(4) Idols of Syria. Proceeding in his wicked ness, he sacrificed to the idols of Syria, which, he imagined, had been the authors of his calamities, in order to render them more favorable; he brake in pieces the sacred vessels; he shut in every cor ner of the temple, and erected altars in every cor ner of Jerusalem and city of Judah, for burning incense.
(5) Death. He died in the ifith year of his reign, and was buried in Jerusalem; but had not the honor of interment in the royal tombs (2 Kings xv :37; xvi; 2 (nron. xxviii; Is. vii). It is contended by some that there are differences between the ac count of Ahaz in the Book of Kings and the al leged later account in Chronicles. "The Syrians carry away a large number of captives, and Pekah slays 120,00o in one day and carries away 200,000 captives, who, however, are sent back at the advice of a prophet. The invasions have no political mo tive assigned, they are a punishment for the king's sin, while the figures are altogether incredible. Tiglath-pileser is called in, not to crush the coali• tion, but to help him against the Philistines and Edomites. He did not help him, however, but apparently came against him, and was bought off with tribute. The religious apostasy of Ahaz comes out in much darker colors, and the account is really in conflict with the older. He burns his children, and not his son merely, in the fire; closes the temple and destroys its vessels, though we know that he took great interest in its services; and worships the gods of Damascus because of the success of the Syrians in war, though when Ahaz visited Damascus their power had been ut terly broken. Of all this the older history says nothing" (A. S. Peake, Hastings' Bib. Dict.). But although there are differences there may not of necessity be contradictions.
(6) Character. It would appear as though Ahaz was the most corrupt monarch that had hitherto appeared in Judah. He respected neither Jehovah, the law, nor the prophets; he broke through all the restraints which law and custom had imposed upon the He brew kings, and had regard only to his own de praved inclinations. He introduced the religion of the Syrians into Jerusalem, erected altars to the Syrian gods, altered the temple in many re spects after the Syrian model, and at length ven tured to shut it up altogether. Such a man could not exercise that faith in Jehovah, as the political head of the nation, which ought to animate the courage of a Hebrew king.
2. A great-grandson of Jonathan, son of King Saul. He was one of the four sons of Micah, and father of Jehoadah or Jarah Chron. viii :35, 36 ; ix :42).
AHAZIAH (Heb. rr,M, akh-az yaw', whom Jehovah sustains).
1. Son and successor of Ahab, and eighth king of Israel (1 Kings xxii:40, 51). He reigned two
years (B. C. 853-852). It seems that Jezebel ex ercised over her son the same influence which had guided her husband ; and Ahaziah pursued the evil courses of his father.
(1) Revolt. The most signal public event of his reign was the revolt of the Moabites. who took the opportunity of the defeat and death of Ahab to discontinue the tribute which they had paid to the Israelites. Ahaziah be came a party in the attempt of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to revive the maritime traffic by the Red Sea ; in consequence of which the enterprise was blasted, and came to nothing (2 Chron. xx 37).
(2) Consults Weather Oracle. Soon after, Ahaziah, having been much injured by a fall from the roof-gallery of his palace, had the infatuation to send to consult the oracle of Baal zebub, the god of Ekron, respecting his recovery (2 Kings i :2). But the messengers were met and sent back by Elijah, who announced to the king that he should rise no more from the bed on which he lay (2 Kings i :4). He was succeeded by his brother Jehoram (2 Kings i:i7; 2 Chron. xx :35).
2. Otherwise Jehoahaz (2 Chron. xxi :17 ; xxv :23), son of Jehoram by Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and sixth king of Judah (2 Kings viii :24-27).
(1) Short Reign. He reigned but one year (B. C. 843), and that in suffering himself in all things to be guided by the wicked counsels of his idolatrous mother, Atha liah. He cultivated the connections which had un happily grown up between the two dynasties, and which had now been cemented by marriage, Hence he joined his uncle Jehoram of Israel in an expedition against Hazael, king of Damascene Syria, for the recovery of Ramoth-Gilead; and afterward paid him a visit while he lay wounded in his summer palace of Jezreel.
(2) Death. The two kings rode out in their several chariots to meet Jehu ; and when Jehoram was shot through the heart, Ahaziah attempted to escape, but was pursued, and being mortally wounded, had only strength to reach Megiddo, where he died. His body was conveyed by his ser vants in a chariot to Jerusalem for interment (2 Kings ix:22-28). In 2 Chron. xxii :7-9, the cir cumstances are somewhat differently stated ; but the variation is not substantial, and requires no particular notice. It appears from that passage, however, that Jehu was right in considering Ahaziah as included in his commission to root out the house of Ahab. He was Ahab's descend ant (grandson by the mother's side) both in blood and character ; and his presence in Jezreel at the time of Jehu's operations is considered as an ar rangement of Providence for accomplishing his doom.