WHAT WAS THE NAME OF KING ABIJAH'S MOTHER? (I KINGS 15:2; II CHRONICLES 11:20; 13:2)

A skeptic's website points to an apparent genealogical contradiction regarding this question. Was the answer Michaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah (II Chronicles 13:2) or Maachah daughter of Absalom (II Chronicles 11:20)? However, Absalom had only one daughter whose name was Tamar.

This conundrum has been well known to Bible scholars for approximately 2000 years, and there are three general approaches to solving the problem.

A. The Abishalom of I Kings 15:2 and II Chronicles 11:20 is not the same person as Absalom, the son of David.

“Although the name Abishalom is the same as Absalom..., and despite the fact that the two are rare names, there is no compelling reason for identifying the two persons.” (G.H. Jones)

Williamson notes that identifying the two as the same Absalom “is far from certain.”

Myers says that the choice is between options A and B. But regarding Option A, he explains, “Since no family connection is given, this appears to have been another Absalom.” This reading is also that of T.H. Jones, writing in the New Bible Commentary.

One practically insurmountable problem with the reference being to the son of David is brought up by C.G. Martin: “His mother's name [I Kings 15:2] is given as Maacah daughter of Abishalom. If this is Absalom, David's son, his daughter would be much older even than Rehoboam [her supposed husband].”

B. Micaiah/Maachah was in fact the granddaughter of Absalom, not his daughter.

“The use of daughter to fit the concept of granddaughter is a phenomenon not unknown in Hebrew. See the similar usage in Genesis 46:15, where the 'sons' of Leah includes grandsons.” (Kaiser) Or we could compare Jesus' genealogies in Matthew and Luke in which several generations are skipped over in order to make a particular theological point.

Concerning the view of some modern translations, Cogan notes that NEB translates “granddaughter of Abishalom” and NBJ reads “descendant of Absalom. “Accordingly, Maacah bore the name of her great-grandmother (cf. 2 Sam 3:3).” LaSor agrees with this assessment.

Ellison simply states, “Rehoboam's favorite wife was Maachah, or Michaiah (II Chron.13:2), the grand-daughter of Absalom (cf. v. 20 with 13:2).” By the way, there is virtually no difference between the two spellings in the original Hebrew text since it lacked vowels.

Thus, we may suppose that Tamar the daughter of Absalom married Uriel and that their daughter was named Maachah, an explanation going back as far as Josephus in his Antiquities viii.10.1.

C. There are two irreconcilable traditions at work here which cannot be harmonized.

This is the general stance taken by those who do not take the details of biblical history that seriously to begin with since they already assume the accounts will be filled with much later legends and traditions which cannot be trusted to convey the actual truth of the events. But even these skeptics may include a number of sincere believers who look primarily for the spiritual importance of the text and do not treat it as a mere attempt to convey historical data. Thus, Salvesen labels the name 'Micaiah' in II Chronicles 13:2 as a possible “attempt to harmonize the discrepancy with I Kings 15:2.”

D. We do not have enough information to go on to allow us to label this as a contradiction.

Williamson could be cited as an example of this approach to such problems: “With so little of the necessary information available it is more prudent simply to observe what is said without assuming that it must be irreconcilable or that it is necessary to harmonize.”

In a similar vein, Howard says, “In view of the complexity of the [royal] family tree with so many wives, concubines and children it is likely that there were a number of variant traditions and any solution can only be speculative.”

For example, “Maacah” appears in the OT History Books to apply to three different men and five different women, one of whom is actually Absalom's mother. (Beeching and Millard)

Note that options C and D represent two general stances regarding Scripture. The first (C) assumes a contradiction unless otherwise proved while Option D assumes there is no contradiction unless proved otherwise. This shows one of the basic differences between religious liberals and conservatives.