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CHAPTER 15 : JEHORAM AND AHAZIAH, (FIFTH AND SIXTH)
KINGS OF JUDAH. JORAM, (TENTH) KING OF ISRAEL -
Accession of Jehoram - Murder of the Royal Princes -
Introduction of the service of Baal in Judah - Revolt of Edom -
and of Libnah - The Writing from Elijah - Incursion of the
Philistines and of Arab tribes - Sickness, Death, and Burial of
Jehoram - State of public feeling. (2 Kings 8:16-24; 2
Chronicles 21.)
THE tangled skein of Judaean and Israelitish history is now once more taken up.^248 It
is a period of fast-hastening judgment, luridly lit up by the horrors attending
Diehard's accession to the throne of Israel, though retarded in Judah by the mercy of
God towards the house of David, and the temporary repentance and return to Jehovah
in the land.
The account in 2 Kings 8:16 introduces almost abruptly the accession of Jehoram to
the throne of Judah, after the death of his father Jehoshaphat. It was probably for this
reason, and because of the long gap between this and the previous historical notice
about Judah (1 Kings 22:51), that the somewhat difficult explanatory clause
(supposing it to be genuine) may have been inserted in 2 Kings 8:16: "And
Jehoshaphat had been king of Judah."^249 In 2 Kings 8 (vers. 16-24) the history of
Judah and of the reign of Jehoram is given only in briefest outline. For details we
must, as in other cases, turn to the Book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 21.), whose
narrative we now follow.
The historical notices with which the reign of Jehoram is introduced are almost
identical in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Both state that Jehoram was thirty-two years
old at his accession, and that his reign lasted eight years. The Book of Chronicles
connects, as usually, this accession with the death and burial at Jerusalem of the
former king, while the Book of Kings marks that Jehoram ascended the throne of
Judah "in the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel." And since the
reign of the latter extended over twelve years^250 (comp. 2 Kings 8:25), their rule
must for seven years have been contemporaneous - that is, to within one year of the
death of Joram of Israel.
Even more important is the notice given in the same words in the two narratives -
quite prominently in the Book of Kings - to the effect that Jehoram "walked in the
way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab
[Athaliah] was his wife: and he did the evil in the sight of Jehovah" (comp. 2
Chronicles 21:6). That notice explains alike the history of the reign of Jehoram and
(^)