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CHAPTER 6 : JEHOSHAPHAT, (FOURTH) KING OF JUDAH -
The Reproof and Prophey of - Jehu - Resumption of the
Reformation in Judah - Institution of Judges and of a Supreme
Court in Jerusalem - Incursion of the Moabites and their
Confederates - National Fast and the Prayer of the King -
Prophecy of Victory - The March to Tekoa - Destruction of the
Enemy - The Valley of Berakhah - Return to Jerusalem and to
the Temple. (2 Chronicles 19, 20:1-34)
BEFORE continuing the history of Israel, we turn aside to complete that of
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. It will be remembered^82 that he had succeeded his father
Asa in the fourth year of King Ahab's reign.
At that time Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old; and as his reign lasted for twenty-
five years (1 Kings 22:42; 2 Chronicles 20:31), it follows that he died at the age of
sixty, which, when we consider the annals of the royal houses of Judah and Israel,
must be considered a protracted life. A few other particulars are given us connected
with Jehoshaphat's accession. Thus we learn that his mother's name was Azubhah,^83
the daughter of Shilchi. Again, we gather how energetically he took in hand at the
beginning of his reign the religious reformation commenced by his father Asa.^84
But the want of true sympathy on the part of his subjects prevented the full success of
his measures. The idol-groves and heights, dedicated to Baal and Astarte, were
indeed destroyed (2 Chronicles 17:6), but it was found impossible to abolish the
corrupt worship of Jehovah celebrated on "the high places" (1 Kings 22:43; 2
Chronicles 20:33). Beyond these brief notices, the narrative in the Book of Kings
only indicates that at that period there was no king in Edom, but that the country was
ruled by a governor. This is manifestly stated in order to explain how the maritime
expedition to Ophir could have been undertaken without provoking resistance on the
part of Edom, in whose territory Ezion-Geber was situate. But the sacred text affords
no information to account for this state of matters in Edom.^85
The scanty details about the reign of Jehoshaphat furnished in the Book of Kings -
which deals mainly with the history of the northern kingdom - are supplemented in
the Book of Chronicles. The compilers of the latter had evidently before them,
amongst other sources of information, a prophetic history of that reign: "The
Chronicles [or, the words] of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which are inserted in the book
of the Kings of Israel"^86 (2 Chronicles 20:34, comp. 1 Kings 22:45).
(^)