2 Chronicles 22 Study Notes: Ahaziah, Athaliah, and the Hidden Prince
Ahaziah reigns briefly over Judah, steered into evil by his mother Athaliah and by Ahab’s family, and God brings about his death at the hands of Jehu. Athaliah then seizes power and tries to wipe out the royal line, but Ahaziah’s sister Jehoshabeath hides the young prince Joash in the temple for six years.
General
Why did Ahaziah follow the ways of Ahab’s family, according to 2 Chronicles 22:3-4?
Answer: His mother Athaliah and Ahab’s family steered him into evil
Ahaziah’s mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri (22:2), and his father Jehoram had taken one of Ahab’s daughters as his wife (Ahab was king of the northern kingdom of Israel) and had followed that family’s ways (21:6). The text explains that Ahaziah did the same because his mother counseled him to act wickedly, and after his father died, members of Ahab’s family became his advisers, which led to his ruin (22:3-4). Scripture warns that the company we keep shapes us: walking alongside the wise makes one wise, but whoever keeps company with fools comes to harm (Proverbs 13:20), and corrupt companions ruin good character (1 Corinthians 15:33).
- 2 Chronicles 22:3 (BSB)“Ahaziah also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in wickedness.”Ahaziah follows Ahab’s ways because his mother counseled him toward wickedness.
- 2 Chronicles 22:4 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for to his destruction they were his counselors after the death of his father.”After his father’s death, Ahab’s family became his advisers, to his ruin.
- 2 Chronicles 21:6 (BSB)“And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.”Ahaziah’s father Jehoram had married into Ahab’s family and walked in its ways.
- Proverbs 13:20 (BSB)“He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”The companion of fools is destroyed, as Ahaziah was through his advisers.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.””Paul states that bad company corrupts good character.
Theological
What reason does Chronicles give for Ahaziah’s imitation of Ahab’s dynasty (2 Chronicles 22:3-4)?
Answer: His mother Athaliah and Ahab’s family steered him into evil
Ahaziah’s evil is traced directly to his counselors. His mother Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri (22:2), advised him toward wickedness, and after Jehoram’s death Ahab’s family became his advisers to his own destruction (22:3-4). The pattern began with Jehoram’s marriage into Ahab’s family (21:6). Wisdom literature and the apostle Paul agree that companions form character for good or ill (Proverbs 13:20; 1 Corinthians 15:33), and Chronicles shows that principle working itself out in Judah’s royal house.
- 2 Chronicles 22:3 (BSB)“Ahaziah also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in wickedness.”Ahaziah follows Ahab’s ways because his mother counseled him toward wickedness.
- 2 Chronicles 22:4 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for to his destruction they were his counselors after the death of his father.”After his father’s death, Ahab’s family became his advisers, to his ruin.
- 2 Chronicles 21:6 (BSB)“And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.”Ahaziah’s father Jehoram had married into Ahab’s family and walked in its ways.
- Proverbs 13:20 (BSB)“He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”The companion of fools is destroyed, as Ahaziah was through his advisers.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.””Paul states that bad company corrupts good character.
General
After Ahaziah was put to death, why was he given a burial (2 Chronicles 22:9)?
Answer: His grandfather Jehoshaphat had wholeheartedly sought God
While Jehu was carrying out judgment on Ahab’s family, he also killed Judah’s leaders and Ahaziah’s nephews who served him; then Ahaziah was found hiding in Samaria, taken to Jehu, and executed (22:8-9). Yet he was buried, because those who buried him said he was Jehoshaphat’s grandson, and Jehoshaphat was a king who had wholeheartedly sought the LORD (22:9). Even in judgment, honor clung to the memory of a godly ancestor. Chronicles describes Jehoshaphat as a king who sought his father’s God and kept His commands (17:3-4), and Proverbs says the righteous are remembered with blessing (Proverbs 10:7).
- 2 Chronicles 22:9 (BSB)“Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. So Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” So no one was left from the house of Ahaziah with the strength to rule the kingdom.”Ahaziah is captured and killed, but buried because he was Jehoshaphat’s grandson.
- 2 Chronicles 17:3-4 (BSB)“Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but he sought the God of his father and walked by His commandments rather than the practices of Israel.”Jehoshaphat is described as one who sought the God of his father.
- Proverbs 10:7 (BSB)“The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.”The memory of the righteous is a blessing, as Jehoshaphat’s was even here.
Theological
What reason is given for Ahaziah receiving burial after his execution (2 Chronicles 22:9)?
Answer: His grandfather Jehoshaphat had wholeheartedly sought God
Ahaziah dies as part of Jehu’s judgment on Ahab’s house, along with Judah’s princes and his nephews (22:8-9). His burial is granted only for Jehoshaphat’s sake, because his grandfather had wholeheartedly sought the LORD (22:9). Chronicles consistently presents Jehoshaphat as one who sought his father’s God (17:3-4), and the honor attached to his name even in his grandson’s death illustrates the proverb that the righteous are remembered with blessing (Proverbs 10:7).
- 2 Chronicles 22:9 (BSB)“Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. So Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” So no one was left from the house of Ahaziah with the strength to rule the kingdom.”Ahaziah is captured and killed, but buried because he was Jehoshaphat’s grandson.
- 2 Chronicles 17:3-4 (BSB)“Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but he sought the God of his father and walked by His commandments rather than the practices of Israel.”Jehoshaphat is described as one who sought the God of his father.
- Proverbs 10:7 (BSB)“The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.”The memory of the righteous is a blessing, as Jehoshaphat’s was even here.
General
Which earlier promise in Chronicles explains why David’s royal line survived Athaliah’s attempt to destroy it (2 Chronicles 21:7; 22:10-12)?
Answer: The LORD’s covenant to keep David’s lamp burning forever
Athaliah’s purge threatened to end David’s line, but Chronicles had already said the LORD would not destroy David’s house because of His covenant (a binding promise) with David, and His promise to keep David’s lamp burning for his descendants for all time (21:7). Hiding Joash was the means God used to keep that word (22:11-12), and in the next chapter Jehoiada presents Joash as the king God promised to David’s line (23:3). God had sworn that one of David’s descendants would sit on his throne (Psalm 132:11), and that promise reaches its goal in Jesus, to whom God gives David’s throne to reign forever (Luke 1:32-33). Human wickedness could not cancel God’s covenant.
- 2 Chronicles 22:12 (BSB)“And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.”The one surviving son of David’s line is kept hidden for six years.
- 2 Chronicles 21:7 (BSB)“Yet the LORD was unwilling to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David, and since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.”The LORD was unwilling to destroy David’s house because of His covenant and promised lamp.
- Psalm 132:11 (BSB)“The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.”God swore to David that one of his descendants would sit on his throne.
- Luke 1:32-33 (BSB)“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!””The angel announces that Jesus will receive David’s throne and reign forever.
Theological
What earlier word in Chronicles accounts for the survival of the Davidic line through Athaliah’s purge (2 Chronicles 21:7; 22:10-12)?
Answer: The LORD’s covenant to keep David’s lamp burning forever
Athaliah’s massacre was a direct assault on the Davidic covenant, yet Chronicles has just stated that the LORD would not destroy David’s house on account of His covenant and the promised lamp for David’s line (21:7). The rescue of Joash is the providential means of covenant faithfulness (22:11-12), and Jehoiada will appeal to that very promise in crowning him (23:3). God’s oath to set David’s offspring on his throne (Psalm 132:11) is finally fulfilled in Christ, whose reign over Jacob’s house has no end (Luke 1:32-33). The covenant line could be reduced to a single hidden child but not extinguished.
- 2 Chronicles 22:12 (BSB)“And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.”The one surviving son of David’s line is kept hidden for six years.
- 2 Chronicles 21:7 (BSB)“Yet the LORD was unwilling to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David, and since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.”The LORD was unwilling to destroy David’s house because of His covenant and promised lamp.
- Psalm 132:11 (BSB)“The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.”God swore to David that one of his descendants would sit on his throne.
- Luke 1:32-33 (BSB)“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!””The angel announces that Jesus will receive David’s throne and reign forever.
General
When Ahaziah traveled to Jezreel to see the wounded Joram, what does 2 Chronicles 22:7 say about his downfall?
Answer: God brought it about through that very visit
Ahaziah traveled to Jezreel to see Israel’s king Joram, Ahab’s son, who was recovering from wounds received fighting the Arameans (22:5-6). The text says God was the source of Ahaziah’s downfall through this visit: while there he and Joram went out together to meet Jehu, the man anointed by the LORD (set apart with oil for a task) to bring Ahab’s family to an end (22:7). Ahaziah made his own choices and followed wicked advice (22:3-5), yet God ruled over those very choices to bring judgment. Chronicles speaks the same way of Rehoboam’s harsh decision, calling it a turn of events from God (10:15). People truly plan their way while the LORD directs their steps (Proverbs 16:9); at the cross wicked men acted freely, yet they did what God’s plan had determined (Acts 2:23). God never tempts anyone to evil (James 1:13), but nothing lies outside His rule.
- 2 Chronicles 22:7 (BSB)“Ahaziah’s downfall came from God when he went to visit Joram. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.”Ahaziah’s visit to Joram becomes the occasion of his downfall, which came from God.
- 2 Chronicles 10:15 (BSB)“So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.”Chronicles calls Rehoboam’s foolish choice a turn of events from God.
- Proverbs 16:9 (BSB)“A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”A man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Acts 2:23 (BSB)“He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.”The cross shows God’s set plan carried out through the free acts of the lawless.
- James 1:13 (BSB)“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.”God does not tempt anyone to evil, so His rule never makes Him the author of sin.
Theological
How does 2 Chronicles 22:7 describe the cause of Ahaziah’s ruin during his visit to Joram?
Answer: God brought it about through that very visit
Chronicles attributes Ahaziah’s ruin directly to God: his visit to the wounded Joram became the occasion of his destruction, because there he joined Joram in meeting Jehu, the man anointed by the LORD to cut off Ahab’s dynasty (22:5-7). Ahaziah acted willingly and culpably on wicked counsel (22:3-5), yet God sovereignly ordered those very acts toward judgment. Chronicles uses the same language of Rehoboam’s folly (10:15). Human planning and divine determination stand together (Proverbs 16:9), supremely at the cross, where lawless men freely did what God’s set plan had decreed (Acts 2:23), while God Himself never tempts anyone to sin (James 1:13).
- 2 Chronicles 22:7 (BSB)“Ahaziah’s downfall came from God when he went to visit Joram. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.”Ahaziah’s visit to Joram becomes the occasion of his downfall, which came from God.
- 2 Chronicles 10:15 (BSB)“So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.”Chronicles calls Rehoboam’s foolish choice a turn of events from God.
- Proverbs 16:9 (BSB)“A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”A man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Acts 2:23 (BSB)“He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.”The cross shows God’s set plan carried out through the free acts of the lawless.
- James 1:13 (BSB)“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.”God does not tempt anyone to evil, so His rule never makes Him the author of sin.
General
When Athaliah set out to wipe out Judah’s royal family, who saved young Joash (2 Chronicles 22:10-12)?
Answer: Jehoshabeath, Ahaziah’s sister, married to Jehoiada the priest
After Ahaziah’s death, his mother Athaliah set out to destroy the whole royal family of Judah and took power herself (22:10, 12). But Jehoshabeath, King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, rescued Ahaziah’s son Joash out of the group of the king’s sons and hid the boy and the woman who nursed him in a bedroom (22:11). The text adds that she was married to Jehoiada the priest, and Joash was kept hidden by them in God’s temple for six years during Athaliah’s rule (22:11-12). One courageous woman’s act kept David’s royal line alive, and no human scheme can succeed against the LORD (Proverbs 21:30). 2 Kings also records this rescue (2 Kings 11:2).
- 2 Chronicles 22:11 (BSB)“But Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she could not kill him.”Jehoshabeath, wife of Jehoiada the priest, steals Joash away and hides him from Athaliah.
- 2 Chronicles 22:12 (BSB)“And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.”Joash stays hidden in God’s house for six years while Athaliah rules.
- Proverbs 21:30 (BSB)“There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.”No counsel can prevail against the LORD, as Athaliah’s plan could not.
- 2 Kings 11:2 (BSB)“But Jehosheba daughter of King Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, and he was not killed.”The parallel account also records the princess rescuing Joash from Athaliah.
Theological
Who preserved Joash from Athaliah’s purge of the royal line (2 Chronicles 22:10-12)?
Answer: Jehoshabeath, Ahaziah’s sister, married to Jehoiada the priest
Athaliah’s attempt to annihilate the royal seed of Judah (22:10) is thwarted by Jehoshabeath, Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, who removes Joash and his nurse and hides them (22:11). Chronicles specifies that she was married to Jehoiada the priest, and the child was kept six years in God’s house during Athaliah’s rule (22:11-12). Through this priestly household God preserved the Davidic line, since no counsel can stand against the LORD (Proverbs 21:30). The parallel account in 2 Kings also records the rescue (2 Kings 11:2).
- 2 Chronicles 22:11 (BSB)“But Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she could not kill him.”Jehoshabeath, wife of Jehoiada the priest, steals Joash away and hides him from Athaliah.
- 2 Chronicles 22:12 (BSB)“And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.”Joash stays hidden in God’s house for six years while Athaliah rules.
- Proverbs 21:30 (BSB)“There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.”No counsel can prevail against the LORD, as Athaliah’s plan could not.
- 2 Kings 11:2 (BSB)“But Jehosheba daughter of King Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, and he was not killed.”The parallel account also records the princess rescuing Joash from Athaliah.