Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 22

THE SHORT REIGN OF AHAZIAH (2 Chronicles 22:1–9).
(Compare to 2 Kings 8:25–29.)

And the inhabitants of Jerusalem. — 2 Chronicles 21:11; 2 Chronicles 21:13.

Made Ahaziah ... king. — This variation from the usual formula—“And Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead”—has been supposed to indicate that the succession was disputed, with either Athaliah, the queen-mother, or Jehoiada, the high priest, opposing it. It is more likely that the difference of expression simply points to the use of a different source by the writer.

The band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp. — The Hebrew is obscure for lack of further details. “The troop that came among the Arabs to the camp” appears to have been some party of half-savage warriors who, after the Jewish camp had been stormed by the invaders and the royal princes taken prisoners, fell upon and slew their captives. (Compare to 2 Chronicles 21:17; and Judges 8:18 and following; 1 Samuel 15:32.)

All the eldest. — Hebrew: the former (rîshonîm). Syriac: “For all the elder the troop had destroyed them, for the Arabs came and destroyed the camp of Israel.”

Forty and two years old. —An error of transcription. 2 Kings 8:26 has twenty and two; and so too the Syriac and Arabic versions: the Septuagint has “twenty.” Ahaziah could not have been forty when he succeeded, because his father was only forty when he died (2 Chronicles 21:20).

Athaliah the daughter of Omri — i.e., granddaughter, as she was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Kings adds, king of Israel, which the Chronicler purposely omits. (Compare to Micah 6:16: The statutes of Omri, the works of the house of Ahab.)

He also.—The pronoun is emphatic: he too, like his father. Kings: And he walked.

Walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.—2 Chronicles 21:6; 2 Chronicles 21:13; Micah 6:16.

For his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.—Not in Kings; an explanatory remark added by the chronicler. (Compare 2 Chronicles 20:35; 2 Chronicles 21:6.) Her influence would be used in support of the Baal worship, which was the symbol of alliance with the northern kingdom.

Wherefore. — And he did the evil. As in 2 Kings 8:27.

For they were his counsellors. — Or, became.

To his destruction. — Literally, to destruction to him, the same peculiar expression that is used here also occurred in 2 Chronicles 20:23. This last half of the verse is evidently the chronicler’s own free expansion or interpretation of the words of Kings, for he was son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

He walked also after (in) their counsel.—This is an allusion to Psalms 1:1. He became a close partner in the politics of his ally, and joined in his expedition against the Syrians. These words are not in Kings.

And went with Jehoram.—2 Kings 8:28, “Joram.”

King of Israel.—Added by the chronicler.

Against.—In Kings, it is “with.”

Hazael king of Syria.—See Note on 2 Kings 8:8 and following; 2 Kings 13:3.

The Syrians.—Hebrew, hârammîm, instead of ‘Arammîm’ (Kings). So too the Vulgate and Targum. The Syriac, as usual, confuses Aram with Edom. The Septuagint renders “the archers,” as if the word were the participle of râmâh, “to shoot.” Perhaps the chronicler intended ha-rômîm, “the archers.” (Compare 1 Samuel 31:3; Jeremiah 4:29.)