Was Jehoram’s youngest son Jehoahaz or Ahaziah?
They are one man: Jehoahaz and Ahaziah are the same two words, “the LORD” and “hath laid hold,” in the other order.
The Passages
2 Chronicles 21:17
2 Chronicles 22:1
See Also
2 Chronicles 22:6
2 Chronicles 25:23
The Difficulty
When the Philistines and Arabians broke into Judah they carried away Jehoram’s sons, “so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons” (2 Chronicles 21:17). The next verse names the son who reigned after him: “the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah 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” (22:1). The youngest son is Jehoahaz in one verse and Ahaziah in the next.
The Answer
Both verses describe one man: the youngest son, the only one left alive. Chronicles does not set them side by side as two people; it tells his escape in one verse and his crowning in the next.
The two names are one name. Jehoahaz is Jeho-ahaz, “the LORD hath laid hold”; Ahaziah is Ahaz-iah, “the LORD hath laid hold” with the same two parts the other way round (Strong’s: Jehoahaz, “Jehovah seized”; Ahaziah, “Jah has seized”). Haley gives this pair as an example of the transposition common in Hebrew names, with Eliam and Ammiel (2 Samuel 11:3; 1 Chronicles 3:5) and Jehoiachin and Jeconiah.
Scripture calls him Jehoahaz again. Joash was Ahaziah’s son (2 Chronicles 22:11), and when his son Amaziah was taken, he is “Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz” (2 Chronicles 25:23).
He has a third name. “Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel” (2 Chronicles 22:6), where the verses around it call him Ahaziah: Azariah, “the LORD hath helped.” Gill: “the same that is called Ahaziah and Azariah.” Most modern versions put “Ahaziah” for “Azariah” in 22:6; the KJV keeps what the Hebrew has. Kings of Judah were known by more than one name, as Uzziah was also Azariah (2 Kings 15:1; 2 Chronicles 26:1) and Jehoahaz the son of Josiah was Shallum (2 Kings 23:30; Jeremiah 22:11).
Sources
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So that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons; the same that is called Ahaziah and Azariah, (2 Chronicles 22:1, 22:6).
Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the first edition, 2026-10-23 -
He being the only surviving one of the sons of Jehoram, the same with Jehoahaz, (2 Chronicles 21:17) who was saved when the rest were taken captive and slain.
Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the first edition, 2026-10-23 -
Another point to be noticed, as exemplifying the free treatment to which proper names were subjected among the Hebrews, is that of the not uncommon transposition of letters. Thus we have “Amiel” and “Eliam,” … “Ahaziah” and “Jehoahaz,” “Harhas” and “Hasrah.”
Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the 1874 edition, 2026-10-23 -
James Strong, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary (1890), H3059 and H274
Jehoahaz: from H3068 and H270; Jehovah seized. Ahaziah: from H270 and H3050; Jah has seized.
Checked against: Bible SuperSearch’s Strong’s text, 2026-10-23
