Two Brothers Named Ahaziah

There are at least three Kings in the Bible named Ahaziah. I have found it confusing to discuss them without distinguishing them as Ahaziah I, Ahaziah II and Ahaziah III. This article will focus on Ahaziah II and III, with just a brief mention of Ahaziah I. I will explain how these three people can be fit into the history of the nation of Israel according to the Bible.

After the reign of Ahab, his one and only son, Ahaziah I took over the throne of Israel. He reigned for two years. Ahaziah I was a wicked King who followed in the steps of his father. According to the scripture, he fell through a lattice in his upper chamber, and was severely injured. He then called the prophets of a false god, Baal, to predict if he would live or die from his injuries. This action greatly upset Jehovah, God of Isreal, and his prophet, Elijah. Elijah went to the king and told him he was never going to leave his bed, but that he would die there. Elijah was right. Ahaziah I only reigned two years from the time of Ahab's death until his own. All of this could be found in II Kings 1: 1-17

Ahaziah I did not have a son or brother. Therefore, Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, was made the king of Israel (II Kings 1:17). Jehoram was already the acting king of Judah, and had been for two years. He had a wife, Athaliah, who was much older then him. She was the daughter of Omir and sister to Ahab (II Chronicles 22:2). It can easily be assumed that, since Ahab's reign started before Jehoshaphat's, and that he was old enough to be married and have a child at the beginning of his reign, Athaliah could easily be older then Jehoshaphat, if not much younger then him. Jehoram had to resign as king of Judah and let his father, Jehoshaphat take it back over. While king of Israel, Jehoram was often referred to as Joram ( II Kings 8:24). Jehoram was a wicked king. However, he was not as wicked as Ahab or Ahaziah I. Jehoram ruled over Israel exclusively for about 5 years, before also ruling over Judah (II Kings 8:16). Jehoshaphat, Jehoram's father, died two years after this (I Kings 22:42). Five years later Jehoram allowed his eldest son Ahaziah II to rule with him over the nation of Judah at the age of 22 (II Kings 8:26). Ahaziah II and his father, Jehoram, were both killed in a battle with Jehu and his army (II Kings 9:24-27).

Jehu was a prophet of God who was given instruction to kill the wicked kings of Israel and Judah at this period in the history of the nation of Israel. Before he killed Jehoram and Ahaziah II, he had already killed Ahab. Once he had defeated the armies of Jehoram and Ahaziah II, Jehu took his army directly to the city of Jerusalem and dispatched the entire royal family except Jehoahaz, Jehoram's youngest heir (II Chronicles 21:17). After the slaughter, Jehu plundered the king's royal house of all of the valuables and then took his army and reigned in Samaria over the people of Israel (II Kings 10:30).

Jehoahaz was left to rule over Judah. For some unexplained reason, he changed his name to Ahaziah and took the throne of Judah and reigned for one year (II Chronicles 21:17 to 22:2). Ahaziah III was 42 when he took the throne, just one year after his brother, Ahaziah II, was killed at the young age of 23. The question of the contradiction is upon us! How can the younger son be older then the eldest son?

Ahaziah III was not the youngest son of Athaliah. Athaliah was perhaps twenty years older, if not more, then Jehoram. I believe it is entirely possible that Athaliah already had sons before she married Jehoram. If this hypothesis were true, then Ahaziah II would have been her youngest son, but Ahaziah III would have been last in line of the throne. The first in line for the throne would have been the one blood descendant, then the eldest step-son, and on down the line. Therefore, Ahaziah III (Jehoahaz) would have been the furthest down the line, and considered the youngest son of Jehoram.

This explanation has never been presented to my knowledge, but would explain a lot of the inconsistencies surrounding the name Ahaziah. It would explain why the 22 year old Ahaziah (II) had a different death recorded than the 42 year old Ahaziah (III). This would also explain how they could have the same father and mother, and still have different ages. I do understand that the story has, and depends on, unprovable assumptions. However, I cannot see, using scripture, how my hypothesis can be easily disproved either. I hope this article helps those who are searching for possibilities to contradict the nay-sayers who want to say that the Bible cannot be true.

The source of all of this information is the Authorized King James Bible.