Abijah, Abiah, Abia: Father (i.e., "possessor or worshipper") of Jehovah.1. (1 Chronicles 7:8)
2. (1 Chronicles 2:24)
3. The second son of Samuel
(1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Chronicles 6:28) His conduct, along
with that of his brother, as a judge in Beer-sheba, to which
office his father had appointed him, led to popular discontent,
and ultimately provoked the people to demand a royal form of
government.
4. A descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, a chief of one of the
twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided by
David (1 Chronicles 24:10) The order of Abijah was one of those which did
not return from the Captivity (Ezra 2:36-39; Nehemiah 7:39-42; 12:1)
5. The son of Rehoboam, whom he succeeded on the throne of Judah
(1 Chronicles 3:10) He is also called Abijam
(1 Kings 14:31; 15:1-8)
He began his three years' reign
(2 Chronicles 12:16; 13:1,2) with a
strenuous but unsuccessful effort to bring back the ten tribes
to their allegiance. His address to "Jeroboam and all Israel,"
before encountering them in battle, is worthy of being
specially noticed
(2 Chronicles 13:5-12) It was a very bloody
battle, no fewer than 500,000 of the army of Israel having
perished on the field. He is described as having walked "in
all the sins of his father"
(1 Kings 15:3; 2 Chronicles 11:20-22) It is
said in
(1 Kings 15:2) that "his mother's name was Maachah, the
daughter of Abishalom;" but in
(2 Chronicles 13:2) we read, "his
mother's name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah."
The explanation is that Maachah is just a variation of the
name Michaiah, and that Abishalom is probably the same as
Absalom, the son of David. It is probable that "Uriel of
Gibeah" married Tamar, the daughter of Absalom
(2 Samuel 14:27)
and by her had Maachah. The word "daughter" in
(1 Kings 15:2)
will thus, as it frequently elsewhere does, mean
grand-daughter.
6. A son of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. On account of his
severe illness when a youth, his father sent his wife to consult
the prophet Ahijah regarding his recovery. The prophet, though
blind with old age, knew the wife of Jeroboam as soon as she
approached, and under a divine impulse he announced to her that
inasmuch as in Abijah alone of all the house of Jeroboam there
was found "some good thing toward the Lord," he only would come
to his grave in peace. As his mother crossed the threshold of
the door on her return, the youth died, and "all Israel mourned
for him"
(1 Kings 14:1-18)
7. The daughter of Zechariah
(2 Chronicles 29:1) comp. (Isaiah 8:2) and
afterwards the wife of Ahaz. She is also called Abi (2 Kings 18:2)
8. One of the sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin
(1 Chronicles 7:8) "Abiah,"A.V.