Athaliah

Athaliah (Hebrew: ʻAṯalyā (עֲתַלְיָה), "God is exalted") was the queen of Judah during the reign of King Jehoram, and later became sole ruler of Judah for five years. William F. Albright has dated her reign to 842 B.C.E. – 837 B.C.E., while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841 B.C.E. – 835 B.C.E. Athaliah was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel; her marriage to Jehoram sealed a treaty between the two sometimes warring Israelite nations.

After Jehoram's death, their son Ahaziah became Judah's king with Athaliah acting as queen mother. After Ahaziah was killed during a state visit to Israel along with several of Athaliah's northern royal family members, Althaliah staged a bloody coup in Jerusalem, placing herself on the throne.

Athaliah succeeded in executing all possible successors to the throne David except one, a grandson of hers named Jehoash. She reigned for six years during which she tolerated the worship of both Baal and Yahweh, a policy unacceptable to the priests of Yahweh, who sheltered young Jehoash in the Temple of Jerusalem. Athaliah was overthrown and murdered in a coup led by the high priest Jehoiada.

Background

Athaliah was the daughter of the northern king Ahab and his Phoenicia wife Jezebel. Her mother was known to be an ardent worshiper of "Baal," probably Baal Melqart of Tyre, while Ahab was a devotee of Yahweh who earned the disapproval of the prophets for his toleration of Baal worship. Athaliah's name, however, means "Yahweh is exalted."

Israel and Judah had been at war in earlier generations, but during the time of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, the two nations formed a strong alliance. This resulted in Ahab contracting a marriage between Athaliah and Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram.

After Jehoshaphat's death, Athaliah rose to the position of queen consort as Jehoram became Judah's king. Meanwhile, Athaliah's brother, also called Jehoram (Joram) had become king of Israel following Ahab's death. Athaliah probably had several children with her husband Jehoram, who was 32 when he became king and reigned for eight years. NAME OF DAUGFHTER. The Book of Kings criticizes his marriage to the "daughter of Ahab" and indicates that he lost control of his Edomite vassals. In terms of his religious policy, he "did evil in the eyes of the Lord," (2 Kings 8:18), a reference to his toleration of Baal worship. This policy, no doubt, was at least in part due to Athaliah's influence. 2 Chronicles 21:12-16 preserves the text of a supposed letter from the northern prophet Elijah condemning Jehoram for his religious policy. It also states that "the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites" successfully invaded his kingdom and captured his sons and wives: "Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest." Athaliah apparently avoided capture during the raid, and Jehoram's other sons, some of whom were probably Athaliah's children too, were later slain (2 Chron. 22:1).

After Jehoram's death, their son Ahaziah became Judah's king at the age of 22, with Athaliah acting as queen mother. He formed a military alliance with Joram of Israel against the threat of the Syrian empire, a policy much disapproved of by the biblical writers. Indeed, the prophet Elisha supported Syria's king Ahazael's assassination of his predecessor, believing that Ahazael would punish Israel for its sins. He then engineered a bloody coup against Joram of Israel, centering on the ardent Yahwist military commander Jehu.

The unfortunate Azariah was visiting Joram, who had been wounded in battle, at this very time. He was assassinated along with Joram at Jehu's orders. Thus Athaliah lost both her brother and her son. Her mother, Jezebel, soon also died at Jehu's hands, as did many others members of her extended family.

Biblical data

Jehu assassinated them both in Yahweh's name and had Athaliah's entire extended family in Israel murdered.

Jehoash]]. was rescued from the purge by Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister, and was raised in secret by the priest Jehoiada.

Though the Bible presents her as a negative character, not to be emulated, "Athaliah" is attested, though infrequently, as a female first name in contemporary Israel.

Athaliah hides as Joash is proclaimed king

House of David Cadet Branch of the Tribe of Judah
Preceded by: Ahaziah	Queen of Judah Albright: 842 B.C.E. – 837 B.C.E. Thiele: 841 B.C.E. – 835 B.C.E. Galil: 843 B.C.E. – 835 B.C.E.	Succeeded by: Jehoash

Sources

• II Paralipomenon 22:1-23:15
• Josheph, Antiquitates iudaicae viii-ix
• Hebrew Bible - her story of her actions are told in 2 Kings 8:16 – 11:16
• Virginia Brown's translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Famous Women, pp. 102-106; Harvard University Press 2001; ISBN 0-674-01130-9

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Athaliah  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Athaliah"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.