoboam on the throne of Judah. ( 1 Kings 4:21 ; 2 Chronicles
12:16 ) He is called 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.
( 1 Kings 14:23 , 14:24 )
(2) The second son of Samuel, called ABIA H ABIA H in our version. [ABIA, ABIA
H ABIA H, No. 3]
(3) Son of Jeroboam I., king of Israel; died in his childhood. ( 1 Kings 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. ( 1 Chronicles 24:10 ; 2 Chronicles
8:14 ; Nehemiah 12:4 , 12:17 )
(5) One of the priests who entered into a covenant with Nehemiah to walk in Gods
law, ( Nehemiah 10:7 ) unless the name is rather that of a family, and the same
with the preceding.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
a-bi'-ja ('abhiyah or 'abhiyahu (2 Chronicles 13:20,21),
"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 (1 Chronicles 7:8).
(2) The second son of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 8:2 ; 1 Chronicles 6:28).
(3) The eighth among "the holy captains and captains of God" appointed by lot
by David in connection with the priestly courses (1 Chronicles 24:10). Compare
"Zacharias of the course of Abijah" (Luke 1:5).
(4) A son of Jeroboam I of Israel (1 Kings 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 (1 Chronicles 3:10 ; 2 Chronicles
11:20 - 14:1). As to the variant name Abijam (1 Kings 14:31 ; 15:1 , 7 , 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 (1 Kings 15:2 ; 2 Chronicles
11:20 , 21 , 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 (1 Kings
15:10 , 13 ; 2 Chronicles 15:16). Further we are explicitly told that Absalom
had three sons and one daughter (2 Samuel 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 (2 Samuel 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" (2 Chronicles
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 (2 Samuel 3:3 ; 1 Chronicles 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 (2 Chronicles 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
(1 Kings 15:13 ; 2 Chronicles 15:16).
The account in Chronicles deals mainly with a decisive victory which, it says,
Abijah gained over northern Israel (2 Chronicles 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 (Nehemiah 10:7). Conjecturally
the same with the one mentioned in Nehemiah 12:4 , 17.
(7) The wife of Judah's grandson Hezron, to whom was traced the origin of Tekoa
(1 Chronicles 2:24).
(8) The mother of King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:1), called Abi in 2 Kings. See ABI.
Willis J. Beecher
Tags:
abijah, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, king of judah, son of Jeroboam (who died as a youth), son of rehoboam
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