Abijah
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(1 Kings 14:31; 15:7–8) — son of Rehoboam, one of the persons mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:7). He succeeded his father Rehoboam and reigned over Judah in Jerusalem for three years. “And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father” (v. 3); but for the sake of the promise given to David, the Lord spared him. Abijah waged war against Jeroboam (2 Chron.
13:2–20) and defeated him, so that there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men (v. 17). Despite his personal vices and shortcomings, he showed, by his speech addressed to Jeroboam and the Israelites and by his profession of faith in the Lord, that he had not entirely sunk into sin. After the war, the details of which are given in 2 Chronicles 13, Abijah did not become a better man, and had fourteen wives and thirty-eight children. At his death he was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.