{
  "id": "dict_000018",
  "term": "Abijah",
  "slug": "abijah",
  "letter": "A",
  "entry_type": "biblical_personal_name",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "A Hebrew personal name borne by several biblical figures, including a king of Judah, a son of Jeroboam, and priestly figures.",
  "simple_one_line": "Abijah is a biblical personal name used for more than one person in Scripture.",
  "tooltip_text": "Biblical personal name meaning “Yahweh is my father,” borne by several individuals in the Old Testament.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "Abijam",
    "Jeroboam",
    "Rehoboam",
    "Davidic line",
    "Priestly divisions"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Abimelech",
    "Ahijah",
    "biblical names",
    "proper names in Scripture"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Abijah is a biblical personal name borne by several different individuals in Scripture. The name is best known for a king of Judah and for a son of Jeroboam, but it also appears in priestly and other contexts.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "A Hebrew personal name used for multiple biblical figures.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "Often understood to mean “Yahweh is my father” or “my father is Yah.”",
    "Refers to more than one person in the Bible.",
    "Best-known bearers include a king of Judah and a son of Jeroboam."
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "Abijah is a biblical personal name borne by multiple individuals in Scripture, including Abijah king of Judah, Jeroboam’s son Abijah, and priestly figures associated with Israel’s history. Because the name is multi-referential, it is best treated as a person-name entry rather than a theological concept.",
  "description_academic_full": "Abijah is a Hebrew personal name used for several different individuals in the Old Testament and related biblical genealogies. The best-known bearers are Abijah, king of Judah, and Abijah, a son of Jeroboam whose death is recorded in 1 Kings. The name also appears among priestly and genealogical references, showing that it is a common biblical proper name rather than a single theological term. For dictionary purposes, Abijah should be treated as a distinct name entry with brief disambiguation of its major referents.",
  "background_biblical_context": "In the Bible, Abijah appears as the name of more than one person. One prominent Abijah was a king of Judah in the Davidic line. Another was the son of Jeroboam, whose illness and death are narrated in 1 Kings. The name also appears in priestly lists and later genealogical records, indicating repeated use across Israel’s history.",
  "background_historical_context": "As with many ancient Hebrew names, Abijah reflects a theologically meaningful personal name rather than a doctrinal concept. Multiple individuals could bear the same name in different generations and tribal settings, so the biblical record must be read by context to identify each person correctly.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "The name is traditionally understood in Hebrew as expressing relation to God, commonly rendered “Yahweh is my father” or a closely related sense. In the ancient world, such names often carried confessional meaning and reflected covenant identity within Israel.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "1 Kings 14",
    "1 Kings 15",
    "2 Chronicles 13",
    "Nehemiah 12",
    "Luke 1:5"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "1 Chronicles 24",
    "2 Chronicles 11",
    "genealogical and priestly references associated with the name"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "Hebrew: Abiyyah / Abiyyahu, commonly understood to mean “Yahweh is my father” or “My father is Yah.”",
  "theological_significance": "As a personal name, Abijah is significant mainly for what it shows about biblical naming practices and the recurrence of covenant-theological language in Israel’s names. It is not itself a doctrine, but it does illustrate the God-centered character of many Hebrew names.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "This entry is best understood as a referential proper-name entry. The same name can denote different people, so meaning is determined by context rather than by a single abstract definition. Proper handling requires disambiguation rather than collapsing all instances into one biography.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not treat every biblical occurrence of Abijah as the same individual. Several different men bear the name. Where the text identifies a father, tribe, office, or reign, that context must control interpretation.",
  "major_views_note": "There is general agreement that Abijah is a Hebrew personal name with multiple biblical referents. The main interpretive issue is disambiguation, not doctrinal dispute.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "This entry should not be used to build doctrine. It is a name entry, not a theological category, and its meaning should remain tied to the biblical persons who bear it.",
  "practical_significance": "Abijah is a reminder to read biblical names carefully in context and to avoid conflating different people who share the same name. It also illustrates how Israelite names often carried explicit references to God.",
  "meta_description": "Abijah is a biblical personal name borne by several individuals in Scripture, including a king of Judah and a son of Jeroboam.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/abijah/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/abijah.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}