Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 13:21
But Abijah grew strong, married fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the conclusion of King Abijah’s reign immediately after Jeroboam’s death. This statement follows Judah’s military victory and serves as a biographical summary of Abijah’s domestic and political consolidation.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יִּתְחַזֵּ֣ק (va/i.yit.cha.Zek) literally means "he strengthened himself," describing Abijah’s consolidation of power, while וַ/יִּ֨שָּׂא־ נָשִׁים (va/i.Yi.sa'- na.Shim) translates to "he took wives," noting his marriage of fourteen women.
The thread — This pattern of polygamy and large progeny appears in Judges 8:30 with Gideon and Judges 10:4 with Jair, where multiple wives and numerous sons mark authority. The narrative thread continues in Judges 9:5, where those sons become targets of fratricidal succession violence.
Why it lands — The text records Abijah’s political and dynastic expansion without moral commentary, requiring the reader to weigh his strengthened kingdom against the biblical pattern where large polygamous households frequently precede succession conflict.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
Cross-references
- Judges 8:30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
- Judges 9:5 He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.
- Judges 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.
- 2 Samuel 5:12 And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.