Why are all the Judahite Kings identified along with their mothers?

[matthew1624]

One thing I noticed while reading II Chronicles is that every time a Judahite King is named the passages always name him along with his mother. Why is that? In one particular situation, 2 Chronicles 15:16, the mother is even described as a Queen.

On the other hand, the mothers of the Northern Kings (Samaria) are never mentioned.

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

 

[LilyM]

One thing I noticed while reading II Chronicles is that every time a Judahite King is named the passages always name him along with his mother. Why is that? In one particular situation, 2 Chronicles 15:16, the mother is even described as a Queen.

On the other hand, the mothers of the Northern Kings (Samaria) are never mentioned.

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

The Kings of Judah usually had multiple wives, which would problems if any one of them was favoured with the title of Queen (since there can only be one Queen, of course).

So it was indeed actually the mother of the King who was given the role and title of Queen (Gebirah) She had a great deal of power in her own right and a principle task was to recieve petitions from people and pass them on to the king. You can see this in action with Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, pleading with him for his brother.

This is a foreshadowing, for Catholics, of the role Mary plays - as mother of the Heavenly King, Jesus. She receives petitions from us and passes them on to him, as well as interceding for us on her own behalf.

We give her the title of ‘Queen of Heaven’ for this reason.

 

[matthew1624]

Thanks for the information. Is there a reason why King Ahaz’s mother is not mentioned? (see 2 Chronicles 28 or 2 Kings 16). Also, are there any details in the scriptures pertaining to the role of the Queen mother? And finally, why are the northern kings’ mothers not listed? Is it because they were the rebellious tribe who worshiped in Samaria as opposed to Jerusalem?

Thanks again…

 

[NotWorthy]

In Jeremiah 13:18, the Lord speaks to Jeremiah, “Say to the king and to the queen mother: come down from your throne; From your heads fall your magnificent crowns. The cities of the Negeb are besieged, with no one to relieve them; All Judah is banished in universal exile. Lift up your eyes and see men coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your glory?”

In these verses, God chastises the King and the Queen Mother, condemning their lack of leadership, but never questioning the role of the queen mother.

As to the role of the Queen Mother, as previously mentioned, her role was as the intercessor for the common man. Of course, her brother abused this role, and sort of paid the price…

 

[Nita]

One thing I noticed while reading II Chronicles is that every time a Judahite King is named the passages always name him along with his mother. Why is that? In one particular situation, 2 Chronicles 15:16, the mother is even described as a Queen.

On the other hand, the mothers of the Northern Kings (Samaria) are never mentioned.

I had never noticed that before. Have no idea why the mothers of the Northern Kingdom were not given. But it is interesting that it was the mothers of the kingdom of Judah that were mentioned - since the Messiah (Jesus) was to be born of that tribe. Perhaps it was God’s way of alluding to the fact that in the Messiah’s kingdom there would be a queen mother.

Nita

 

[lak611]

I had never noticed that before. Have no idea why the mothers of the Northern Kingdom were not given. But it is interesting that it was the mothers of the kingdom of Judah that were mentioned - since the Messiah (Jesus) was to be born of that tribe. Perhaps it was God’s way of alluding to the fact that in the Messiah’s kingdom there would be a queen mother.

Nita

The emphasis on the 2 Chronicles is on the kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom of Israel is not even mentioned in 2 Chronicles, except to mention wars, alliances, etc. between Israel and Judah. On the other hand, 1 & 2 Kings are about both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Even the kings of Israel are mentioned just because of their impact on Judah, so not much is said about them, especially nothing about their mothers.

 

[rwoehmke]

I had never noticed that before. Have no idea why the mothers of the Northern Kingdom were not given. But it is interesting that it was the mothers of the kingdom of Judah that were mentioned - since the Messiah (Jesus) was to be born of that tribe. Perhaps it was God’s way of alluding to the fact that in the Messiah’s kingdom there would be a queen mother.

Nita

The Judahite kings were legitimate members of the line of David up to the return from Babylon. After that the line was broken until the birth of Jesus the last and final King in the line of David. The Israelites had kings from several dynastys, many of them gaining power from assasination and such. There was no legitimate line and they and their Mothers had no bearing on the Kingship of Jesus.