Abijah of Judah

Abijam (Hebrew: אֲבִיָּם, ʼĂḇiyyām ; meaning "father of the sea" or "my father is the sea"; Greek: Αβιου; Latin: Abiam) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the fourth king of the House of David and the second of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the son of Rehoboam, the grandson of Solomon and the great-grandson of David. The Chronicler refers to him as Abijah (Hebrew: אֲבִיָּה, ʼĂḇiyyāh ; "my father is Yah"; Greek: Αβια; Latin: Abia).

His mother's name was Maacah, or Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, and the granddaughter of the infamous Absalom (Abishalom). Abijah married fourteen wives, and had 22 sons and 16 daughters.

Abijah in the Hebrew Bible

Reign of Abijah

Following the death of Rehoboam, his son Abijah succeeded the throne as King of Judah. He began his three-year reign (2 Chr. 12:16; 13:1, 2) with a strenuous but unsuccessful effort to bring back the ten tribes of the northern Kingdom of Israel to their allegiance.

With Abijah's ascension to the throne in the 18th year of King Jeroboam I of Israel, the hostilities between the northern and southern kingdoms resumed, and war ensued. Jeroboam’s 800,000 warriors were drawn up in battle formation against Abijah's army of 400,000. Undaunted by the 2:1 odds, Abijah, marches north with the purpose of winning Israel back to the Davidic kingdom (2 Chr. 13:4-12). Abijah then makes an impassioned speech, addressing himself to Jeroboam’s crowd. He condemns their idolatrous calf worship and reminds them that the covenant of Yahweh with King David was for an eternal kingdom, and that their nation under Jeroboam was illegitimate. “With us there is at the head the true God,” declared Abijah, therefore “do not fight against Jehovah... for you will not prove successful” (2 Chr. 12:16–13:12).