AZARIAS (Hebrew: 'Azaryah[û] «Yahweh helps»). - Name of many biblical figures (from 25 to 30), of whom the most important are:
1) A., son of Ahimaaz (v.), was a minister of Solomon, and was probably the immediate successor of his grandfather Zadok in the high priesthood (1 Kings 4:2; 1 Chron. 6:9-10 [Masoretic text 5:35 ff.]; verse 10ᵈᵉ is displaced, and must refer to the first A.), which Ahimaaz seems not to have exercised. Another A. (son of Johanan), his descendant, was the father of Amariah (ibid. 6:10-11), high priest under King Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 19:11); he seems to have been high priest under King Asa. A third A. was high priest under Uzziah, whom he energetically prevented from offering incense in the sanctuary (ibid. 26:16-20), and a fourth under Hezekiah (ibid. 31:10-13).
2) Prophet, son of Oded, who threatened the king of Judah Asa, after his victory over Zerah the Ethiopian, with grave punishments and promised a great reward, according as he would break or keep the theocratic covenant (2 Chron. 15:1-8); the discourse of the prophet A. develops this theme in the spirit of Judg. 2:11-23, and of Neh. 9:5-37.
3) A., one of the three companions of Daniel, deported with him to Babylon and there educated at court (v. ANANIA, 3), where he received the Babylonian name Abed-Nego (Vulgate: Abdenago, v.).
The most beautiful prayer of A. (Dan. 3:25-45) is a deuterocanonical passage, missing in the present Hebrew text; in the Septuagint and Vulgate it is placed before the Canticle of the three youths. In the name of all his people, A. humbly confesses that the severe judgment of God toward Israel is due to the sins committed (vv. 25-33), recalls the divine promises to Abraham contrasting with the present sufferings (vv. 34-40), implores mercy and divine help so that the glory of Yahweh may shine forth in the restoration of Israel and its oppressors be humbled (vv. 41-45). Various passages of this sublime prayer have entered the Roman Missal and Breviary; vv. 39-40, in particular, form part of two of the most evocative invocations of the Ordinarium Missae (G. E. Closen, Dalla preghiera di A. [Dan. 3, 39-40], in Incontro con il Libro sacro, Ital. trans., Brescia 1943, pp. 144-52).
4) Name assumed by the archangel Raphael (Tob. 5:18; 6:7; 9:1) from the time when he offered himself to Tobit to lead his son to Rages (v. ANANIA, 2). This name, with its etymological meaning, expresses the "help of God," personified in the angel sent to the pious exile.
5) Two of the five centurions of the royal guard who, directed by the high priest Jehoiada, overthrew Athaliah (v.), killing her outside the precinct of the Temple and proclaiming the child Joash king of Judah (2 Chron. 23:1-21; cf. 1 Kings 10:4-12).
6) Son of Hoshaiah: he was one of the military leaders of Judah who came to Mizpah to Gedaliah (Jer. 40:7-14). After the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.), he accused Jeremiah of deceiving the people by dissuading them from emigrating to Egypt; he was among those who dragged the prophet himself with his secretary Baruch into Egypt (Jer. 43:2-6). He is identified with "Jezaniah" of Jer. 42:1 (and, it seems, of 40:8).
7) Military leader who, with Joseph, son of Zechariah, was appointed to the custody of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabeus. Transgressing the prohibition against attacking the enemy, they wanted to conquer Jamnia; but Gorgias, in a sortie, defeated them, killing about 2,000 men (1 Macc. 5:18-19, 56-62); a tragic consequence of their disobedience and presumption (ibid. 5:61-62).
8) For the king of Judah, son of Amaziah, v. OZIA.
Bibliography2 works
Antonino Romeo