AHAB
Hebrew, “brother of the father.”
(a) Seventh king of Israel, who succeeded his father Omri in 918 BC. and he reigned twenty-two years.
He married Jezebel, daughter of Ed-Baal, king of Tyre, an ambitious and idolatrous woman, through whose influence the cult of Baal and Ashtoreth was introduced into Israel.
Ahab built a temple to Baal in Samaria, persecuted the prophets of God, and is said in the Bible to have done more to provoke the Lord to anger than all the kings before him.
Because of this apostasy, God punished Israel with three years of drought and famine, until the prophet Elijah challenged and eliminated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40).
Another disgusting crime of Ahab, on the advice of his wife, was the legalized murder by deception of his neighbor Naboth, to seize his property.
A fickle man, he first fought against Benadad, king of Syria, whom he defeated twice, and when he humiliated himself, Ahab made an alliance with him.
A monolithic inscription of Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria, shows that, honoring this alliance, he fought against the Assyrians at the Battle of Karcar in 853 BC.
Finally, Ahab, taking advantage of a visit from Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, proposed a joint expedition to recover Ramoth of Gilead on the other side of the Jordan.
The prophets of Baal encouraged him in the undertaking, but Micah (Jehovah’s only prophet) predicted Ahab’s death. He disguised himself to avoid the fulfillment of the tragic prophecy, trying not to attract attention;
But an individual from the enemy army, shooting at random, mortally wounded the wicked king Ahab and, as Elijah had prophesied years before, his blood was washed on his chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked it up after a reign of twenty-two. years.
He was succeeded by Ahakiah, his son.
(b) Lying and immoral prophet, whom Jeremiah predicted would be burned alive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Jer. 29:21-23).