Maacah

The name Maacah occurs several times in Scripture, most frequently in connection with Absalom. Maacah is David’s wife, the mother of Absalom (2 Sam 3:3), and Maacah is also the DAUGHTER of Absalom who is also the wife of Rehoboam (2 Chron 11:20-22) and mother of Abijah and Asa, successors of Rehoboam (1 Kings 15:2, 10, 13). This makes a quaint little family scene: Rehoboam marries his cousin, daughter of his father’s half-brother. Abijah and Asa are doubly Davidic.

Then there’s this: Shimei’s servants flee from Jerusalem to Philistia, to “Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath” (1 Kings 2:39). Achish is the king of Gath, and Maacah is his mother (rather than his father). How is this Maacah related to the Maacah that’s connected with Absalom? If the Maacah in 1 Ki 2 is Absalom’s mother, then Achish of Gath is Absalom’s brother (or half-brother) and perhaps David’s son (though, of course, Maacah could have had another husband at some point). If the Maacah of 1 Ki 2 is Absalom’s daughter, then Achish is David’s great-grandson. Absalom was 40 years old when he died, and he could have had a 20-year-old daughter; but it’s not likely that she could have borne a son old enough to be king by the time Solomon takes the throne. Thus, the more likely scenario is that Achish Absalom’s brother or half-brother (related through their common mother) and, perhaps, even David’s son.

Of course, the Maacah in 1 Kings 2:39 could be wholly unrelated to the Maacahs elsewhere. But it makes for fascinating afternoon musings.