Ahaziah meaning

Meaning

Yah Has Grasped

Etymology

From (1) the verb אחז (ahaz), to seize or grasp, and (2) יה (yah), the name of the Lord.

Related names

• Via אחז (ahaz): Ahaz, Ahuzzam, Ahuzzath, Ahzai, Jehoahaz, Joahaz

• Via יה (yah): See the 'browse by form' menu for a long list of yah-names.

There are two men named Ahaziah in the Bible, and they are uncle and nephew. Ahaziah the first (mostly called אחזיהו — Ahazyahu) is a son of king Ahab of Israel and Jezebel, who reigned for only two years. When he falls out of a window and gets injured, he sends messengers to Ekron to inquire of Baal-zebub whether he would heal. But the angel of YHWH tells Elijah the Tishbite of this, and he informs the king that he will surely die. And because he has no son, his brother Jehoram ascends to the throne.

The second Ahaziah is a son of Jehoram and Athaliah, who is a granddaughter of Omri, the father of Ahab (2 Kings 8:26). He is also mostly called Ahazyahu and once even יהואחז — Jehoahaz, which is identical to Ahazyahu but with its two elements reversed — 2 Chronicles 21:17.

After only one year of idolatrous rule, Ahaziah is shot by Israel's king Jehu, at the ascent of Gur near Ibleam and dies at Megiddo. He was then twenty-three years old.

The name Ahaziah consists of two elements. The first part of our name comes from the verb אחז (ahaz), meaning to seize or grasp:

The second part of the name Ahaziah is the appellative יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), or Yahu, which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.

For a meaning of the name Ahaziah, both BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List read Yahweh Has Grasped. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Upheld Of The Lord.