(a-vi-jah)
The son of Rehoboam by Maacah (or Micaiah) and the grandson of Solomon (1 Ki 14:31); he ascended to the throne upon Rehoboam's death, "acting wisely, dispensing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities" (2 Chron 11:23). He ruled for three years, beginning about 913 BC, in the 18th year of the reign of Jeroboam I. Constant warfare with Jeroboam was a signature of Abijah's reign. Abijah was also not unlike his grandfather: he had fourteen wives by whom he fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters, all except Asa, who succeeded him, remaining nameless (2 Chron 13:21).