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21 Jehoshaphat died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became king.

King Jehoram of Judah

(2 Kings 8.16-24)

King Jehoshaphat had seven sons: Jehoram, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. Jehoshaphat gave each of them silver and gold, as well as other valuable gifts. He also put them in charge of the fortified cities in Judah, but he had chosen his oldest son Jehoram to succeed him as king.

After Jehoram had taken control of Judah, he had his brothers killed, as well as some of the nation's leaders. He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled eight years from Jerusalem.

Jehoram married Ahab's daughter and followed the sinful example of Ahab's family and the other kings of Israel. He disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong, (A) but because the Lord had made a solemn promise to King David that someone from his family would always rule in Judah, he refused to wipe out David's descendants.

(B) While Jehoram was king, the people of Edom rebelled and chose their own king. Jehoram, his officers, and his cavalry marched to Edom, where the Edomite army surrounded them. He escaped during the night, 10 but Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah[a] rebelled at that time.

Those things happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord, the God his ancestors had worshiped. 11 Jehoram even built local shrines[b] in the hills of Judah and let the people sin against the Lord by worshiping foreign gods.

12 One day, Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet that said:

I have a message for you from the Lord God your ancestor David worshiped. He knows that you have not followed the example of Jehoshaphat your father or Asa your grandfather. 13 Instead you have acted like those sinful kings of Israel and have encouraged the people of Judah to stop worshiping the Lord, just as Ahab and his descendants did. You even murdered your own brothers, who were better men than you.

14 Because you have done these terrible things, the Lord will severely punish the people in your kingdom, including your own family, and he will destroy everything you own. 15 You will be struck with a painful stomach disease and suffer until you die.

16 The Lord later caused the Philistines and the Arabs who lived near the Ethiopians[c] to become angry with Jehoram. 17 They invaded Judah and stole the royal property from the palace, and they led Jehoram's wives and sons away as prisoners. The only one left behind was Ahaziah,[d] his youngest son.

18 After this happened, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable stomach disease. 19 About two years later, Jehoram died in terrible pain. No bonfire was built to honor him, even though the people had done this for his ancestors.

20 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled 8 years from Jerusalem. He died, and no one even felt sad. He was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs.

Footnotes

  1. 21.10 Even the town of Libnah: This was a town on the border between Philistia and Judah, which means that Jehoram was facing rebellion on both sides of his kingdom.
  2. 21.11 local shrines: See the note at 11.15.
  3. 21.16 Ethiopians: See the note at 12.3.
  4. 21.17 Ahaziah: The Hebrew text has “Jehoahaz,” another spelling of the name.

21 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram(A) his son succeeded him as king. Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.[a] Their father had given them many gifts(B) of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities(C) in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.

Jehoram King of Judah(D)

When Jehoram established(E) himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers(F) to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel,(G) as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.(H) He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David,(I) the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David.(J) He had promised to maintain a lamp(K) for him and his descendants forever.

In the time of Jehoram, Edom(L) rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. 10 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah.

Libnah(M) revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.

12 Jehoram received a letter from Elijah(N) the prophet, which said:

“This is what the Lord, the God of your father(O) David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa(P) king of Judah. 13 But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did.(Q) You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better(R) than you. 14 So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease(S) of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’”

16 The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs(T) who lived near the Cushites. 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah,[b] the youngest.(U)

18 After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor,(V) as they had for his predecessors.

20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried(W) in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 21:2 That is, Judah, as frequently in 2 Chronicles
  2. 2 Chronicles 21:17 Hebrew Jehoahaz, a variant of Ahaziah