Amon
(builder).
One of Ahab’s governors. (1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 18:25) King of Judah, son and successor of Manasseh, reigned two years, from B.C. 642 to 640. Amon devoted himself wholly to the service of false gods, but was killed in a conspiracy, and was succeeded by his son Josiah.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Amon
Amon a'-mon ('amon): A name identical with that of the Egyptian local deity of Thebes (No); compare Jer 46:25. The foreign name given to a Hebrew prince is remarkable, as is also the fact that it is one of the two or three royal names of Judah not compounded with the name of Yahweh. See MANASSEH. It seems to reflect the sentiment which his fanatical father sought to make prevail that Yahweh had no longer any more claim to identification with the realm than had other deities. ⇒See a list of verses on AMON in the Bible. (1) A king of Judah, son and successor of Manasseh; reigned two years and was assassinated in his own palace by the officials of his household. The story of his reign is told briefly in 2Ki 21:19-26, and still more briefly, though in identical terms, so far as they go, in 2Ch 33:21-25. His short reign was merely incidental in the history of Judah; just long enough to reveal the traits and tendencies which directly or indirectly led to his death. It was merely a weaker continuation of the regime of his idolatrous father, though without the fanaticism which gave the fathe…
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Amon
1. One of the kings of Judah, .son and successor of Manas.seh. Two parallel accounts of his reign are given in 2 K 21'"--'' and 2 Ch 33-'"-'-*. 84 AMON AJMORITES His name occurs in tlie genealogical list of the house of David, 1 Cli 3'*, and in that of the ancestry of our Lord, Mt 1'". It is also men- tioned in connexion with his son Josiah in Jer 1^ 25', Zeph 11. A. came to the throne at the age of twenty-two, and his reign lasted two years (641-639 B.C.). It has been suppo.sed that his name may have had some connexion with the Egyp. divinity Anion (see THEI5Eji),and may thus be an illustration of the extent of his father's heathen sympathies. There is, however, no other evidence that in his culti- vation of foreign forms of worship Manasseh was definitely influenced by Egypt, and the name A. may quite well be Hebrew. All that we know of A. is that during his short reign he repeated all the idolatrous practices of his father's earlier years. He had been unaffected by Manasseh's tardy repentance and futile attempts at reform, and when he came into power he gave full scope to the heat…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia