Maachah

The name Maachah belongs to several women and a small kingdom near the Jordan, so the verses scatter. The clearest story is the queen mother of Judah. Rehoboam loved Maachah “above all his wives”, and her grandson Asa later became king. Asa did right in the eyes of the LORD, yet he removed her from being queen “because she had made an idol in a grove”. Even a mother’s high place did not shield her from the truth about her worship. Read 1 Kings 15:9-13 first, then 2 Chronicles 11:20-22.

19 verses

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 3:14

Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.

Joshua

Joshua 12:5

And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 27:2

And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 3:3

And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;

2 Samuel 10:6

And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob twelve thousand men.

2 Samuel 10:8

And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ishtob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.

1 Kings

1 Kings 15:2

Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

1 Kings 15:10

And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

1 Kings 15:11

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

1 Kings 15:12

And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

1 Kings 15:13

And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 8:29

And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon; whose wife's name was Maachah:

1 Chronicles 19:6

And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.

1 Chronicles 19:7

So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 11:20

And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

2 Chronicles 11:21

And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines:(for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

2 Chronicles 11:22

And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

2 Chronicles 11:23

And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.

2 Chronicles 13:2

He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Oppression, a small Syrian kingdom near Geshur, east of the Hauran, the district of Batanea (Josh. 13:13; 2 Sam. 10:6,8; 1 Chr. 19:7).

(2.) A daughter of Talmai, king of the old native population of Geshur. She became one of David’s wives, and was the mother of Absalom (2 Sam. 3:3).

(3.) The father of Hanan, who was one of David’s body-guard (1 Chr. 11:43).

(4.) The daughter of Abishalom (called Absalom, 2 Chr. 11:20-22), the third wife of Rehoboam, and mother of Abijam (1 Kings 15:2). She is called “Michaiah the daughter of Uriel,” who was the husband of Absalom’s daughter Tamar (2 Chr. 13:2). Her son Abijah or Abijam was heir to the throne.

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(5.) The father of Achish, the king of Gath (1 Kings 2:39), called also Maoch (1 Sam. 27:2).

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(oppression).

(1.) The daughter of Nahor by his concubine Beumah. (Genesis 22:24)

(2.) The father of Achish who was king of Gath at the beginning of Solomon’s reign. (1 Kings 2:39)

(3.) The daughter, or more probably granddaughter, of Absalom named after his mother; the third and favorite wife of Rehoboam, and mother of Abijah. (1 Kings 15:22; 2 Chronicles 11:20-22) The mother of Abijah is elsewhere called "Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah." (2 Chronicles 13:2) During the reign of her grandson Asa she occupied at the court of Judah the high position of "king’s mother," comp. (1 Kings 15:13) but when he came of age she was removed because of her idolatrous habits. (2 Chronicles 15:16)

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(4.) The concubine of Caleb the son of Hezron. (1 Chronicles 2:48)

(5.) The daughter of Talmai king of Geshur, and mother of Absalom (1 Chronicles 3:2) also called Maacah in Authorized Version of (2 Samuel 3:3)

(6.) The wife of Machir the Manassite. (1 Chronicles 7:15,16)

(7.) The wife of Jehiel, father or founder of Gibeon. (1 Chronicles 8:20; 9:35)

(8.) The father of Hanan, one of the heroes of David body-guard. (2 Chronicles 11:43)

(9.) A Simeonite, father of Sephatiah, prince of his tribe in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 27:16)

Based on Nave's Topical Bible by Orville J. Nave (1896). Dictionary entries from Easton's Bible Dictionary and Smith's Bible Dictionary. Public domain. KJV scripture text, public domain.