AMON (Hebrew «builder»; Septuagint: 'Αμῶς'). — King (14th) of Judah (probably 641–39 BC; F. X. Kugler, A. Pohl: 639–38 BC). Son of Manasseh and Meshullemeth, he succeeded his father at the age of 22.
He followed in his father’s footsteps, siding with the Assyrians and promoting idolatry: “he served and worshipped all the abominations his father had served” (2 Kgs 21:21). Indeed, he surpassed his father in impiety (2 Chr 33:23), winning the favor of the corrupt lower classes.
His brief reign was inglorious and stained by rampant impiety. A palace conspiracy (perhaps inspired by religious reform motives) led to his assassination after two years on the throne. The “people of the land” ('am hā-'āres; the landowners of the countryside) rose against the murder, killed the conspirators, and proclaimed his son Josiah as king. Amon was buried, like his father Manasseh, in the garden of Uzza, which surrounded the villa outside Jerusalem (2 Kgs 21:19–26; 2 Chr 33:21–25).
While R. Kittel shortens his reign to one year (638 BC), J. Coppens, following R. Fruin, proposes extending Amon’s reign by two years, placing it between 644 (or 645) and 640 BC.