Abijah
Father (i.e., “possessor or worshipper”) of Jehovah. (1.) 1 Chr 7:8. (2.) 1 Chr 2:24.
(3.) The second son of Samuel (1 Sam 8:2; 1 Chr 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 Chr 24:10). The order of Abijah was one of those which did not return from the Captivity (Ezra 2:36–39; Neh 7:39–42; Neh 12:1).
(5.) The son of Rehoboam, whom he succeeded on the throne of Judah (1 Chr 3:10). He is also called Abijam (1 Kgs 14:31; 1 Kgs 15:1–8). He began his three years’ reign (2 Chr 12:16; 2 Chr 13:1, 2 Chr 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 Chr 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 Kgs 15:3; 2 Chr 11:20–22). It is said in 1 Kgs 15:2 that “his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom;” but in 2 Chr 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 Sam 14:27), and by her had Maachah. The word “daughter” in 1 Kgs 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 Kgs 14:1–18).
(7.) The daughter of Zechariah (2 Chr 29:1; comp. Isa 8:2), and afterwards the wife of Ahaz. She is also called Abi (2 Kgs 18:2).
(8.) One of the sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin (1 Chr 7:8). “Abiah,” A.V.
Named in the Bible
20 verses
- 1 Kings 14:1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
- 1 Chronicles 24:10 The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
- 2 Chronicles 11:20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
- 2 Chronicles 11:22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
- 2 Chronicles 12:16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
- 2 Chronicles 13:1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 13:2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
- 2 Chronicles 13:3 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
- 2 Chronicles 13:4 And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;
- 2 Chronicles 13:15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 13:17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
- 2 Chronicles 13:19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.
- 2 Chronicles 13:20 Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.
- 2 Chronicles 13:21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
- 2 Chronicles 13:22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
- 2 Chronicles 14:1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.
- 2 Chronicles 29:1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
- Nehemiah 10:7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
- Nehemiah 12:4 Iddo, Ginnetho, Abijah,
- Nehemiah 12:17 Of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
