Lives of Scripture

Abijah (also called Abijam) became Judah's second king after his father Rehoboam, reigning three years in Jerusalem with his mother Maacah as queen mother (1 Kings 15:1-2; 2 Chronicles 12:16). 1 Kings gives a blunt verdict: "he walked in all the sins of his father... his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David" (15:3). 2 Chronicles adds a fuller episode: war broke out with Jeroboam of Israel, and facing an army twice the size of his own at Mount Zemaraim, Abijah stood on the mountain and delivered a public appeal, reminding Israel that God had given the kingdom to David's line by an everlasting covenant of salt, that Jeroboam's rebellion and golden calves were sin, and that Judah still kept the LORD's priesthood and offerings while Israel had cast Him off (13:4-12). When Jeroboam's forces ambushed Judah front and rear, Judah's priests blew trumpets and the army cried out to God; the LORD routed Israel, and 500,000 of Israel's chosen men fell that day (13:13-17). Yet Abijah's own religious record stayed mixed -- 1 Kings' verdict stands alongside the victory, and Chronicles notes he took fourteen wives (13:21). He died and was succeeded by his son Asa, who removed idols his father had tolerated (15:8; 1 Kings 15:8-12).