#5 - Who was Abijab's mother?

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Response by Wendell Leahy

1) Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom 1Kings 15:1-2
2) Michaiah the daughter of Uriel 2Chr. 13:1-2

Answer: Both are true - there is no contradiction.

source quotes from The Genealogies of the bible: A neglected subject

Working out these little problems not merely enlarges one's understanding of the relationship of these peoples, but somehow makes the individuals live, as a map makes places live that we have once visited. And if it is not irreverent to say so, finding solutions is like finding a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle or a missing word in a crossword puzzle -- it provides genuine intellectual satisfaction

1) Maachah - Daughter of Uriel?
2) Michaiah - Daughter of Abishalom?

"a son or a grandson may look back to a common father, similarly a son or a grandson may evidently look back to a common mother. Indeed, in 1Kings 15:8,11 Asa is said to have been the son of both Abijab his father and the son of David, the latter being more precisely his great, great, grandfather"

*Abishalom means; father of peace..
He was the father or grandfather of Maachah, who was the wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah. (1Kings:15:2,10) He is called Absalom. This person is David's son
*Uriel means; God is my light...
Uriel was the father of Michaiah, one of Rehoboam's wives and mother of Abijah

Maachah or Michaiah are the same person different spelling

Abijah's mother was Maacah - father was Rehoboam 2Chr:11:20
Maacah's mother was Tamar - father was Uriel 2Chr:13:2
Tamer was the daughter of Absalom 2Sam:14:27
Absalom's mother was Maachah - father was King David 2Sam:3:3, 1Chr:3:2

Daughters - granddaughters: Maachah, Tamer, Maachah
Fathers - grandfathers: Abijab, Rehoboam, Uriel, Absalom, King David

Explanation
Abijahs mother was called Maachah, the daughter of Absalom, here she is called Michaiah the daughter of Uriel. It is most probable that she was a grand-daughter of Absalom, by his daughter Tamar (2Sam:14:27) and that her immediate father was this Uriel. Absalom's daughter, called properly Tamar (2Sam:14:27) and from her royal grandmother (2Sam:3:3) Maacah.

The version of Abijam's life in Kings says that his mother was Maacah, daughter of Abishalom (Absalom), but the version in Chronicles says that his mother was Michaiah, daughter of Uriel from Gibeah (in the territory of Benjamin).

This seems to be a problem, but it really isn't. Where the Bible says daughter of Absalom, that word can also mean granddaughter. Absalom's daughter was Tamar who married Uriel of Gibeah.

So it's clear that Maacah was the grand-daughter of Absalom and the daughter of Uriel.

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SAB also asked but since has removed the question due to its obvious error:
Who was Abijam's maternal grandmother? Abishalom or Uriel

Answer: neither, for Abishalom and Uriel are both males.....

Abishalom: Father or grandfather of Maachah, who was the wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah. (1 Kings 15:2,10) He is called Absalom in (2 Chronicles 11:20,21) This person must be David’s son. (2 Samuel 14:27)

Uriel: The father of Michaiah, one of Rehoboam's wives, and mother of Abijah

Abijam: means; my father is Jehovah - also called ABIJAH and ABIA.
Ather of the sea; i.e., "seaman" the name always used in Kings of the king of Judah, the son of Rehoboam, elsewhere called Abijah (1 Kings 15:1,7,8).

Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

1 Kings 15:1-2
His mother's name was Maachah--or Michaiah (2 Chronicles 13:2), probably altered from the one to the other on her becoming queen, as was very common under a change of circumstances. She is called the daughter of Abishalom, or Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:21), of Uriel (2 Chronicles 13:2). Hence, it has been thought probable that Tamar, the daughter of Absalom (2 Samuel 14:27, 18:18), had been married to Uriel, and that Maachah was their daughter.

2 Chronicles: 13:1-2
His mother's name also was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel, that is, granddaughter of Absalom (1 Kings 15:2; compare 2 Samuel 14:1-33), mother of Abijah, "mother," that is, grandmother (1 Kings 15:10, Margin) of Asa. Of Gibeah probably implies that Uriel was connected with the house of Saul.

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