Maacah (person)

See also Maacah


MAACAH (person) mā ə kə (מַעֲכָֽה, LXX Μα [α, G1] χα, meaning uncertain; perhaps related to the root to press or squeeze). Numerous OT figures both male and female have this name.

The males were:

1. A son of Nahor by his concubine Re’umah (Gen 22:24). He became the ancestor of the people called by his name who dwelt W of Bashan, near Zobah (2 Sam 10:6, 8) and Geshur (Josh 13:13). These people were never driven out by the Israelites and continued to live among them.

2. The father of Hanan, a hero of David (1 Chron 11:43).

3. The name of a Simeonite (1 Chron 27:16).

4. The father of Achish the Philistine king of Gath (1 Kings 2:39).

The females were:

1. The daughter of Talmai a Geshurite princess who became a wife of David and the mother of Absalom during David’s reign at Hebron (2 Sam 3:3; 1 Chron 3:2). Absalom fled for safety to his mother’s homeland after he killed his half-brother Ammon (2 Sam 13:37, 38).

2. The idolatrous daughter of Absalom, the favorite wife of the eighteen wives of Rehoboam. She became the mother of King Abijam (1 Kings 15:2; 2 Chron 11:20-22) who also married a girl named Maacah (3 below) who apparently was the granddaughter of Absalom (1 Kings 15:9, 10).

3. The mother of the good King Asa who removed idols and even his own grandmother, Maacah (2 above) from being queen mother because she had set up an abominable image of the Canaanite goddess Asherah. He cut down the image and burned it at the brook Kidron (1 Kings 15:11-13). But it must be made clear that this Maacah was not the daughter of Abishalom (Absalom) (as 2 above) but was a granddaughter, which clarifies a comparison of 1 Kings 15:2 and 1 Kings 15:9, 10. The Heb. language does not find it necessary to use a special word to distinguish between parents and grandparents. This Maacah, the wife of Abijam (Abijah) was named after her aunt, the queen mother, and she in turn became the mother of Asa.

4. A concubine of Caleb (1 Chron 2:48).

5. The wife of a Manassite named Machir the father of Gilead (1 Chron 7:14-16).

6. Wife of Jehiel (1 Chron 8:29).