7 But his coming to Joram was from God the complete ruin of Ahaziah. And when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. 8 And it came to pass when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that attended upon Ahaziah, and he slew them. 9 And he sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he had hid himself in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart. And in the house of Ahaziah there was no one who was able to [hold] the kingdom.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Chronicles 22:7-9
Chapter Contents
The reign of Ahaziah, Athaliah destroys the royal family.
The counsel of the ungodly ruins many young persons when they are setting out in the world. Ahaziah gave himself up to be led by evil men. Those who advise us to do wickedly, counsel us to our destruction; while they pretend to be friends, they are our worst enemies. See and dread the mischief of bad company. If not the infection, yet let the destruction be feared, Revelation 18:4. We have here, a wicked woman endeavouring to destroy the house of David, and a good woman preserving it. No word of God shall fall to the ground. The whole truth of the prophecies that the Messiah was to come from David, and thereby the salvation of the world, appeared to be now hung upon the brittle thread of the life of a single infant, to destroy whom was the interest of the reigning power. But God had purposed, and vain were the efforts of earth and hell.