ATHALIAH:
Daughter of Ahab (II Kings viii. 26) and, presumably, of Jezebel; also called the daughter of Omri (II Chron. xxii. 2). The political alliance of Jehoshaphat, fourth king of Judah, with Ahab, king of Israel (I Kings xxii. 2-4; II Chron. xx. 35), resulted in a domestic alliance also between his son Jehoram and Ahab's daughter Athaliah (II Kings viii. 18-27; II Chron. xxi. 6). The death of Ahaziah, the only surviving son of Jehoram and Athaliah (II Chron. xxi. 16, 17), at the hand of Jehu (II Kings ix. 27; II Chron. xxii. 9), opened the way for the queen-mother to assert herself. She immediately slew "all" of royal blood(II Kings xi. 1; II Chron. xxii. 10), and made herself queen of Judah. Her influence, since her marriage with Jehoram, had fostered Baal-worship in Judah, and temporarily thrust into the background the worship of