ACHAZ (Heb. 'Aḥaz, 'He [God] Holds'). - King of Judah for 16 years, probably from 743 to 728, or from 741 to 726. Son of Jotham, he succeeded him at the age of 25.

Since A. had not joined the anti-Assyrian alliance, the confederate kings made war on him to dethrone him. From the west the Philistines invaded the neighboring Judean cities, while from the north Pekah king of Israel pursued the routed Judeans, after having killed 20,000 of them, and Rezin (Razon) king of Damascus, having occupied the port of Elath, advanced northward, pressing the siege of Jerusalem, eager to install there as king the "son of Tabeel," his sympathizer. Isaiah, serene while everyone trembled like leaves in the wind (Is. 7:2), recommended confident waiting, assuring him that he could prove, even with a miracle, that the Lord was ready to intervene in favor of his people. But since A. refused to ask for the probative miracle, the prophet foretold the future birth of the Emmanuel. A. first sought to win by sacrifices and prayers the help and benevolence of the enemy deities, sacrificing his own son to Moloch and offering victims to the gods of Damascus (II Par. 28:23), then had recourse to Tiglath-Pileser III (autumn of 735) through an embassy which, with the request for help, brought him all the gold and silver of the royal palace and of the Temple. The Assyrian king, having stormed Damascus (732 B.C.), received there the homage of the vassal kings, among them also that of A. (Ianhazi, in the Assyrian text), who in order to pay the tribute had to strip the Temple even of its precious furnishings.

A. introduced polytheism into the kingdom, encouraging the worship of the high places (hamoth, v. BAMĀH) and imitating that of the Ninevite patron. Having removed the altar of holocausts, he had one built on the model of the Assyrian one seen at Damascus, on which he was the first to offer sacrifices. Finally he dared to close the Temple, setting up altars "in every corner of Jerusalem" (II Par. 28:24). The impious king, at his death, was not buried in the royal tombs. II Reg. 16:1-30; II Par. 28:1-27.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: R. Kittel, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, II, Stuttgart 1925, pp. 334-64; G. Ricciotti, Storia d'Israele, I, Turin 1932, pp. 439-42; A. Fohl, Historia populi Israel, Rome 1933, pp. 120-22; A. Feuillet, Le signe proposé à A. et l'Emmanuel (Is. 7, 10-23), in Recherches de science religieuse, 30 (1940), pp. 120-45; G. Governanti, In Isaiam 9, 5 (Vulg. 9, 6), Jerusalem 1945.

Faustino Salvoni

@incollection{ec1_achaz_ebr_egli_dio_tiene, author = {Salvoni, Faustino}, title = {Achaz (Ebr. « Egli [Dio] Tiene »)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {215--216}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/achaz-ebr-egli-dio-tiene} }

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