1–4 (= 2 Kings viii. 25–27).
The Reign of Ahaziah.
¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah[¹] his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.
[¹] In chapter xxi. 17, Jehoahaz.
1. the inhabitants of Jerusalem, etc.] In consequence of the great disaster to the royal house, the people play a more prominent part than usual in deciding the succession to the throne; compare 2 Kings xxiii. 30.
to the camp] or to the host. The sense seems to be that the princes of the royal house were with the army in the field and were slain by a surprise attack of a party from the Philistine and Arabian forces (xxi. 16). The LXX. reads, Ἄραβες οἱ Ἀλειμαζονεϊς, i.e. apparently “the Arabians of Mazin”; but in all probability this reading is a mere error derived from a transliteration of the Hebrew word rendered “to the camp” (see Torrey, Ezra Studies, p. 74).
²Forty and two[¹] years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter[²] of Omri. ³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.
[¹] In 2 Kings viii. 26, Two and twenty.
[²] Or, granddaughter.
2. Forty and two years old] The LXX. “twenty years old” is preferable, agreeing nearly with 2 Kings viii. 26, “two and twenty years old” (Hebrew and LXX.).
daughter of Omri] So 2 Kings viii. 26, but more correctly “daughter of Ahab” (2 Kings viii. verse 18).