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the hastening ruin of Judah. Nor can it have been without evil influence even upon
Joram and Israel.
The fatal combination of political devices with earnest religion, which constituted the
weakness of Jehoshaphat's reign, and led to his alliance with the house of Ahab,
appeared also in his disposition regarding his children. Besides Jehoram, who as the
eldest succeeded to the throne, he had left six sons.^251
For these he had - apparently during his lifetime - made not only ample provision in
treasure, but assigned to them certain "fenced cities in Judah." This was to imitate the
policy of Rehoboam (11:23), and, no doubt, with the same purpose of securing, in
troublous times, the allegiance of the country districts and of their aristocracy, by
assigning these "fenced cities" as residences to the royal princes. But in the present
instance the device proved fatal to them. Jehoram had nothing to fear from his
brother-in-law Joram - as Rehoboam had from Jeroboam.
But the semi-royal position of his brothers, supported - as it would almost seem - by
intrigues of the chiefs of the local aristocracy, roused his fears. With the same
unscrupulousness that characterized the house of Ahab and Jezebel, he rid himself of
any possible rivals by the murder of all his brothers, and of their adherents among
"the princes." And throughout, Diehard's reign was in accordance with its beginning.
Following closely in the steps of the house of Ahab, he not only abolished all the
pious ordinances and arrangements of his father, but actually rebuilt "the high
places," which his grandfather Asa (17:3), and his father Jehoshaphat (17:6), had
destroyed, and introduced the worship of Baal with all its abominations.
We cannot be mistaken in attributing a large share in these evil doings to Athaliah,
although her name is not expressly mentioned. For, besides the repeated reference to
the house of Ahab, we have the statement that his "brethren" of his "father's house
were better" than Jehoram, which seems to imply that his special circumstances had
made him different from the other members of Jehoshaphat's family, and also this -
in our view, very significantly - that there came to him a writing from Elijah the
prophet.
For, as there is not any other reference to Elijah throughout the Books of Chronicles,
we infer that his activity had been confined to the northern kingdom, and that this
solitary prophecy in regard to the kingdom of Judah must have been due to the
connection of Jehoram with the house of Ahab, - or, to be more particular, to his
marriage with Athaliah and her influence upon him. And we would date the
composition of this "writing," or it may be its commission, shortly after that ill-fated
union.^252
(^)