Abijah
ABIJAH
ABIJAH (Heb. ????????; "yhw(h) is my father"), king of Judah c. 914–912 b.c.e.; son of *Rehoboam (on the identity of his mother, see *Asa). In Kings, where he is referred to throughout as Abijam, it is stated only that he followed the sinful ways of his father, and that he was at war with *Jeroboam, king of Israel, throughout his reign. The Book of Chronicles, however, for its own theological reasons, unhistorically depicts him as a pious king who succeeded in wresting a sizable slice of territory from Jeroboam (ii Chron. 13:19). According to i Kings 15:19, it is likely that a political alliance existed between Abijah and *Ben-Hadadi, king of Aram-Damascus. Abijah had 14 wives, who bore 22 sons and 16 daughters (ii Chron. 13:21). One source of information for the Chronicler on the reign of Abijah was the Midrash of the prophet Iddo (ibid. 13:22).
bibliography:
S. Japhet, i & ii Chronicles (1993), 697–700.
