Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ABIJAH

(Heb. ʾăḇîyâ) (also ABI, ABIJAM)

1. The second son of Samuel, who served (together with his brother, Joel) as a judge in Beer-sheba and was corrupted by duplicity (1 Sam. 8:2-3; 1 Chr. 6:13[MT 28]).

2. The son of Jeroboam I, king of Israel. When he fell ill, he sent his wife in disguise to the prophet Ahijah at Shiloh; the ruse failed, and Abijah died in Tirzah in accordance with the prophecy (1 Kgs. 14:1-18; cf. LXX 3 Kgdms. 12:24g-n).

3. King of Judah (ca. 913–911 b.c.e.), son of Rehoboam and Maacah (Micaiah, 2 Chr. 13:2), daughter of Absalom’s daughter Tamar and Uriel. The MT of 2 Chronicles reads Abijah (ʾăḇîyâ), while the MT of 1 Kings reads Abijam (ʾăḇîyām); LXX Abiou. Abijah went to war (probably a border conflict) with King Jeroboam I of Israel (1 Kgs. 15:7b; 2 Chr. 13:3, 13-19). Although the Deuteronomistic historian thought negatively of Abijah’s religious activity (1 Kgs. 15:3-5, in peculiar Deuteronomistic phrasing), the Chronicler describes him as a pious king. Therefore, according to the Chronicler, Abijah won his war against Rehoboam (2 Chr. 13:15-19). Abijah also succeeded in his personal life: he had 14 wives, 16 daughters, and 22 sons (2 Chr. 13:21). The speech in 2 Chr. 13:4-12, which was ascribed to Abijah, contains the main theological concepts of the Chronicler.

4. The head of the eighth division of priests (1 Chr. 24:10). According to Luke 1:5 Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to this division.

5. The wife of Ahaz and mother of Hezekiah, king of Judah (2 Chr. 29:1). She is called Abi (LXX Abou) in 2 Kgs. 18:2.

6. The wife of Hezron (1 Chr. 2:24 MT). Abijah does not appear in the Syriac Version, and some commentators regard it as a gloss (cf. RSV).

7. The son of Becher from the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. 7:6, 8; LXX reads “Zamria”).

8. A priest who signed (“set his seal upon”) the renewed covenant of the community in the time of Nehemiah (Neh. 10:8[7]; cf. 12:4, 17).

9. A priest who returned from Babylonia with Zerubbabel and Joshua (Neh. 12:1-4) and was head of a priestly group (v. 7).

The name Abijah also occurs on a seal preserved on ostracons (e.g., from Samaria and Arad).

Bibliography. I. Kalimi, The Books of Chronicles: A Classified Bibliography (Jerusalem, 1990), 173-74, nos. 1691-1705.

Isaac Kalimi

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ABIJAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)