People of the Bible · Tribe of Judah

Ahaz, son of Jotham

The name Ahaz means “one that takes or possesses.” Ahaz is mentioned in 37 verses of the Bible, first in 2 Kings 15:38. Also called Achaz.

Family of Ahaz

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Who was Ahaz?

The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah (2 Kings 16; Isa. 7-9; 2 Chr. 28). He gave himself up to a life of wickedness and idolatry. Notwithstanding the remonstrances and warnings of Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, he appealed for help against Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, who threatened Jerusalem, to Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, to the great injury of his kingdom and his own humilating subjection to the Assyrians (2 Kings 16:7, 9; 15:29). He also introduced among his people many heathen and idolatrous customs (Isa. 8:19; 38:8; 2 Kings 23:12). He died at the age of thirty-five years, after reigning sixteen years (B.C. 740-724), and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. Because of his wickedness he was “not brought into the sepulchre of the kings.”

Biography adapted from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain, linked via Theographic Bible Metadata.

Key verses about Ahaz

  • 2 Kings 15:38

    And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

  • Isaiah 1:1

    The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

  • Isaiah 7:3

    Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear–jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;

  • Isaiah 7:12

    But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

  • Isaiah 38:8

    Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

  • Micah 1:1

    The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Timeline of Ahaz's life

DateEvent
741 BCReign of Ahaz
725 BCDeath of Ahaz
All 37 verses mentioning Ahaz

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