Ahab
Ahab or Ach'av (אַחְאָב, "Brother of the father") was an importantking of Israel. The son and successor of King Omri, his reign is dated varously as either 869 B.C.E.-850 B.C.E., or 874-853 B.C.E. Ahab was the first of the northern kings to establish a stable government, and created a small empire for his kingdom by exacting tribute from the kingdom of Moab and forcing trade concessions from the powerful Syrians after defeating them in battle. His kingdom was prosperous, literate, and strong.
The biblical writers, however, are particularly ciritical of Ahab for marrying the Phonecian princess Jezebel, the daughter of king Ithobaal I of Tyre. This alliance was apparently very successful financially, but brought the wrath of Israelite prophets, especially Elijah.
Biblical account
Ahab's father, Omri established a powerful dynasty and made Israel into a major regional power. He built an impressive new capital, the strategically located town of Samaria in central Palestine, increasing his control of overland trade and providing good access to the Mediterranean. He ended a fratricidal war with the southern Kingdom of Judah and established a friendship with the Phoenician power of Tyre. Omri sealed this alliance by fatefully marrying Ahab, his heir, to the Tyrian princess Jezebel.
Apparently early in his reign, Ahab is confronted by the prophet Elijah who predicts that there will be no reign in Ahab's kingdom except by the word of God through Elijah himself. The reason for Elijah's dire prediction seems to be connected to the establishment of Baal worship in the capital under the sponsoship of Jezebel. A serious doubt ensues, and after three years, Ahab creates an expedition in search of pastureland for his horses. The king leads a party in one direction, and sends his palace steward, Obadiah, in another. Obadiah encounters Elijah, who tells him to inform Ahab of his whereabout so the two can meet. Obadiah, however, is in trouble at court for protecting the prophets of Yahweh against Jezebel; and he fears he will be killed for bringing such a message to the king. He nevertheless obeys, and Ahab comes to meet Elijah, whom he holds responsible for the drought, saying: "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" (I Kings 18:17) Elijah puts the blame for the drought and Ahab and Omri for "serving the Baals" and tells Aham to invite the prophets of Baal and Ashera to meet him for a spiritual showdown at the high place on Mount Carmel. Elijah's challenge includes information that 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Ashera received state support under Ahab's rule due to Jezebel's influence, while the prophets of Yahweh had been forced into hiding.
Ahab facilitates Elijah's request and stands by without objection when Elijah, after proving Yahweh's superiority over Baal, orders the prophets of Baal slain. Elijah then prophesies that the rain will now return to Israel, which it promptly does. (1 Kings 18) Jezebel, hearing Ahab's report of the events, threatens Elijah with death through a messenger, and the prophet now flees to the far south in Judah.
The narrative now turns back to secular affairs. Ahab faces a severe threat from a powerful coalition of Syrian forces and their allies under Ben-Hadad. An unnamed prophet of Yahweh declares that God will give victory to Ahab. The Israelite forces gain the upper hand as predicted, and Yahweh's prophet counsels Ahab to prepare for another battle the following spring. The two sides muster near Aphek, where the forces of Israel again inflict heavy casulaties on the Syrians and later breach the walls of Aphek when the Syrians retreat there.
Ben-Hadad sues for peace, agreeing to return all of the cities taken from Israel by Syria under Omri's reign and also allowing Ahab favorable trading rights in Damascus. However, another prophet of Yahweh condemns Ahab for allowing Ben-Hadad to live, declaring the Ahab himself will die as a result. (1 Kings 20:42)
which brought pomp and lxury in their train. We read of his building an ivory palace (1 Kings 22:39; Amos 3:15), and founding new cities, the effect perhaps of a share in the flourishing commerce of Phoenicia, who supplied the ivory for his palace.
The material prosperity of his reign, which is comparable with that of Solomon a century before, was overshadowed by the religious changes which his marriage involved. Although he worshipped YHWH, as the names of his children prove (1 Kings 22:5ff), his wife was firmly attached to the worship of the Melkart (the Tyrian Ba'al), and led by her he gave a great impulse to this cult by building a temple in honour of Baal in Samaria. This roused the indignation of the Jewish prophets and Priests whose aim it was to purify the worship of God. (See Elijah)
During Ahab's reign, Moab, which had been conquered by his father, remained tributary; Judah, with whose king, Jehoshaphat, he was allied by marriage, was probably his vassal; only with Damascus is he said to have had strained relations.
The one event mentioned by external sources is the Battle of Qarqar (perhaps at Apamea), where Shalmaneser III of Assyria fought a great confederation of princes from Cilicia, Northern Syria, Israel, Ammon and the tribes of the Syrian desert (853 B.C.E.). Here Ahab (A-ha-ab-bu matSir-'i-la-a-a or "Ahab the Israelite") joined Baasha, son of Ruhub (Rehob) of Ammon and nine others are allied with Hadadezer (Bir-'idri), Ahab's contribution being reckoned at 2,000 chariots and 10,000 men. The numbers are comparatively large and possibly include forces from Tyre, Judah, Edom and Moab. The Assyrian king claimed a victory, but his immediate return and subsequent expeditions in 849 B.C.E. and 846 B.C.E. against a similar but unspecified coalition seem to show that he met with no lasting success. According to the Old Testament, however, Ahab with 7,000 troops had previously overthrown Ben-hadad and his thirty-two kings, who had come to lay siege to Samaria, and in the following year obtained a remarkable victory over him at Aphek, probably in the plain of Sharon (1 Kings 20). A treaty was made whereby Ben-hadad restored the cities which his father had taken from Ahab's father (that is, Omri, but see 15:20, 2 Kings 13:25), and trading facilities between Damascus and Samaria were granted.
A late popular story (20:35-42, akin in tone to 12:33-13:34) condemned Ahab for his leniency and foretold the destruction of the king and his land. Three years later, war broke out on the east of the Jordan River, and Ahab with Jehoshaphat of Judah went to recover Ramoth-Gilead and was mortally wounded (ch. 22). He was succeeded by his sons (Ahaziah and Jehoram).
It is very difficult to obtain any clear idea of the order of these events (the Septuagint places 1 Kings 21 immediately after 19). How the hostile kings of Israel and Syria came to fight a common enemy, and how to correlate the Assyrian and Biblical records, are questions which have perplexed all recent writers. The reality of the difficulties will be apparent from the fact that it has been suggested that the Assyrian scribe wrote "Ahab" for his son "Jehoram", and that the very identification of the name with Ahab of Israel has been questioned.
Whilst the above passages from 1 Kings view Ahab not unfavourably, there are others which are less friendly. The murder of Naboth (see Jezebel), an act of royal encroachment, stirred up popular resentment just as the new cult aroused the opposition of certain of the prophets. Indeed, he is referred to, for this and other things as being "more evil than all the kings before him".The latter found their champion in Elijah, whose history reflects the prophetic teaching of more than one age. His denunciation of the royal dynasty, and his emphatic insistence on the worship of Yahweh and Him alone, form the keynote to a period which culminated in the accession of Jehu, an event in which Elijah's chosen disciple Elisha was the leading figure.
The allusions to the statutes and works of Omri and Ahab in Micah 6:16 may point to legislative measures of these kings, and the reference to the incidents at the building of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34) may be taken to show that foundation sacrifices, familiar in nearly all parts of the world, were not unknown in Israel at this period, which have in fact been confirmed by excavation in Palestine.
JEWISH ENCYCLOPDIA USE For refence only... do not publish
omri founder of Samaria, and forced them to concede trading privileges in the great emporium of Damascus (855 B.C.E.). It was toward the end of his reign that his foreign relations became most trying. At this period, when hard pressed by Damascus, he lost the suzerainty over Moab, with the possession of valuable territory in the northern portion of that kingdom, all of which had been acquired by Omri. This expulsion of Israel is recorded by Mesha, the contemporary king of Moab, on the famous Moabite Stone now in the Louvre in Paris.
Ahab was the first king of Israel who came into conflict with Assyria, and he is also the first whose name is recorded on the Assyrian monuments (see Schrader, "K. A. T."). It was in 854 B.C.E. that a combination was formed by eleven of the princes of the Mediterranean coastland against Shalmaneser II., who made several invasions into the west country during his long and warlike career. In this alliance the king of Israel found himself for once fighting by the side of the king of Damascus (Benhadad II.). Shalmaneser, who tells of the affair in three distinct inscriptions, gives a list of the kings in the longest account (on his monolith inscription). Besides Israel and Damascus, it is stated that Hamath, Ammon, and Arabia sent contingents. Ahab put 2,000 chariots and 10,000 soldiers into the field. The confederacy was soon dissolved by the battle of Karkar, where the Assyrians were victorious, though Shalmaneser could not follow up his success. The Assyrian invasions of the lands bordering on Palestine were repeated, but it was long before either northern or southern Israel was directly attacked. In the next year (853 B.C.E.) the war with Damascus was renewed. Ahab secured the help of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the two kings fought side by side at Ramoth in Gilead. In this battle Ahab disguised himself as a common soldier so as not to become a mark for the enemy, but an arrow, "shot at a venture," mortally wounded him, and he died at the close of the day.
Besides the above-mentioned wars, certain events of great importance marked the reign of Ahab. One of these was the establishment of close relations between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, a policy which put an end to the rivalry that had existed between them since the days of the great schism. Another was the encouragement afforded by Ahab and his queen, Jezebel, to the worship of the Phenician Baal. Jezebel was a daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre, and the family alliance thus cemented, while it was of political and commercial advantage to Israel, resulted in great moral and religious injury through this idolatrous and sensual cult. A third noteworthy event was Ahab's cruel and oppressive dealing with Naboth of Jezreel whose property the king wished to secure, and who, upon his refusal to sell it, was put to death by false accusation at the instigation of Jezebel. For this outrage upon the rights of a freeholder, the prophet Elijah predicted a violent death for Ahab and Jezebel and the destruction of their dynasty. Noticeable also is the increase of luxury in Israel, in consequence of foreign trade and the ambition of the king and nobles. Ahab's palace of ivory (I Kings, xxii. 39) is an indication of the fashions of the time. Finally there was inaugurated in the reign of Ahab the régime of the preaching prophets, of whom Elijah was the first and greatest example (see I Kings, xvii.-xxii.). J. F
| House of Omri | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Omri |
King of Israel Albright: 869 B.C.E. – 850 B.C.E. Thiele: 874 B.C.E. – 853 B.C.E. Galil: 873 B.C.E. – 852 B.C.E. |
Succeeded by: Ahaziah |
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