2 Kings 8:25-29--Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

2 Kings 8:25-29
English Standard Version

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah
25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.

​28 He went with Joram the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

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In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah began to reign.  Ahaziah was also wicked and walked in the ways of the house of Ahab (though he was king over Judah) and he only reigned in Jerusalem for one year.  We see that the kings of Judah married the daughters of the kings of Israel (remember that they were always supposed to marry within their own tribes first, and then only after that were they to look for wives among the other tribes of Israel).  So we see that the granddaughter of King Omri (the father of King Ahab) was the mother of Ahaziah, and he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab (related to Ahab by marriage).

Because they were family, the kings of Judah and Israel got along well and fought alongside each other against Hazael, the king of Syria that we just read about.  The battle took place at Ramoth-gilead (in the Trans-Jordan region of Israel) and the Syrians were able to wound Joram, king of Israel.  King Joram returned to Jezreel to heal from the wounds that the Syrians had inflicted on him at Ramah.  It was only then that he found out that Hazael was king of Syria, and Ben-hadad was no longer king (he had been assassinated by Hazael).  Then Ahaziah, the king of Judah, went down to see Joram in Jezreel because he was sick (remember, they were relatives by marriage, so this should not seem strange).  This detail that they are both together though will be important in an upcoming story.  We'll see next time what it is that the LORD is going to do while both the king of Israel and the king of Judah are away from the battle with the Syrians.