Maacah (or Maakah; ''Maʿăḵā'', "crushed"; Maacha in the

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

, Maachah in the

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

) is a non-gender-specific personal name used in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

to refer to a number of people. *A child of

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

's brother Nachor, evidently a boy. (Genesis 22:23,24) *The wife of Machir,

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

's son. (1 Chronicles 7:15-16) *One of the wives of Hezron's son

Caleb Caleb ( ; , Tiberian vocalization: , Modern Israeli Hebrew: ) is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land. Following the Israelite conquest of Ca ...

. (1 Chronicles 2:48) *A wife of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, and daughter of

Talmai Talmai (, ; 'my furrows') is a name in the Bible referring to a number of minor people. Its Aramaic version was associated with the Greek Ptolemy (see that article for the list of corresponding names and surnames), and is the origin of Bartholom ...

, King of Geshur (1 Chronicles 3:2), a near neighbor of the Maachathites. David fathered

Absalom Absalom ( , ), according to the Hebrew Bible, was an Israelite prince. Born to David and Maacah, who was from Geshur, he was the only full sibling of Tamar. He is described in the Hebrew Bible as being exceptionally beautiful, as is his siste ...

and Tamar by her. *A King of Gath, to whose son, Achish,

Shimei Shimei ( ''Šīmʿī'') is the name of a number of persons referenced in the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinical literature. *The second son of Gershon and grandson of Levi (; ; ). The family of the Shimeites, as a branch of the tribe of Levi, is ment ...

's servants fled early in

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

's reign (

1 Kings 2 1 Kings 2 is the second Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording ...

:39). About a half-century earlier than this event, David had fled to Achish, son of Maoch, King of Gath, with 600 men ( 1 Samuel 27:2). Still, the identification of Maacah is doubtful, though kinship is exceedingly probable. * Granddaughter of

, favorite wife of

Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the split of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a grandson of David. In the account of I Ki ...

, mother of Abijah of Judah, and grandmother of

Asa of Judah Asa (; ; ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the Davidic line, House of David. Based on the Biblical chronology, Biblical scholars suggest that he reigned from the late 10th to earl ...

. She served as Gebirah for Asa until he deposed her for idolatry. ( 1 Kings 15:1-14, 2 Chronicles 11:20-22, 2 Chronicles 15:16) *The wife of Yechiel. ( 1 Chronicles 8:29) *The father of Hanan, who was a man in David's army. (1 Chronicles 11:43) *The father of Shephatiah, an office man in David's time. (1 Chronicles 27:16) The name is also used to refer to: *Aram-Maʿaka, a small Aramean kingdom east of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

(

1 Chronicles 19 1 Chronicles 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designat ...

:6). Its territory was in the region assigned to the half-tribe of

east of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

. Maacah, its king, became a mercenary of the

Ammon Ammon (; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; '; ) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Wadi Mujib, Arnon and Jabbok, in present-d ...

ites in their war against

( 2 Samuel 10:6). It is probable that the city Abel-beth-maachah in

Naphtali According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the sixth son of Jacob, the second of his two sons with Bilhah. He was the founder of the Israelite tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ma ...

( 2 Samuel 10:15) derived its name from its relation to this kingdom and people.

References

*
Entry for the kingdom at the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915

Entry for the persons at the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915

Citations

{{Authority control 11th-century BC women 10th-century BC women Book of Genesis people Hebrew Bible places Jewish royalty Wives of David Aramean states Queen mothers Women in the Hebrew Bible Absalom Queens consort of Israel and Judah