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'''Abijah''' ({{Langx|he|אֲבִיָּה}} ''{{Lang|he-latn|Aviyyah}}'') is a [[Biblical Hebrew]]<ref name="Petrovsky">Petrovsky, p.&nbsp;35</ref> [[unisex name]]<ref name="Superanskaya2">Superanskaya, p.&nbsp;277</ref> which means "my Father is [[Yahweh|Yah]]".<ref name="Petrovsky"/> The Hebrew form ''{{Lang|he-latn|Aviyahu}}'' also occurs in the [[Bible]].<ref>See W. E. Addis and T. K. Cheyne (1899), "Abijah" in Cheyne and Black, eds., ''Encyclopaedia Biblica.'' [https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabib01cheyuoft]</ref>

==Old Testament characters==
===Women===
*[[Abijah (queen)|Abijah]],<ref>[[2 Chronicles 29]]:1</ref> who married King [[Ahaz]] of Judah. She is also called Abi.<ref>[[2 Kings 18]]:2</ref> Her father's name was Zechariah; she was the mother of King [[Hezekiah]]<ref>[[2 Chronicles 29:1]]</ref>
*A wife of [[Hezron]], one of the grandchildren of [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]]<ref>[[1 Chronicles 2]]:24</ref>

===Men===
* [[Abijah of Judah]], also known as Abijam ({{Lang|he|אבים|italic=no}}, ''{{Lang|he-latn|Abiyam}}'', "My Father is Yam [Sea]"), who was son of [[Rehoboam]] and succeeded him on the throne of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]<ref>[[1 Chronicles 3]]:10, [[Matthew 1:7]], [[1 Kings 14]]:31</ref>
* A son of [[Becher (biblical figure)|Becher]], the son of [[Benjamin]]<ref>[[1 Chronicles 7]]:8</ref>
* The second son of [[Samuel]].<ref>[[1 Samuel 8]]:2; [[1 Chronicles 6]]:28)</ref> His conduct, along with that of his brother, as a judge in [[Beersheba]], to which office his father had appointed him, led to popular discontent, and ultimately provoked the people to demand a [[monarchy]].
* A descendant of [[Eleazar]], the son of [[Aaron]], a chief of the eighth of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided by [[David]] and an ancestor of [[Zechariah (priest)|Zechariah]], the priest who was the father of [[John the Baptist]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|24:10|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|Luke|1:5|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|Luke|1:13|KJV}}</ref> The order of Abijah is listed with the priests and [[Levites]] who returned with [[Zerubbabel]] son of [[Shealtiel]] and with Joshua.<ref>[[Nehemiah 12]]:4; 17</ref> 
* A son of [[Jeroboam]], the first king of Israel. On account of his severe illness when a youth, his father sent [[Wife of Jeroboam|his wife]] to consult the prophet [[Ahijah the Shilonite|Ahijah]] regarding his recovery. The prophet, though blind with old age, knew the wife of Jeroboam as soon as she approached, and under a divine impulse he announced to her that inasmuch as in Abijah alone of all the house of Jeroboam there was found "some good thing toward the Lord", he only would come to his grave in peace. As his mother crossed the threshold of the door on her return, the youth died, and "all Israel mourned for him".<ref>[[1 Kings 14]]:1–18</ref> According to ''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]'', the good that he did "Rabbinical Literature:The passage, I Kings, xiv. 13, in which there is a reference to "some good thing [found in him] toward the Lord God of Israel," is interpreted<ref>M. Ḳ. 28b</ref> as an allusion to Abijah's courageous and pious act in removing the sentinels placed by his father on the frontier between Israel and Judah to prevent pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Some assert that he himself undertook a pilgrimage."<ref>[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/300-abijah Jewish Encyclopedia]</ref>
* This name (possibly) appeared on the [[Gezer calendar]], a Paleo-Hebrew inscription dating to the 9th or 10th century BC, making it one of the earliest if not the earliest Yahwistic [[theophoric names]] outside the Bible.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/gezer-calender|title=Gezer Calender}}</ref>

==Russian name==
The variant used in the [[Russian language]] is "{{lang|ru|А́вия}}" (''{{Lang|ru-latn|Aviya}}''),<ref name="Petrovsky" /> with "{{lang|ru|А́бия}}"<ref name="Petrovsky" /> or "{{lang|ru|Аби́я}}" (''{{Lang|ru-latn|Abiya}}''),<ref name="Superanskaya2" /> being older forms.<ref name="Petrovsky" /> Included into various, often handwritten, church calendars throughout the 17th–19th centuries, it was omitted from the official [[Synod]]al [[Menologium]] at the end of the 19th century.<ref name="Superanskaya2a">Superanskaya, pp.&nbsp;22, 23, and 277</ref> In 1924–1930, the name (as "{{lang|ru|Ави́я}}", a form of "''{{Lang|ru-latn|Abiya|italic=no}}''"<ref name="Superanskaya2" />) was included into various Soviet calendars,<ref name="Superanskaya2a" /> which included the new and often artificially created names promoting the new Soviet realities and encouraging the break with the tradition of using the names in the Synodal Menologia.<ref name="Dushechkina">[[Toronto Slavic Quarterly]]. Елена Душечкина. "[http://sites.utoronto.ca/tsq/12/dushechkina12.shtml Мессианские тенденции в советской антропонимической практике 1920-х - 1930-х годов]" {{in lang|ru}}</ref> In Russian it is only used as a female name.<ref name="Petrovsky" /><ref name="Superanskaya2" /> [[Diminutive]]s of this name include "{{lang|ru|А́ва}}" (''{{Lang|ru-latn|Ava}}'') and "{{lang|ru|Ви́я}}" (''{{Lang|ru-latn|Viya}}'').<ref name="Petrovsky"/>

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*Н. А. Петровский (N. A. Petrovsky). "Словарь русских личных имён" (''Dictionary of Russian First Names''). ООО Издательство "АСТ". Москва, 2005. {{ISBN|5-17-002940-3}}
*А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Словарь русских имён" (''Dictionary of Russian Names''). Издательство Эксмо. Москва, 2005. {{ISBN|5-699-14090-5}}
*{{Eastons|title=Abijah}}
** {{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia|last1=McCurdy |first1=J. Frederic |last2=Ginzberg |first2=Louis |article=Abijahs listing in |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/300-abijah}}

{{Given name}}

[[Category:Feminine given names]]
[[Category:Masculine given names]]
[[Category:8th-century BC women]]
[[Category:Set index articles on Hebrew Bible people]]
[[Category:Women in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Books of Samuel people]]