Jehoiachin – Jehoshaphat (1)

Jehoiachin

je-hoi'-a-kin (yehoyakhin, "Yahweh will uphold"; called also "Jeconiah" in 1 Chronicles 3:16; Jeremiah 24:1; yekhonyah, "Yahweh will be steadfast," and "Coniah" in Jeremiah 22:24,Jeremiah 22:28; konyahu, "Yahweh has upheld him"; 'Ioakeim): A king of Judah; son and successor of Jehoiakim; reigned three months and surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar; was carried to Babylon, where, after being there 37 years a prisoner, he died.

1. Sources:

The story of his reign is told in 2 Kings 24:8–16, and more briefly in 2 Chronicles 36:9–10. Then, after the reign of his successor Zedekiah and the final deportation are narrated, the account of his release from prison 37 years afterward and the honor done him is given as the final paragraph of 2Ki (25:27-30). The same thing is told at the end of the Book of Jer (52:31-34). Neither for this reign nor for the succeeding is there the usual reference to state annals; these seem to have been discontinued after Jehoiakim. In Jeremiah 22:24–30 there is a final pronouncement on this king, not so much upon the man as upon his inevitable fate, and a prediction that no descendant of his shall ever have prosperous rule in Judah.

2. His Reign:

Of the brief reign of Jehoiachin there is little to tell. It was rather a historic landmark than a reign; but its year, 597 BC, was important as the date of the first deportation of Jewish captives to Babylon (unless we except the company of hostages carried away in Jehoiakim's 3rd (4th) year, Daniel 1:1–7). His coming to the throne was just at or near the time when Nebuchadnezzar's servants were besieging Jerusalem; and when the Chaldean king's arrival in person to superintend the siege made apparent the futility of resistance, Jehoiachin surrendered to him, with all the royal household and the court. He was carried prisoner to Babylon, and with him ten thousand captives, comprising all the better and sturdier element of the people from prince to craftsman, leaving only the poorer sort to constitute the body of the nation under his successor Zedekiah. With the prisoners were carried away also the most valuable treasures of the temple and the royal palace.

3. The Two Elements:

Ever since Isaiah fostered the birth and education of a spiritually-minded remnant, for him the vital hope of Israel, the growth and influence of this element in the nation has been discernible, as well in the persecution it has roused (see under MANASSEH), as in its fiber of sound progress. It is as if a sober sanity of reflection were curing the people of their empty idolatries. The feeling is well expressed in such a passage as Habakkuk 2:18–20. Hitherto, however, the power of this spiritual Israel has been latent, or at best mingled and pervasive among the various occupations and interests of the people. The surrender of Jehoiachin brings about a segmentation of Israel on an unheard-of principle: not the high and low in wealth or social position, but the weight and worth of all classes on the one side, who are marked for deportation, and the refuse element of all classes on the other, who are left at home. With which element of this strange sifting Jeremiah's prophetic hopes are identified appears in his parable of the Good and Bad Figs (Jeremiah 24:1–10), in which he predicts spiritual integrity and upbuilding to the captives, and to the home-staying remainder, shame and calamity. Later on, he writes to the exiles in Babylon, advising them to make themselves at home and be good citizens (Jeremiah 29:1–10). As for the hapless king, "this man Coniah," who is to be their captive chief in a strange land, Jeremiah speaks of him in a strain in which the stern sense of Yahweh's inexorable purpose is mingled with tender sympathy as he predicts that this man shall never have a descendant on David's throne (Jeremiah 22:24–30). It is as if he said, All as Yahweh has ordained, but--the pity of it!

4. Thirty-seven Years Later:

In the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's successor, perhaps by testamentary edict of Nebuchadnezzar himself, a strange thing occurred. Jehoiachin, who seems to have been a kind of hostage prisoner for his people, was released from prison, honored above all the other kings in similar case, and thenceforth to the end of his life had his portion at the royal table (2 Kings 25:27–30; Jeremiah 52:31–34). This act of clemency may have been due to some such good influence at court as is described in the Book of Daniel; but also it was a tribute to the good conduct of that better element of the people of which he was hostage and representative. It was the last event of Judean royalty; and suggestive for the glimpse it seems to afford of a people whom the Second Isaiah could address as redeemed and forgiven, and of a king taken from durance and judgment (compare Isaiah 53:8), whose career makes strangely vivid the things that are said of the mysterious "Servant of Yahweh."

John Franklin Genung

Jehoiada

je-hoi'-a-da (yehoyadha`, "Yahweh knows"; Iodae):

(1) Father of Benaiah, the captain of David's body-guard (2 Samuel 8:18; 2 Samuel 20:23; 2 Samuel 23:20,2 Samuel 23:22; 1 Kings 1:8, etc.). Jehoiada was "the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel" (2 Samuel 23:20), but commentators read with Septuagint and Ewald, "Benaiah (the son of Jehoiada) a man of valor." Kabzeel was a town belonging to Judah on the border of Edom in the South (Joshua 15:21). In 1 Chronicles 27:5, we read "Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, chief," the Revised Version (British and American), but the Revised Version margin has "chief minister" wrongly. Yet Jehoiada is nowhere else called a priest or even a Levite, though in 1 Chronicles 12:27 (Hebrew, verse 28) a Jehoiada is mentioned as a military "leader of the house of Aaron," who came to David to Hebron with other members of the house of Levi. In 1 Chronicles 27:34 there is named among David's counselors, "Jehoiada the son. of Benaiah," where some commentators would read with two manuscripts, "Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada" though Curtis, Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Chronicles, 295, keeps the Massoretic Text.

(2) Priest in the reigns of Ahaziah, Queen Athaliah, and Jehoash (Joash) of Judah (2 Kings 11:4–12:16 (Hebrew 17) = 2 Chronicles 23:1–24:14; 2 Chronicles 22:11; 2 Chronicles 24:14–16,2 Chronicles 24:17–20,2 Chronicles 24:22,2 Chronicles 24:25). In 2 Kings 12:10 (Hebrew, verse 11) he is called "high priest," and is the first to be given that title, but as the priest lived in the temple, there is no meaning in saying that he "came up," so commentators omit the words, "and the chief priest." According to 2 Chronicles 22:11, he had married Jehoshabeath (= Jehosheba), the daughter of the king, i.e. Jehoram.

1. Jehoiada and the Revolt against Athaliah:

(a) The account in 2 Chronicles 23:1–21 differs in many respects from that in 2 Kings 11:4–20, but even the latter has its problems, and Stade (ZATW, 1885, 280 ff) pointed out two sources in it. This view is accepted by many. A reader is struck at once by the double reference to the death of Athaliah (2 Kings 11:16,2 Kings 11:20), and the construction of the Hebrew for "making a covenant" is different in 2 Kings 11:4 from that in 11:17. Stade holds that there is one narrative in 11:4-12,18b-20 and another in 11:13-18a.

In the first, Jehoiada makes an agreement with the captains of the foreign body-guard, and arranges that both the incoming and outgoing temple-guard shall be kept in the temple at the time when the guard should be changed on the Sabbath, and also that th e young prince, Jehoash, who had been kept in hiding, shall be proclaimed. The captains do this, and the prince is crowned and proclaimed (2 Kings 11:4–12). Then officers are set up in the temple, and Jehoash is taken to the royal palace and enthroned. The revolt proves popular with the people of Jerusalem and those of the district, and Athaliah is slain in the palace.

But there are difficulties in this narrative, though the above gives the trend of events; 2 Kings 11:5 refers to a third of the guard who "came in on the sabbath," and 11:7 to two companies who "go forth on the sabbath"; the Hebrew is, "they that enter the sabbath" and "they that go out of the sabbath." 2 Kings 11:9 makes clear the connection between 11:5 and 7. But 11:6 introduces a difficulty: it seems to denote a division of those who "enter" into three divisions, i.e. the two in 11:6 and one in 11:5. If 11:6 be omitted, as is proposed by many, this difficulty vanishes. But there still remains the question of the change of guards. Commentators say that "they who enter the sabbath" are those who leave the temple and enter their quarters at the beginning of the Sabbath, presumably, while "those who go out" are those who leave their quarters to mount guard. This is not impossible as an explanation of the Hebrew. It is further believed that the guard at the temple on the Sabbath was double that on other days. The other explanation, held by older commentators is that on the Sabbath the guard was only half its usual size; this gives another meaning to the Hebrew phrases. On the other hand, it may be held that the revolt took place at the close of the Sabbath, and that the double-sized guard was kept by Jehoiada even after the usual-sized one had come to take their place. It should be added that Wellhausen proposed to read (tse`adhoth), "armlets" (compare Isaiah 3:19), for (`edhuth), "testimony," in 2 Kings 11:12; and in 11:19 the words "and all the people of the land" are held to be an addition.

(b) The 2nd narrative (2 Kings 11:13–18 a) begins suddenly. Presumably, its earlier part was identical with the earlier part of the 1st narrative, unless 2 Kings 11:6 was a part originally of this 2nd account. Athaliah hears the noise of the people (11:13, where "the guard" is a gloss and so to be omitted), and comes to the temple, where she witnesses the revolt and cries, "Treason! treason!" Jehoiada orders her to be put forth (omit "between the ranks" in 11:15), so that she should not be slain in the temple, and she is murdered at one of the palace entrances (11:16, where the Revised Version (British and American), following Septuagint of 2 Chronicles 23:15, translates the first sentence wrongly: it should be "So they laid hands on her"). Jehoiada then makes the king and the people enter into a solemn covenant to be Yahweh's people, and the result is the destruction of the temple of Baal, and the death of Mattan, its priest (1 Kings 11:17,1 Kings 11:18 a). This 2nd narrative gives a religious significance to the revolt, but it is incomplete. The other narrative presents a very natural course of events, for it was absolutely necessary for Jehoiada to secure the allegiance of the royal foreign body-guard.

(c) The account in 2 Chronicles 23:1–21, though following that of 2Ki in the main, differs from it considerably. The guard is here composed of Levites; it does not mention the foreign body-guard, and relates how the revolt was planned with the Levites of the cities of Judah--a method which would have become known to Athaliah and for which she would have made preparations, no doubt. Ch makes it a wholly religious movement, while 2 Kings gives two points of view. The value of the Chronicler's account depends largely on one's estimate of the Books of Chronicles and one's views as to the development of the Jewish priestly system. A. Van Hoonacker, Lesacerdoce levitique dans la loi et dans l'histoire des Hebreux, 93-100, defends the account in 2 Chronicles.

2. Jehoiada and the Restoration of the Temple:

The part which Jehoiada played in the restoration of the temple buildings is described in 2 Kings 11:21–12:16 (Hebrew 12:1-17) parallel 2 Chronicles 24:1–14. Here again the narratives of 2Ki and 2Ch differ to a large extent.

(a) According to 2 Kings,

(i) the priests are commanded by Jehoash to devote the dues or free-will offerings of the people to repairing the breaches in the temple. They fail to do so, and

(ii) Jehoiada is summoned by the king and rebuked. Then

(iii) a new regulation is put into force: the offerings, except the guilt offerings and sin offerings, are no longer to be given to the priests, but to be put into a chest provided in the temple for the purpose.

(iv) The money got in this way is devoted to repairing the temple, but

(v) none of it is used to provide temple vessels.

(b) Chronicles, on the other hand,

(i) relates that the priests and Levites are commanded to go through Judah to collect the necessary money. They "hastened it not." Then

(ii) Jehoiada is summoned to account for this disobedience, and

(iii) a chest is put outside the temple to receive the tax commanded by Moses.

(iv) This the people pay willingly, and the temple is repaired. There is such a surplus that

(v) there is money also to provide vessels for the temple.

It is at least questionable whether the additions in 2 Chronicles are trustworthy; the contradictions against 2 Kings are clear, and the latter gives the more likely narrative, although Van Hoonackcr (op. cit., 10114) defends the former.

According to 2 Chronicles 24:15, Jehoiada lived to be 130 years old, and was buried among the kings--a unique distinction.

(3) The King James Version in Nehemiah 3:6 = JOIADA (which see).

(4) There is a Jehoiada, the priest mentioned in Jeremiah 29:26, in whose stead Zephaniah was declared priest by Shemaiah in a letter.

Giesebrecht takes him to be the same as the priest of Athaliah's time (see (2) above), but Duhm says that nothing is known of him. In any case, Zephaniah could not have been the direct successor of the well-known Jehoiada, and so the reference can scarcely be to him if it is to have any meaning.

David Francis Roberts

Jehoiakim

je-hoi'-a-kim (yehoyaqim, "Yahweh will establish"; Ioakeim): The name given him by Pharaoh-necoh, who raised him to the throne as vassal king in place of his brother Jehoahaz, is changed from Eliakim (`elyaqim, "God will establish"). The change compounds the name, after the royal Judean custom, with that of Yahweh; it may also imply that Necoh claims Yahweh's authorization for his act, as in a similar way Sennacherib had claimed it for his invasion of Judah (2 Kings 18:25). He has represented the campaign with which Josiah interfered as undertaken by Divine command ('El, 2 Chronicles 35:21); this episode of it merely translates the authorization, rather arrogantly, into the conquered nation's dialect.

A king of Judah, elder (half-) brother and successor of Jehoahaz; reigned 11 years from 608 BC.

I. Sources for His Life and Time.

1. Annalistic:

The circumstances of his accession and raising of the indemnity to Pharaoh-necoh, followed by a brief resume of his reign, are narrated in 2 Kings 23:34–24:6. The naming of the source for "the rest of his acts" (24:5) is the last reference we have to "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah." The account in 2 Chronicles 36:5–8, though briefer still, mentions Nebuchadnezzar's looting of the temple at some uncertain date in his reign. Neither account has any good to say of Jehoiakim; to the writer of 2 Kings, however, his ill fortunes are due to Yahweh's retributive justice for the sins of Manasseh; while to the Chronicler the sum of his acts, apparently connected with the desecration of the sanctuary, is characterized as "the abominations which he did." For "the rest of his acts" we are referred, also for the last time, to the "book of the kings of Israel and Judah."

2. Prophetic:

For the moral and spiritual chaos of the time, and for prophecies and incidents throwing much light on the king's character, Jeremiah has a number of extended passages, not, however, in consecutive order.

The main ones clearly identifiable with this reign are: 2 Kings 22:13–19, inveighing against the king's tyrannies and predicting his ignominious death; 2 Kings 26, dated in the beginning of his reign and again predicting (as had been predicted before in 7:2-15) the destruction of the temple; 2 Kings 25, dated in his 4th year and predicting the conquest of Judah and surrounding nations by Nebuchadnezzar; 2 Kings 36, dated in the 4th and 5th years, and telling the story of the roll of prophecy which the king destroyed; 2 Kings 45, an appendix from the 4th year, reassuring Baruch the scribe, in terms of the larger prophetic scale, for his dismay at what he had to write; 2 Kings 46, also an appendix, a reminiscence of the year of Carchemish, containing the oracle then pronounced against Egypt, and giving words of the larger comfort to Judah. The Book of the prophet Habakkuk, written in this reign, gives expression to the prophetic feeling of doubt and dismay at the unrequited ravages of the Chaldeans against a people more righteous than they, with a sense of the value of steadfast faith and of Yahweh's world-movement and purpose which explains the seeming enormity.

II. Character and Events of His Reign.

1. The Epoch:

The reign of Jehoiakim is not so significant for any personal impress of his upon his time as for the fact that it fell in one of the most momentous epochs of ancient history. By the fall of Nineveh in 606 to the assault of Nebuchadnezzar, then crown prince of the rising Babylonian empire, Assyria, "the rod of (Yahweh's) anger" (Isaiah 10:5), ended its arrogant and inveterate sway over the nations. Nebuehadnezzar, coming soon after to the Chaldean throne, followed up his victory by a vigorous campaign against Pharaoh-necoh, whom we have seen at the end of Josiah's reign (see under JOSIAH) advancing toward the Euphrates in his attempt to secure Egyptian dominion over Syria and Mesopotamia. The encounter took place in 605 at Carehemish on the northern Euphrates, where Necoh was defeated and driven back to the borders of his own land, never more to renew his aggressions (2 Kings 24:7). The dominating world-empire was now in the hands of the Chaldeans, "that bitter and hasty nation" (Habakkuk 1:6); the first stage of the movement by which the world's civilization was passing from Semitic to Aryan control. With this world-movement Israel's destiny was henceforth to be intimately involved; the prophets were already dimly aware of it, and were shaping their warnings and promises, as by a Divine instinct, to that end. It was on this larger scale of things that they worked; it had all along been their endeavor, and continued with increasing clearness and fervor, to develop in Israel a conscience and stamina which should be a leavening power for good in the coming great era (compare Isaiah 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–3).

2. The King's Perverse Character:

Of all these prophetic meanings, however, neither the king nor the ruling classes had the faintest realization; they saw only the political exigencies of the moment. Nor did the king himself, in any patriotic way, rise even to the immediate occasion. As to policy, he was an unprincipled opportunist: vassal to Necoh to whom he owed his throne, until Necoh himself was defeated; enforced vassal to Nebuchadnezzar for 3 years along with the other petty kings of Western Asia; then rebelling against the latt er as soon as he thought he could make anything by it. As to responsibility of administration, he had simply the temper of a despotic self-indulgent Oriental. He raised the immense fine that Necoh imposed upon him by a direct taxation, which he farmed out to unscrupulous officials. He indulged himself with erecting costly royal buildings, employing for the purpose enforced and unpaid labor (Jeremiah 22:13–17); while all just interests of his oppressed subjects went wholly unregarded. As to religion, he let matters go on as they had been under Manasseh, probably introducing also the still more strange and heathenish rites from Egypt and the East of which we see the effects in Ezekiel 8:5–17. And meanwhile the reformed temple-worship which Josiah had introduced seems to have become a mere formal and perfunctory matter, to which, if we may judge by his conspicuous absence from fast and festal occasions (e.g. Jer 26; 36), the king paid no attention. His impious act of cutting up and burning Jeremiah's roll (Jeremiah 36:23), as also his vindictive pursuit and murder of Uriah for prophesying in the spirit of Jeremiah (26:20-23), reveal his antipathy to any word that does not prophesy "smooth things" (compare Isaiah 30:10), and in fact a downright perversity to the name and w ill of Yahweh.

3. The Prophetic Attitude:

With the onset of the Chaldean power, prophecy, as represented in the great seers whose words remain to us, reached a crisis which only time and the consistent sense of its Iarger issues could enable it to weather. Isaiah, in his time, had stood for the inviolability of Zion, and a miraculous deliverance had vindicated his sublime faith. But with Jeremiah, conditions had changed. The idea thus engendered, that the temple was bound to stand and with it Jerusalem, an idea confirmed by Josiah's centralizing reforms, had become a superstition and a presumption (compare Jeremiah 7:4); and Jeremiah had reached the conviction that it, with its wooden rites and glaring abuses, must go: that nothing short of a clean sweep of the old religious fetishes could cure the inveterate unspirituality of the nation. This conviction of his must needs seem to many like an inconsistency--to set prophecy against itself. And when the Chaldean appeared on the scene, his counsel of submission and prediction of captivity would seem a double inconsistency; not only a traversing of a tested prophecy, but treason to the state. This was the situation that he had to encounter; and for it he gave his tender feelings, his liberty, his life. It is in this reign of Jehoiakim that, for the sake of Yahweh's word and purpose, he is engulfed in the deep tragedy of his career. And in this he must be virtually alone. Habakkuk is indeed with him in sympathy; but his vision is not so clear; he must weather disheartening doubts, and" cherish the faith of the righteous (Habakkuk 2:4), and wait until the vision of Yahweh's secret purpose clears (Habakkuk 2:1–3). If the prophets themselves are thus having such an equivocal crisis, we can imagine how forlorn is the plight of Yahweh's "remnant," who are dependent on prophetic faith and courage to guide them through the depths. The humble nucleus of the true Israel, which is some day to be the nation's redeeming element, is undergoing a stern seasoning.

4. Harassing and Death:

After Syria fell into Nebuchadnezzar's power, he seems to have established his headquarters for some years at Riblah; and after Jehoiada attempted to revolt from his authority, he sent against him guerrilla bands from the neighboring nations, and detachments from his Chaldean garrisons, who harassed him with raids and depredations. In 2 Chronicles 36:6,2 Chronicles 36:7, it is related that Nebuchadnezzar carried some of the vessels of the temple to Babylon and bound the king in fetters to carry him also to Babylon--the latter purpose apparently not carried out. This was in Jehoiada's 4th year. In Daniel 1:1,Daniel 1:2, though ascribed to Jehoiakim's 3rd year, this same event is related as the result of a siege of Jerusalem. It is ambiguously intimated also that the king was deported; and among "the seed royal and of the nobles" who were of the company were Daniel and his three companions (Daniel 1:3,Daniel 1:6). The manner of Jehoiakim's death is obscure. It is merely said (2 Kings 24:6) that he "slept with his fathers"; but Josephus (Ant., X, vi, 3) perhaps assuming that Jeremiah's prediction (Jeremiah 22:19) was fulfilled, states that Nebuchadnezzar slew him and cast his body outside the walls unburied.

John Franklin Genung

Jehoiarib

je-hoi'-a-rib (yehoyaribh, "Yahweh pleads" or "contends"): A priest in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 9:10); the name occurs again in 1 Chronicles 24:7 as the name of a family among. the 24 courses of priests = the family Joiarib (yoyaribh, same meaning as above, Nehemiah 1:2,Nehemiah 1:6), the head of which is Matrenai in Nehemiah 12:19. In Nehemiah 11:10 we should probably read ""Jedaiah and Joiarib" for "Jedaiah the son of Joiarib" (compare 1 Chronicles 9:10). Jehoiarib = Joarib in 1 Macc 2:1.

Jehonadab

je-hon'-a-dab (yehonadhabh, either "Yahweh is noble" or "liberal," or "Yahweh has impelled") = Jonadab (yonadhabh, same meaning):

(1) Jehonadab in the Hebrew of 2 Samuel 13:5; but Jonadab in English Versions of the Bible, and in Hebrew and English Versions of the Bible of 13:3,12,35; son of Shimeah, King David's brother. He was friendly with Amnon his cousin, and is said to be "a very shrewd (the Revised Version (British and American) "subtle") man." He planned to get Tamar to wait upon Amnon. Two years after, when Absalom had murdered Amnon, and David had heard that all the king's sons were assassinated, Jehonadab assured him that only Amnon was killed; and his reassuring tone is justified (2 Samuel 13:35); possibly he knew of Absalom's intentions. Septuagint, Lucian, has "Jonathan" in 2 Samuel 13:3 ff; and in 2 Samuel 21:21 parallel 1 Chronicles 20:7, there is mentioned a son of Shimei (= "Shimca," 1 Chronicles 2:7 = "Shammah," 1 Samuel 16:9), whose name is Jonathan.

See JONATHAN, (4).

(2) Jehonadab in 2 Kings 10:15,2 Kings 10:23; in Hebrew of Jeremiah 35:8,Jeremiah 35:14,Jeremiah 35:16,Jeremiah 35:18 = Jonadab in Jeremiah 35:6,Jeremiah 35:10,Jeremiah 35:19, and English Versions of the Bible of 35:8,14,16,18, "son" of Rechab, of the Kenite clan (1 Chronicles 2:55). Jehonadab is described in 2 Kings 10:1–36 as an ally of Jehu in the olition of Baal-worship in Samaria. Jehu met him after slaying the son of Ahab (10:15); the second part of the verse should probably be translated "And he greeted him and said to him, Is thy heart upright (with me) as my heart is with thee? And Jehonadab answered, Yes. Then spake Jehu (so the Septuagint), If so, give me thy hand. In Jeremiah 35:1–19 (where English Versions of the Bible has Jonadab throughout), he is called the "father" of the Rechabites, who derived from him their ordinances for their nomadic life and abstention from wine.

See RECHAB, RECHABITES.

David Francis Roberts

Jehonathan

je-hon'-a-than (yehonathan, "Yahweh has given"): The name is the same as Jonathan: the Hebrew has the two forms for the same person sometimes; sometimes only one is found. See JONATHAN. The form "Jehonathan" occurs as follows in English Versions of the Bible:

(1) A Levite who took part in teaching the Torah in the cities of Judah under Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:8 English Versions of the Bible and Hebrew).

(2) Head of the priestly family of Shemaiah (Nehemiah 12:18 English Versions of the Bible and Hebrew).

(3) the King James Version and Hebrew in 1 Chronicles 27:25; see JONATHAN, (7).

Jehoram; Joram

je-ho'-ram, written also in the abbreviated form, (yehoram, yoram, "Yahweh is high"; the Revised Version (British and American) retains "Joram" for Hebrew yehoram in 2 Kings 9:15–24):

(1) Ninth king of Israel (2 Kings 1:17–9:28), son of Ahab and Jezebel, successor to his brother Ahaziah, who died childless. He began to reign 853 BC, and reigned 12 years (2 Kings 3:1; 2 Kings 8:16).

The statement in 2 Kings 1:17, "the second year of Jehoram," follows a system of chronology common to the Lucian group of manuscripts, in which the 1st year of Jehoshaphat falls in the 11th year of Omri; the 24th year of Jehoshaphat in the 1st year of Ahaziah; and the 1st year of Jehoram in the 2nd year of Jehoram of Judah. The double chronology (2 Kings 1:17 and 2 Kings 3:1) is due to the intention of the compiler of Kings to refer all the acts of Elisha to the reign of Jehoram, thus dislocating the order of events in that reign. Elisha, however, survived Jehoram many years, and it is possible that some of the events are to be referred to subsequent reigns.

I. Ninth King of Israel

1. His Religious Policy:

It is difficult to estimate the religious character of Jehoram. Apparently the fierce fanaticism of Jezebel and the boldness of Ahab reappear in the son in the form of duplicity and superstition. The attempt of Jezebel to substitute Baal for Yahweh had failed. The people were on the side of Yahweh. Otherwise Jehu could not have carried out his bloody reform. All the worshippers of Baal in the land could be gathered into one temple of Baal (2 Kings 10:18). Evidently Jehoram feared the people. Accordingly he posed as a reformer by putting away the pillar of Baal (2 Kings 3:2), while secretly he worshipped Baal (2 Kings 3:13 a). Nevertheless, when he got into straits, he expected to receive the help of Yahweh (2 Kings 3:13 b). He had not learned that a dual nature is as impossible as a union of Baal and Yahweh.

2. The Moabite War:

Immediately upon his accession, Jehoram came into conflict with Mesha, king of Moab (2 Kings 3:4). The account of the conflict is of special interest because of the supplementary information concerning Mesha furnished by the Moabite Stone. There we learn (ll. 1-8) that Moab became tributary to Israel in the days of Omri, and remained so for forty years, but that it rebelled in the days of Ahab. This probably brings us to the statement in 2 Kings 3:4 ff that Mesha "rendered unto the king of Israel the wool f a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams," and that "when Ahab was dead, .... the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel." The victories of Mesha, glorified by the Moabite Stone, possibly took place before the events of 2 Kings 3:4 ff. Accordingly, Jehoram resolved to recover the allegiance of the Moabites. He called to his aid the ally of his father, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the latter's vassal, the king of Edom. Jehoram was entertained at Jerusalem (Josephus, Ant, IX, ii i, 1). The allies marched against Moab by the longer route, around the southern end of the Dead Sea, indicating that Moab was fortified against attack from the West, and that Israel was weak in the East Jordan country. After the allies had been miraculousl y delivered from perishing for lack of water, they devastated the land and sacked the cities, and finally they succeeded in shutting up Mesha in Kir-hareseth. Driven to despair, Mesha offered his eldest son upon the wall as a burnt offering to Chemosh. This seems to have caused the tide to turn, for "there was great wrath against Israel," and the allies returned to their own land, apparently having failed to secure a lasting advantage.

3. The Conflicts with Syria:

Assuming that 2 Kings 4:1–8:29 belong to the reign of Jehoram, it appears that the Syrians made frequent incursions into the land of Israel, perhaps more in the nature of plundering robber bands than invasions by a regular army (2 Kings 6:1–33). Finally, however, Ben-had in person invaded the country and besieged Samaria. The inhabitants were reduced to horrible straits by famine, when the oppressors took sudden flight and Israel was saved. In the years 849, 848, and 845, Shalmaneser II invaded Syria. It is probable that during this period Jehoram recovered Ramoth-gilead, which had fallen to Syria under Ahab. Hazael succeeded Ben-hadad as ruler of Syria, and his first act, after having murdered his predecessor, was to regain Ramoth-gilead. In the defense of the city, Jehoram, who was assisted by his nephew, Ahaziah, was wounded, and returned to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds.

4. The Conspiracy of Jehu:

Jehoram left the army at Ramoth-gilead under the command of Jehu, a popular captain of the host. While Jehoram was at Jezreel, Elisha sent a prophet to anoint Jehu as king of Israel. Jehu had been a witness of the dramatic scene when Elijah hurled the curse of Yahweh at Ahab for his crime against Naboth. Jehu at once found in himself the instrument to bring the curse to fulfillment. Accordingly, he conspired his crime against Jehoram With a company of horsemen he proceeded to Jezreel, where Ahaziah was visiting his sick uncle, Jehoram. Jehoram suspected treachery, and, in company with Ahaziah, he rode out to meet Jehu. On his question, "Is it peace, Jehu?" he received a brutal reply that no longer left him in doubt as to the intention of the conspirator. As Jehoram turned to flee, Jehu drew his bow and shot him in the back so that the arrow pierced his heart. His dead body was thrown into the plat of ground that had belonged to Naboth.

(2) King of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 8:16–24; 2 Chronicles 21:1–20), he began to rule about 849 and reigned 8 years. With reference to the chronological difficulty introduced by 2 Kings 1:17, see (1) above.

II. King of Judah

1. His Marriage:

In the beginning of the reigns of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, an attempt was made to end the old feud between Israel and Judah. At the suggestion of Ahab, the two kingdoms, for the first time, joined forces against the common foe from the North, the Syrians. To seal the alliance, Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel and Ahab, was married to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat. Thus Jehoram was brother-in-law to (1) above. No doubt this was considered as a master stroke of conciliatory policy by the parties interested. However, it proved disastrous for Judah. Beyond a doubt, the unholy zeal of Jezebel included the Baalizing of Judah as well as of Israel. This marriage was a step in that direction.

2. His Idolatry:

"A man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife." Jehoram did so. "He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab" (2 Kings 8:18). According to 2 Chronicles 21:11,2 Chronicles 21:13, Jehoram not only accepted the religion of Athaliah, but he became a persecutor, compelling the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land to become apostates.

3. The Letter of Elijah:

Because of his gross idolatry and his wickedness, he is said (2 Chronicles 21:12) to have received a denunciatory letter from the prophet Elijah, which, however, had no effect on him. But this leads to a chronological difficulty. Was Elijah still alive? The inference from 2 Kings 3:11 is that he was not. Then, too, the Chronicler otherwise never mentions Elijah. Oettli is of the opinion that one should either read "Elisha" for "Elijah," or else consider the letter to have been the conception of a later writer, who felt that Elijah must have taken note of the wickedness of Jehoram and his wife, Athaliah, daughter of Ahab. In the latter event, the letter might be called a haggadic Midrash.

4. His Character:

A man's religion cannot be divorced from his character. Baalism had in it the elements of tyranny and civic unrighteousness. In keeping with his religion, and in true oriental fashion, Jehoram began his reign by murdering his brothers, and other princes of the land, to whom Jehoshaphat had given valuable gifts and responsible positions. The only event belonging to his reign recorded in Kings is the revolt of Edom.

5. The Revolt of Edom:

Edom was subdued by David, and, probably with the exception of a temporary revolt under Solomon (1 Kings 11:14), it had remained subject to the united kingdom or to Judah until the revolt under Jehoram The text is somewhat obscure, but both accounts indicate that the expedition of Jehoram against Edom ended in failure. In the account we are told that at the same time Libnah revolted.

6. The Raid into Judah:

Perhaps the revolt of Libnah should be taken in connection with the invasion of the Philistines and of the Arabians, mentioned in 2 Chronicles 21:1–20. Libnah was located on the south-western border of Judah. Since it was a border city, it is possible that the compiler of Kings considered it as belonging to Philistia. In the account in Chronicles, Jehoram is represented as having lost all his possessions and all his family, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons, when the town was sacked and the palace plundered by the invading force of Philistines and Arabians. The account appears to be based upon reliable sources.

7. His Death:

In his last days, he was afflicted with a frightful disease in the bowels. His death was unregretted, and his burial without honor. Contrast, however, 2 Kings 8:24 with 2 Chronicles 21:20. Ahaziah, also called Jehoahaz, his younger son, then became king in his stead.

S. K. Mosiman

Jehoshabeath

je-ho-shab'-e-ath (yehoshabh`ath, "Yahweh is an oath"): In 2 Chronicles 22:11 = JEHOSHEBA (which see) Compare 2 Kings 11:2.

Jehoshaphat (1)

je-hosh'-a-fat (yehoshaphaT, "Yahweh has judged"):

(1) King of Judah. See separate article.

(2) Son of Ahilud. He was recorder under David (2 Samuel 8:16; 2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Chronicles 18:15) and Solomon (1 Kings 4:3).

(3) Son of Paruah, and Solomon's overseer in Issachar to provide victuals for the royal household for one month of the year (1 Kings 4:17).

(4) Son of Nimshi, and father of Jehu, king of Northern Israel (2 Kings 9:2,2 Kings 9:14). His name is omitted in 9:20 and 1 Kings 19:16, where Jehu is called "son of Nimshi."

(5) the King James Version (but not Hebrew) in 1 Chronicles 15:24; the Revised Version (British and American) correctly JOSHAPHAT (which see).

David Francis Roberts