He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab ,.... As his father Jehoram had, 2 Chronicles 21:6 . for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly ; to commit idolatry, who was of that idolatrous house. read more
His mother was his counsellor - Athaliah, the wicked daughter of a wicked parent, and the wicked spouse of an unprincipled king. read more
A pitiable prince; or, an unfortunate child of fortune. The thorough pitiableness of one born to a high estate is the lesson of the text; but we must wait to learn— I. THAT MEN SUFFER AS THEY SIN . It appears that Ahaziah was the only son left to the house of Jehoram; all the eldest had been slain by the invaders ( 2 Chronicles 22:1 ). Thus we find that the man who with shameful selfishness murdered his own brothers, had to suffer the loss, by violence, of his own sons.... read more
A medley of the memoranda of evil-doing, its consequences, and its end. The one surviving son of Jehoram, his youngest son, Ahaziah, is put on an unsteady, unsafe throne. Jehoram had caused all his own brethren to be slain, and now it had come to pass that all his "eldest sons had been slain by the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp" As Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and granddaughter of Omri, the evil wife of Jehoram, had not failed to make an evil husband of Jehoram, so,... read more
A chapter of tragedies. I. THE SLAUGHTER OF JEHORAM 'S SONS . ( 2 Chronicles 22:1 .) An illustration of three things. 1 . The perils attending high station. Jehoram's sons were among the captives taken by the Philistines and Arabians ( 2 Chronicles 21:17 ). Had they been common soldiers, their lives might have been spared; being princes of the blood, they were put to death. A man's social elevation attracts towards him the arrows of hate, envy, malice, and other secret... read more
The mother and the house of Ahab had become a proverb and a by-word for their evil. In this and the following two verses stress is laid on the evil counsel and the sources of it that prejudiced Ahaziah to his ruin. Although the parallel wants these direct statements, perhaps it scarcely says less, when it says (verse 27), " For he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab." read more
A.M. 3119. B.C. 885. Ahaziah’s wicked reign, 2 Chronicles 22:1-4 . Being confederate with Joram, he is slain by Jehu, 2 Chronicles 22:5-9 . Athaliah destroys the seed royal, and usurps the kingdom, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12 . 2 Chronicles 22:1. The band of men had slain all the eldest A cruel sort of men, who came along with the Arabians, and therefore slew those whom the Arabians had spared, and only carried into captivity. Or the Philistines may be intended, who accompanied the Arabians... read more
2 Chronicles 22:3-4. He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab Called their ways, not because they were the first inventors of them in these parts, but the chief establishers. These ways did not consist merely in the worshipping of God by an image, which was the way of Jeroboam; but in the worship of other gods besides the God of Israel, namely, Baal-gods, or Baalim. For his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly Being a crafty and an imperious woman. Those that counsel persons to... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 22:1-9
We have here an account of the reign of Ahaziah, a short reign (of one year only), yet long enough, unless it had been better. He was called Jeho-ahaz (2 Chron. 21:17); here he is called Ahaz-iah, which is the same name and of the same signification, only the words of which it is compounded are transposed. He is here said to be forty-two years old when he began to reign (2 Chron. 22:2), which could not be, for his father, his immediate predecessor, was but forty when he died, and it is said (2... read more