ABIAH
“Jehovah is Father or Jehovah is careful.”
Fairly common name in Hebrew and also used in its feminine form. Among the main characters mentioned are:
(a) Second son of Samuel, who, together with his brother, was judge of Israel by appointment of his father. The corruption and misadministration of justice raised up the people, who asked for a king (1 Sam. 8:1-5).
(b) Founder of a family among the descendants of Aaron and Eleazar. In David’s time, when the Temple service was organized, the eighth division was named after him (1 Chron. 24:10). In the New Testament he is called by the name Abiah (Luke 1:5). Of the class of Abijah was the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.
(c) One of the sons of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel. He was a well-liked and popular young man who was mourned by the people when he died while still young (1 Kings 14:1-18).
(d) Son of Rehoboam, the first king of Judah (Mt. 1:7); in 1st Kings. He is called Abijam. His reign was short, only three years, and he came to the throne in the 18th year of Jeroboam, 958 B.C.
He was a soldier of some ingenuity and defeated Jeroboam in a memorable battle (2 Chron. 13); Despite this he followed the bad examples of his father (1 Kings 14: 23-24).
(e) In the feminine form of it they bear this name:
Hezekiah’s mother (2 Chron. 29:1)
and the wife of Hezron, grandson of Judah (1 Chron. 2:24).
Hezekiah’s mother is called Abia in 2 Kings 18:2.