1 The residents of Jerusalemmap For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all the older sons.tn Heb “for all the older [ones] the raiding party that came with the Arabs to the camp had killed.” So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

2 Ahaziah was twenty-twotc Heb “forty-two,” but the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 8:26 reads “twenty-two” along with some mss of the LXX and the Syriac. years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughtertn The Hebrew term בַּת (bat, “daughter”) can refer, as here, to a granddaughter. See HALOT 165-66 s.v. I בַּת 1. of Omri.

3 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty,tn Heb “and also he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.” for his mother gave him evil advice.tn Heb “for his mother was his adviser to do evil.”

4 He did evil in the sight oftn Heb “in the eyes of.” the Lord like Ahab’s dynasty because, after his father’s death, theytn That is, the members of Ahab’s royal house. gave him advice that led to his destruction.

5 He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son King Joramsn Jehoram and Joram are alternate spellings of the Israelite king’s name (also in vv. 6-7). The shorter form is used in these verse to avoid confusion with King Jehoram of Judah, father of Azariah. of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syriatn Heb “Aram” (also in v. 6). at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.

6 Joramtn Heb “he”; the referent (Joram) has been specified in the translation for clarity. returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrianstn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.” in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziahtc Most Hebrew mss read “Azariah.” A few Hebrew mss, the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac read “Ahaziah” (cf. 2 Kgs 8:29). son of King Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had been wounded.tn Heb “because he was sick,” presumably referring to the wounds he received in the battle with the Syrians.

7 God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram.tn Heb “From God was the downfall of Ahaziah by going to Joram.” When Ahaziahtn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity. arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had commissionedtn Heb “anointed.” to wipe out Ahab’s family.tn Heb “to cut off the house of Ahab.”

8 While Jehu was dishing out punishment to Ahab’s family, he discovered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who were serving Ahaziah and killed them.

9 He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria.map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,tn Heb “they said.” “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place.tn Heb “and there was no one belonging to the house of Ahaziah to retain strength for kingship.”

10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal linetn Heb “she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring.” The verb קוּם (qum, “arise”) is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 125. of Judah.tn Heb “house of Judah.”

11 So Jehoshabeath,sn Jehoshabeath is a variant spelling of the name Jehosheba (2 Kgs 11:2). the daughter of King Jehoram,tn Heb “the king”; the referent (King Jehoram, see later in this verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity. took Ahaziah’s son Joash and sneaked him awaytn Heb “stole.” from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him.

12 He remained in hiding in God’s templetn Heb “and he was with them in the house of God hiding.” for six years, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.