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King Jehoram of Judah

(2 Chronicles 21.2-20)

16 Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah in Joram's fifth year as king of Israel, while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah.[a] 17 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled 8 years from Jerusalem.

18 Jehoram disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong. He married Ahab's daughter and was as sinful as Ahab's family and the kings of Israel. 19 (A) But the Lord refused to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that someone from his family would always rule in Judah.

20 (B) While Jehoram was king, the people of Edom rebelled and chose their own king. 21 So Jehoram[b] and his cavalry marched to Zair, where the Edomite army surrounded him and his commanders. During the night he attacked the Edomites, but he was defeated, and his troops escaped to their homes.[c] 22 Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah[d] rebelled at that time.

23 Everything else Jehoram did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 24 Jehoram died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem.[e] His son Ahaziah then became king.

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Footnotes

  1. 8.16 while Jehoshaphat … Judah: In biblical times, a father and son would sometimes rule as kings at the same time. That way, when the father died, his son would already have control of the kingdom.
  2. 8.21 Jehoram: The Hebrew text has “Joram,” another spelling of the name.
  3. 8.21 he attacked … homes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 8.22 Even the town of Libnah: This was a town on the border between Philistia and Judah, which means that Jehoram was facing rebellion on two sides of his kingdom.
  5. 8.24 Jerusalem: Hebrew “the city of David.”

Jehoram King of Judah(A)

16 In the fifth year of Joram(B) son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram(C) son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter(D) of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy(E) Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp(F) for David and his descendants forever.

20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.(G) 21 So Jehoram[a] went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion(H) against Judah. Libnah(I) revolted at the same time.

23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 8:21 Hebrew Joram, a variant of Jehoram; also in verses 23 and 24