Beth-haggan

About Beth-haggan

Beth-haggan, meaning "house of the garden" in Hebrew, is mentioned only once in the Bible, in 2Ki.9.27. The passage describes the events surrounding Jehu's coup against the house of Ahab and his pursuit of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, who was an ally of the Omride dynasty.

After Jehu had killed Joram, the king of Israel, he turned his attention to Ahaziah. When Ahaziah saw what had happened, he fled by the way of the garden house (Beth-haggan). Jehu pursued him and ordered his men to shoot Ahaziah in his chariot. Ahaziah was wounded and managed to escape to Megiddo, where he died.

The exact location of Beth-haggan is not specified in the Bible, but it was likely situated near Jezreel, the site of Joram's death. Jezreel was a significant city in the northern kingdom of Israel, serving as a royal residence for the Omride dynasty.

The mention of Beth-haggan as the place where Ahaziah fled suggests that it may have been a fortified location or a place of refuge. The name "house of the garden" may indicate the presence of a royal garden or a lush, well-watered area near Jezreel.

The death of Ahaziah at Megiddo, after fleeing from Beth-haggan, marked the end of his brief reign as king of Judah and solidified Jehu's position as the new ruler of Israel. This event also had significant implications for the relationship between the northern and southern kingdoms.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.