(2) His mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.--Kings reads for the names "Maachah the daughter of Abishalom"; and as the chronicler has himself already designated Abijah as son of Maachah, daughter of Absalom (2Chronicles 11:20-22), there can be no doubt that this is correct, and that "Michaiah," which is elsewhere a man's name, is a corruption of Maachah. This is confirmed by the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic, which read Maachah. As we have already stated (2Chronicles 11:20), Maachah was granddaughter to Absalom, being a daughter of Tamar the only daughter of Absalom. Uriel of Gibeah, then, must have been the husband of Tamar. (See on 2Chronicles 15:16. Uriel of Gibeah is otherwise unknown.)

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.--Now war had arisen. See 1Kings 15:6. "Now war had prevailed [same verb] between Abijam [common Hebrew text incorrectly has Rehoboam] and Jeroboam all the days of his life." The chronicler modifies the sense by omitting the concluding phrase, and then proceeds to give a striking account of a campaign in which Abijah totally defeated his rival (2Chronicles 13:3-20); of all which we find not a word in Kings.

Verse 2. - Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. As before noted (2 Chronicles 11:20), and as in the parallel (1 Kings 15:2), this name is one with "Maachah, daughter of Absalom" (parallel, Abishalom). The different alphabetic characters may be attributed to error, and that error the error of transcription merely. As in our note (2 Chronicles 11:20), the word "daughter," as in many similar cases, stands for granddaughter. Thus the father of Maachah was Uriel of Gibeah, and her mother Tamar, daughter of Absalom. Josephus ('Ant.,' 8:10. § 1) proffers us this connecting link of explanation. On the other hand, Rabbi Joseph's Targum on Chronicles says that Uriel means Absalom, but was a name used to avoid the use of Absalom. We have no clue as to which out of many Gibeahs is here intended. The Hebrew word (גִבְעָח) signifies a hill with round top, and hence would easily give name to many places. The following are the chief places of the name (as classified by Dr. Smith's 'Bible Dictionary,' 1:689-691):

1. Gibeah in the mountain district of Judah (Joshua 15:57; 1 Chronicles 2:49).

2. Gibeath among the towns of Benjamin (Joshua 18:28).

3. The Gibeah (1 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel 6:3, 4).

4. Gibeah of Benjamin (Judges 19, 20.), between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. This should strictly be quoted either as "Gibeah belonging to Benjamin," or "Geba (גֶּבַע) of Benjamin" (see also 1 Samuel 13, 14; 2 Samuel 23:29; 1 Chronicles 11:31; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9).

5. Gibeah of Saul (1 Samuel 10:26; 1 Samuel 15:34; 2 Samuel 21:6). Josephus ('Bell, Jud.,' 5:2. § 1) states what helps to the identifying of the place as the modern Tuleil-el-ful, about thirty stadia from Jerusalem (see also Isaiah 10:28-32). The Gibeah of 1 Samuel 22:6; 1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 26:1, is this Gibeah of Saul.

6. Gibeah in the field (Judges 20:31). Lastly, our Authorized Version gives us seven other Gibeahs, only translating this word, e g. "The hill of the foreskins" (Joshua 5:3); "The hill of Phinehas" (Joshua 24:33); "The hill of Moreh" (Judges 7:1); "The hill of God" (1 Samuel 10:5); "The hill of Haehilah" (1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 26:1); "The hill of Ammah" (2 Samuel 2:24); "The hill Gareb" (Jeremiah 31:39).

13:1-22 Abijah overcomes Jeroboam. - Jeroboam and his people, by apostacy and idolatry, merited the severe punishment Abijah was permitted to execute upon them. It appears from the character of Abijah, 1Ki 15:3, that he was not himself truly religious, yet he encouraged himself from the religion of his people. It is common for those that deny the power of godliness, to boast of the form of it. Many that have little religion themselves, value it in others. But it was true that there were numbers of pious worshippers in Judah, and that theirs was the more righteous cause. In their distress, when danger was on every side, which way should they look for deliverance unless upward? It is an unspeakable comfort, that our way thither is always open. They cried unto the Lord. Earnest prayer is crying. To the cry of prayer they added the shout of faith, and became more than conquerors. Jeroboam escaped the sword of Abijah, but God struck him; there is no escaping his sword.He reigned three years in Jerusalem,.... See Gill on 1 Kings 15:2,

his mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah; see 2 Chronicles 11:20; see Gill on 1 Kings 15:2.

and there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam; and in this chapter is an account of a battle fought between them, not recorded in the book of Kings.