1 Kings 15:2

2 He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Absalom.

1 Kings 15:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 15:2

Three years reigned he in Jerusalem
And three only; his reign was short, and indeed not three full years, only one whole year and part of two others; for Asa his son began to reign in the twentieth of Jeroboam, ( 1 Kings 15:9 ) so that he reigned part of his eighteenth, this whole nineteenth, and part of his twentieth:

and his mother's name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom;
called Absalom, ( 2 Chronicles 11:20 2 Chronicles 11:21 ) , generally supposed by the Jews to be Absalom the son of David, and which may seem not improbable, since his other two wives were of his father's family, ( 2 Chronicles 11:18 ) . Josephus says F17 she was the daughter of Tamar the daughter of Absalom, and so his granddaughter; and which may account for her being called Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, ( 2 Chronicles 13:2 ) since the difference between Maachah and Michaiah is not very great; and Uriel might he the name of Tamar's husband; though it is most likely that both father and daughter had two names; she seems to be mentioned here, to observe that she was the cause and means of her son's disagreeable walk, as follows, see ( 1 Kings 15:13 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F17 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 10. sect. 1.

1 Kings 15:2 In-Context

1 In the eighteenth year of the rule of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah took over the throne of Judah.
2 He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Absalom.
3 He continued to sin just like his father before him. He was not truehearted to God as his grandfather David had been.
4 But despite that, out of respect for David, his God graciously gave him a lamp, a son to follow him and keep Jerusalem secure.
5 For David had lived an exemplary life before God all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of God's clear directions (except for that time with Uriah the Hittite).
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.