2 Kings 8:26
in 2 Kings 8Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
KJV
Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
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This verse in 2 Kings 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseTwo and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign - In 2Ch 22:2, it is said, forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; this is a heavy difficulty, to remove which several expedients have been used. It is most evident that, if we follow the reading in Chronicles, it makes the son two years older than his own father! for his father began to reign when he was thirty-two years old, and reigned eight years, and so died, being forty years old; see 2Ki 8:
This site's exposition
In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab over Israel
on 2 Kings 8:25-27
Ahaziah begins a one-year reign in the twelfth year of Joram, and the text names his mother, Athaliah. The verdict that he “walked in the ways of the house of Ahab” echoes what verse 18 said of his father. Two generations of Judah's kings are now bound into Ahab's family.
This site's exposition
twenty-two years old
In the text Adam Clarke read, 2 Chronicles 22:2 gives Ahaziah's age as forty-two, and Clarke calls the difference a heavy difficulty. His father Jehoram began to reign at thirty-two and died eight years later at forty. That makes the son two years older than his father.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
When men choose wives for themselves they must remember they are choosing mothers for their children, and are concerned to choose accordingly. Joram, his mother's brother, courted him to join with him for the recovery of Ramoth-Gilead, an attempt fatal to Ahab; so it was to Joram his son, for in that expedition he was wounded (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign,....
Canaan, that fruitful land, was turned into barrenness, for the iniquity of those that dwelt therein. The famine in Samaria was soon relieved by the raising of that siege, but neither that judgment nor that mercy had a due influence upon them, and therefore the Lord called for another famine; for when he judgeth he will overcome.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Such names as Athaliah, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, indicate that the Baal-worshipping kings of Israel did not openly renounce the service of Yahweh. Athaliah is “the time for Yahweh;” Ahaziah “the possession of Yahweh;” Jehoram, or Joram, “exalted by Yahweh.” The daughter of Omri - “Son” and “daughter” were used by the Jews of any descendants (compare Mat 1:1). The whole race were “the children of Israel.” Athaliah was the grand-daughter of Omri (see the margin). Her being called “the daughter of Omri” implies that an idea of special greatness was regarded as attaching to him, so that his name prevailed over that of Ahab. Indications of this ideal greatness are found in the Assyrian inscriptions, where the early name for Samaria is Beth-Omri, and where even Jehu has the title of “the son of Omri.”
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [was] a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֨ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| וּשְׁתַּ֤יִם | ushetayim | and two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| שָׁנָה֙ | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| אֲחַזְיָ֣הוּ | ʾachazyahu | Ahaziah | H274 → | 37 times |
| בְמָלְכ֔וֹ | vemalekho | when became king he | H4427 → | 348 times |
| וְשָׁנָ֣ה | veshanah | and a year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| אַחַ֔ת | ʾachat | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| מָלַ֖ךְ | malakh | he reigned | H4427 → | 348 times |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם | birushalim | in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וְשֵׁ֤ם | veshem | and [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| אִמּוֹ֙ | ʾimo | mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
| עֲתַלְיָ֔הוּ | ʾatalyahu | [was] Athaliah | H6271 → | 17 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עָמְרִ֖י | ʾameri | Omri | H6018 → | |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
בֶּן־[was] a son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
עֶשְׂרִ֨יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
וּשְׁתַּ֤יִםand two
ushetayimH8147 →768 times
שָׁנָה֙year[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
אֲחַזְיָ֣הוּAhaziah
ʾachazyahuH274 →37 times
בְמָלְכ֔וֹwhen became king he
vemalekhoH4427 →348 times
וְשָׁנָ֣הand a year
veshanahH8141 →877 times
אַחַ֔תone
ʾachatH259 →971 times
מָלַ֖ךְhe reigned
malakhH4427 →348 times
בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑םin Jerusalem
birushalimH3389 →643 times
וְשֵׁ֤םand [the] name of
veshemH8034 →864 times
אִמּוֹ֙mother his
ʾimoH517 →220 times
עֲתַלְיָ֔הוּ[was] Athaliah
ʾatalyahuH6271 →17 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
עָמְרִ֖יOmri
ʾameriH6018 →
מֶ֥לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 11:1When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 41:1
In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son…
- 2 Kings 25:25
In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the…
- 2 Chronicles 22:10–12
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.
- Matthew 2:16
When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years…
- 2 Chronicles 24:7
For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had even used the sacred objects of the house of the LORD for the Baals.
- Jeremiah 41:1
Through
2 Chronicles 22:2Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:28
And Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigned in his place.
- 2 Chronicles 21:6
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…
- 1 Kings 16:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomOmriArmy commander made king of Israel who founded Samaria as the northern capital; politically formidable, spiritually judged — "wors…
- PersonDivided kingdomAthaliahAhab's daughter and Judah's only reigning queen, who destroyed the royal seed — save the hidden Joash — and fell when the temple g…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.