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2 Chronicles 22
New English Translation

Ahaziah’s Reign

22 The residents of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons.[a] So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two[b] years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother[c] was Athaliah, the granddaughter[d] of Omri. 3 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty,[e] for his mother gave him evil advice.[f] 4 He did evil in the sight of[g] the Lord like Ahab’s dynasty because, after his father’s death, they[h] gave him advice that led to his destruction. 5 He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son King Joram[i] of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syria[j] at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 6 Joram[k] returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians[l] in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah[m] son of King Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had been wounded.[n]

7 God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram.[o] When Ahaziah[p] arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had commissioned[q] to wipe out Ahab’s family.[r] 8 While Jehu was dishing out punishment to Ahab’s family, he discovered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who were serving Ahaziah and killed them. 9 He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,[s] “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place.[t]

Athaliah is Eliminated

10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal line[u] of Judah.[v] 11 So Jehoshabeath,[w] the daughter of King Jehoram,[x] took Ahaziah’s son Joash and stole him away from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him. 12 He remained in hiding in God’s temple[y] for six years while Athaliah was ruling over the land.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 22:1 tn Heb “for all the older [ones] the raiding party that came with the Arabs to the camp had killed.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 22:2 tc Heb “forty-two,” but some mss of the LXX and the Syriac along with the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 8:26 read “twenty-two.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 22:2 tn Heb “The name of his mother.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 22:2 tn The Hebrew term בַּת (bat, “daughter”) can refer, as here, to a granddaughter. See HALOT 165-66 s.v. I בַּת 1.
  5. 2 Chronicles 22:3 tn Heb “and also he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 22:3 tn Heb “for his mother was his adviser to do evil.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 22:4 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 22:4 tn That is, the members of Ahab’s royal house.
  9. 2 Chronicles 22:5 tn Heb “Jehoram.”Jehoram and Joram are alternate spellings of the Israelite king’s name (also in vv. 6-7). The shorter form is used in these verses to avoid confusion with King Jehoram of Judah, father of Azariah.
  10. 2 Chronicles 22:5 tn Heb “Aram” (also in v. 6).
  11. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  12. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tn Heb “which they inflicted [on] him.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tc Most Hebrew mss read “Azariah.” A few Hebrew mss, the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac read “Ahaziah” (cf. 2 Kgs 8:29).
  14. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tn Heb “because he was sick,” presumably referring to the wounds he received in the battle with the Syrians.
  15. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “From God was the downfall of Ahaziah by going to Joram.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  17. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “anointed.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “to cut off the house of Ahab.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 22:9 tn Heb “they said.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 22:9 tn Heb “and there was no one belonging to the house of Ahaziah to retain strength for kingship.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 22:10 tn Heb “she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring.” The verb קוּם (qum, “arise”) is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 125.
  22. 2 Chronicles 22:10 tn Heb “house of Judah.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 22:11 sn Jehoshabeath is a variant spelling of the name Jehosheba (2 Kgs 11:2).
  24. 2 Chronicles 22:11 tn Heb “the king”; the referent (King Jehoram, see later in this verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  25. 2 Chronicles 22:12 tn Heb “and he was with them in the house of God hiding.”
Close CEB

2 Chronicles 22
Common English Bible

22 The inhabitants of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah succeed him as king because the raiding party that had invaded the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah, Jehoram’s son, became king of Judah.

Ahaziah rules

2 Ahaziah was 22 years old[a] when he became king, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was the granddaughter of Omri. 3 Ahaziah walked in the ways of Ahab’s dynasty, encouraged in this wickedness by his mother. 4 He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because after his father’s death they gave him advice that led to his downfall. 5 Ahaziah was following their advice when he went with Israel’s King Joram,[b] Ahab’s son, to fight against Aram’s King Hazael at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. 6 Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he suffered at Ramah in his battle with Aram’s King Hazael. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah,[c] Jehoram’s son, went down to visit Joram, Ahab’s son, at Jezreel because he had been wounded. 7 But God used this visit to Joram to bring about Ahaziah’s downfall. After his arrival, Ahaziah went with Joram to meet Jehu, Nimshi’s son, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy Ahab’s dynasty. 8 While Jehu was executing judgment on Ahab’s dynasty, he discovered the princes of Judah, Ahaziah’s nephews, serving Ahaziah, and Jehu killed them. 9 Jehu went looking for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. He was then brought to Jehu and executed. He was given a decent burial, however, because people said, “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.”

There were now no members of Ahaziah’s dynasty strong enough to rule the kingdom.

Queen Athaliah rules Judah

10 When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, learned of her son’s death, she immediately destroyed the entire royal family of Judah’s dynasty. 11 But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter secretly took Ahaziah’s son Jehoash[d] from the rest of the royal children who were about to be murdered, and hid him in a bedroom, along with his nurse. In this way Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of the priest Jehoiada and the sister of Ahaziah, hid Jehoash from Athaliah so she couldn’t murder him. 12 He remained hidden with them in God’s temple for six years while Athaliah ruled the country.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 22:2 LXX, Syr, 2 Kgs 8:26; MT 42
  2. 2 Chronicles 22:5 Or Jehoram (also in 22:6-7); the king's name is variously spelled in either long Jehoram or short Joram form.
  3. 2 Chronicles 22:6 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT Azariah
  4. 2 Chronicles 22:11 Or Joash; the king's name is variously spelled in either long Jehoash or short Joash form in 2 Kgs.
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