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AMON

(Heb. ʾāmôn)

(PERSON)

1. King of Judah, son of Manasseh and grandson of Hezekiah, and father of Josiah. His reign was brief, lasting only two years (643-642 b.c.; 2 Kgs. 21:19-26; 2 Chr. 33:21-25).

Amon succeeded to the throne following the death of Manasseh. Only 22 at his accession (2 Kgs. 21:19), he must have been among the youngest of Manasseh’s sons. His mother was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz. Amon receives the common negative evaluation given by the Deuteronomistic editors (2 Kgs. 21:20). He was assassinated by his “servants” (probably officials in the royal administration) in the palace, but motives for the assassination are missing. Most likely, given Amon’s apparent continuation of Manasseh’s policy of submission to the Assyrians, is that his assassins may have hoped to revitalize hopes for Judean independence; if so, it was a futile effort doomed to failure. The text of 2 Kgs. 21:24 is clear that the “people of the land,” probably the landed aristocracy, saw to it that Amon was replaced with his eight-year-old son Josiah, during whose minority the policy of submission continued. Another possibility is that Amon was slain by people desiring a restoration of the religious reforms initiated by Hezekiah late in the 8th century and abandoned by Manasseh early in the 7th. Also possible is that Amon was killed by other members of the royal family in a scramble for the throne. In the end, nothing conclusive can be said regarding the circumstances or motives of Amon’s slaying, and the final verdict is that of the Deuteronomistic editor who condemns him for his failure to reverse the wrongs of his father.

2. An official (NRSV “governor”) of the city of Samaria (1 Kgs. 22:26 = 2 Chr. 19:25). Amon appears in the narrative concerning the prophecy of Micaiah as one of two persons charged with imprisoning and guarding the prophet during the king’s absence at Ramoth-gilead.

3. A person listed among those who returned from exile in Babylon under Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Neh. 7:59). In the parallel text in Ezra 2:57 the name is listed with an alternate spelling, Ami (Heb. ʾāmî).

Bibliography. M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings. AB 11 (Garden City, 1988), 275-76; A. Malamat, “The Historical Background of the Assassination of Amon,” IEJ 3 (1953): 26-29.

Paul K. Hooker

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

AMON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)