When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and eliminated all the royal children.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring.
- KJV And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
- BSB When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.
- NKJV When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.
- NLT When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of the royal family.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When Athaliah learns her son Ahaziah is dead, she massacres the royal family to seize power. The Davidic line in Judah is nearly extinguished.
Overview
Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, ruthlessly murders her own grandchildren to grasp the throne. Her crime threatens God's promise that David would never lack a descendant to reign. This is one of the darkest moments for the messianic line, making God's preservation of one heir all the more crucial to the coming of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 41:1Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.
- 2 Kgs 25:25But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, with the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.
- 2 Chr 22:10–12Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah.
- Matt 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
- 2 Chr 24:7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up God’s house; and they also gave all the dedicated things of Yahweh’s house to the Baals.
- 2 Kgs 8:26Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
- Matt 21:38–39But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’
- 2 Kgs 9:27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there.
- Matt 2:13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 11:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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