Introduction

Athaliah was a princess of the northern kingdom of Israel who married Joram, king of Judah. Her son Ahaziah becomes kings of Judah after his father dies, but his reign is short lived. Upon his death, she kills all the royal bloodline (with the exception of Joash, who was saved by his aunt). Her actions buy her 6 years on the throne of Judah. During this time, she promotes idol worship and leads Israel further from God. In the end, she is killed and Joash is restored to the throne.

Origins and Name Meanings

Princess Lineage

Athaliah was the daughter of Omri, a king in Israel (the Northern Kingdom) who strove against a rival king Tibni. I point this out because Athaliah grew up in a society where the throne was always being taken by force. Israel was much less stable than Judah, which had to have some impact on Athaliah's perspective.

In addition to explaining how her methods became corrupted, Athaliah's position as a princess of Israel also explains why Joram married her. Their marriage may have been a failed attempt at reunited the two kingdoms or at least establishing an alliance between them.

Meaning of the Name

The name Athaliah means "afflicted of the Lord" in Hebrew. I'm not sure if it means the Lord is causing the person to be afflicted or if it means the person is afflicting the Lord, but either way I think it fits. When we sin and do wrong, it hurts the Father; but likewise, when we sin and do wrong, the Father punishes us which often hurts. Athaliah's callousness and sin lead her to her death!

Questions

About the Passage

1. Was her marriage meant to unity the kingdoms?
2. Why did she kill the heirs to the throne?
   • Joash was her grandchild, why didn't she want him to live and reign?
   • Did she have somthing against the mother(s) of Ahaziah's children?
   • Did she have other sons (or daughters)?
   • Did Ahaziah have half-brothers?
3. Was Jehosheba her daughter?
4. Did Athalia look for Joash while he was in hiding?
5. Did she know Joash existed?
6. Was there support for her in the general public?
7. Was it normal for priests to step iin and annoint a king while someone else was ruling?
8. Why did they wait so long to come against her?
9. Why was she a bad queen?
10. Did she erect the temple of Ba'al?
11. Did she only kill sons of her husband or nephews that could lay claim to the throne as well?
12. How many did she kill?
13. Did she not notice the high priest building an army?
14. Did she doing the killing herself or have someone else do it?
15. Why did she want power?
16. What was her relationship with northern Israel?
17. Was she a favorite/first wife of Joram?
18. Why was her son the one appointed king?
19. Why did she think she should rule?

If I could meet her

I would be insanely nervous to meet someone who was willing to murder people, let alone her own kin. Athaliah was clearly desperate for power, but why? I think I would want to know what she felt was so important that required her to be queen. Was it a base hunger for power without any rhyme or reason, or was there some grand vision she was trying to accomplish?

In most power struggles, both parties believe they are correct. Usually, Satan is whispering in their ear (so to speak) and justifying their actions. I am curious what he told Athaliah that convinced her she should murder her step-sons, possibly nephews, and even grandson (even though she didn't succeeed with the latter).The motivation behind this curiosity is to understand how Satan decieves us.

Phototheology

Phototheology is a way of learning the Bible taught by Ivor Myers.[2] I am employing this technique in my weekly Woman of God study journal. The following three pormpts are the ones I drew from the card deck while studying Athaliah.

Connect the text with another 'random' text or story

The first text that comes to my mind is the story of Jezebel. She is also an infamous queen, though her reign was in Israel. She is known for leading the people in to idolatry. More importantly, she has the prophets of God killed. During her slaughter of God's chosen prophets, Elijah escapes. This very much parallels the trajectory Athaliah takes.

Another passage that comes to my mind is that of Herodias and her daughter convincing Herod to kill John the Baptist. In this case, we see a woman manipulating those around her to get what she wants. It isn't explicit that Athaliah engaged in this type of behavior, but she has to convince the palace guard and the public that she was the rightful ruler after she murdered the actual heirs to the throne. She uses whatever influence she has to eliminate her competition the same way Herodias and her daughter manipulate people to have John the Bapist killed.

Compare or contrast this cycle with the Abrahamic Cycle

Sacrifice

Both stories deal with sacrificing relatives. In Abraham's case, the sacrifice never happens—God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son with Sarah, but God provides a propper sacrifice when Abraham proves he is willing to make the sacrifice. In contrast Athaliah actually sacrifices her stepsons, sons, grandsons, etc. to claim power for herself. God does not request Athaliah do to this (and in fact we see throughout the Bible that human sacrifice is only warranted through Messiah). As such, Abraham receives the promised blessing which passes through his son Isaac, all the way to the line of Judah that Athaliah tries to destroy. Meanwhile, Athaliah is killed during her coup and a son of Abraham (via the line of Judah) is placed on the throne.

Faith

Abraham is well known for his faith and as a man of faith. In contrast, Athaliah is only said to worship idols; we never see her place any faith in the Most High.

Methods of Power

Abraham was promised a great name by God Himself. Yet, Abraham never tries to create that reality—aside from the whole situation with Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham waits for God to move and actually never really gets to see how great his name becomes. Athaliah on the other hand tries to take power for herself. She usurps her place in history with violence and idolatry. Because of this, her power is short lived. She is only able to maintain this rulership of Judah for 6 years. The people essentially agree to a 6-year-old king over her! I've joked about rathering a child than certain presidential candidates, but I'm not sure I'd actually prefer a child. The actions of God's people really underscore how bad of a person she was.

Lineage of Christ

As mentioned in the section on sacrifice, both Abraham and Athaliah are in the lineage of Christ. Despite her wickedness, it is still through her that more kings of Judah came to exist and how the Messiah's lineage continued. This goes to show that God can still use the wicked to bring forth his plan.

How does the text or message connect with the 3 angels' messages of Revelation 14

The three angels have a message each, for a total of three messages:

1. Fear God, the Creator of all things
2. Babylon has fallen
3. Judgment is coming to those who take the Mark of the Beast

Athaliah fails to do the first command of the first message; she does not fear the God who created all things, instead she worships a god created by God's creations. This leads her to the sufering promised in messages number two and three. If we think of Babylon as a symbol for sin or a sinful nation, we can draw many parrallels. Athaliah was the queen leading a nation into sin. Her reign is brought to a halt six years in—six is both the number of man and a number that plays prominently in prophecy concerning the Mark of the Beast. As we get closer and closer to the end, we can expect more and more rulers to behave like Athaliah.

Journal Pages

References & Footnotes

1. "Strongs H6271. עֲתַלְיָה". Blue Letter Bible; visited March 2025
2. Pastor Ivor Myers' Phototheology Game Deck
3. Athalya Brenner. "Athaliah: Bible". The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. February 27, 2009; visited March 2025