Name Jehoram Judah House Davidic line | Burial City of David Died 842 BC Children Ahaziah of Judah Parents Jehoshaphat | |
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Reign c. 849 – 842 BCE (sole reign) Issue Ahaziah, King of JudahJehosheba Similar People | ||
King jehoram of judah
Jehoram of Judah (Hebrew: יְהֹורָם, Yəhôrām) or Joram (Hebrew: יוֹרָם) (Greek: Ιωραμ, Ioram; Latin: Joram), was a king of Judah, and the son of Jehoshaphat. Jehoram took the throne at the age of 32 and reigned for 8 years. (2 Kings 8:17)
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William F. Albright has dated his reign to 849 – 842 BC. Edwin Thiele placed a coregency of Jehoram with his father Jehoshaphat, starting in 853/852 BC, with the beginning of his sole reign occurring in 848/847 and his death in 841/840 BC. As explained in the Rehoboam article, Thiele's chronology for the first kings of Judah contained an internal inconsistency that later scholars corrected by dating these kings one year earlier, so that Jehoram's dates are taken as one year earlier in the present article: coregency beginning in 854/853, sole reign commencing in 849/848, and death in 842/841 BC.
Name
The name Jehoram is confusing in the biblical account. The author of Kings speaks of both Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah in the same passage, which can be confusing. It's also confusing that both Jehorams are also referred to as Joram, even in the same translation in the same breath. For example, 2 Chronicles 22:5-6 reads:
5 He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram.6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.Likewise, the king of Judah is referred to as Jehoram or Joram in a single translation. For example, 2 Kings 8:20-21 uses the name Joram while 2 Chronicles 21:8-9, which describe the same event in almost identical words, uses the name Jehoram.
Reign
According to 2 Kings 8:16, Jehoram became king of Judah in the fifth year of Jehoram of Israel, when his father Jehoshaphat was (still) king of Judah, indicating a co-regency. Jehoram took the throne at the age of 32 and reigned for 8 years. To secure his position Jehoram killed his six brothers. (2 Chronicles 21:2-4)
Jehoram formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Israel by marrying Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. Despite this alliance with the stronger northern kingdom, Jehoram's rule of Judah was shaky. Edom revolted, and when Jehoram marched against this people, his army fled before the Edomites, and he was forced to acknowledge their independence. The town of Libnah revolted during his reign, according to 2 Chronicles 21:10, because he "had abandoned Yahweh, God of his fathers."
During his reign a raid by Philistines, Arabs and Ethiopians looted the king's house, and carried off all of his family except for his youngest son Jehoahaz. (2 Chronicles 21:16-17) During this time the king received a letter of warning from Elijah. After this, Jehoram suffered a painful inflammation of the abdomen, and he died two years later. (2 Chronicles 21:18-19)