Did Israel Have a QUEEN in Biblical Times?
Yes, in Judah during the time of the divided kingdom, as observed here:
1When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. 2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. 3He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
2 Kings 11:1-3
Athaliah was the wife of evil king Jehoram in Judah, who reigned for eight years in the mid-9th century BC. She was the mother of the next king of Judah, Ahaziah, who only reigned one year, which is when Athaliah usurped power, as detailed above. She is said to be the daughter of wicked king Ahab of Israel and the granddaughter of king Omri (2 Kings 8:18), but some theologians suggest that she was the daughter of king Omri (1 Kings 16:21-28) and thus the sister of Ahab. According to this theory, Ahab is cited as Athaliah’s father because he raised her and therefore functioned as her father.
Whatever the case, Athaliah sprang from the idolatrous Northern Kingdom and brought Baal worship to the court of Judah after the righteous reign of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram’s father (2 Chronicles 17:1-21:3). While she was the reigning queen of Judah for six years, it obviously wasn’t sanctioned by the LORD.
The aunt of the male heir to the throne, Jehosheba, was able to hide Joash for the six years that Athaliah reigned when he was but a toddler and kid. The righteous high priest, Jehoiada — Jehosheba’s husband — was able to enlist the military in a coup that toppled Athaliah and made Joash king at the age of 7 whereupon Jehoiada acted as regent until the boy reached adulthood (2 Kings 11:4-16). The military cooperated with the coup likely because Athaliah was not from Judah, but rather the Northern Kingdom, the offspring of wicked royalty. A secondary reason could be that they preferred a male on the throne since it was a patriarchal culture.
Despite being a patriarchal culture, God chose Deborah to lead Israel during the time of the judges for four decades in which she led the nation spiritually, legally, politically and militarily (Judges 2:16 & Judges 4:4-9). Why did the LORD choose Deborah? Simply because she was the most qualified person for the job, male or female.
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Bible—Is it Full of Contradictions? Does it Promote Slavery, Tyranny and Discrimination?
HEBREWS / ISRAELITES / JEWS — Why Did God Choose Them?
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