2 Chronicles 21 · WEB

Jehoram's Wicked Reign

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Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

²He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

³Their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, together with fortified cities in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

⁴Jehoram rose up over the kingdom of his father, and strengthened himself, and killed all his brothers with the sword, and various also of the princes of Israel.

⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

⁶He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for Ahab's daughter was his wife. He did that which was evil in Yahweh's eyes.

⁷However Yahweh would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always.

⁸In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made themselves a king.

⁹Then Jehoram passed over with his captains and all his chariots. He rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the chariots.

¹⁰So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his fathers.

¹¹Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem play the prostitute, and led Judah astray.

¹²A letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, "Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

¹³but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute like the house of Ahab played the prostitute, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself,

¹⁴behold, Yahweh will strike your people with a great plague, along with your children, your wives, and all your possessions.

¹⁵You will have great sickness by disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.'"

¹⁶Yahweh stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are beside the Ethiopians;

¹⁷and they came up against Judah and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house and his sons also and his wives, so that there was not a son left him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸After all this Yahweh struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

¹⁹In process of time, at the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of severe diseases. His people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He departed without being desired; and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

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Summary

Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram proves to be the worst king Judah has had so far. Married to Ahab's daughter Athaliah, he introduces Baal worship into Judah, murders all his brothers, and loses Edom and Libnah to revolt. The prophet Elijah sends him a letter (his only action in Chronicles) pronouncing judgment: his people, wives, and sons will be taken, and Jehoram himself will die of a bowel disease. Both prophecies are fulfilled exactly. He dies after eight miserable years — "without being desired" — and is denied burial with the kings.

Themes

The influence of ungodly marriage alliances on a kingdom
God's covenant faithfulness preserving David's line even amid judgment
Sin having real, devastating, physical consequences

Key verses

2 Chr 21:12-13 — “Elijah's letter: "Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father... but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel.”
2 Chr 21:20 — “He departed without being desired.”
2 Chr 21:6-7 — “He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel... He did that which was evil in Yahweh's eyes. However Yahweh would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David.”

Context & background

Jehoram's marriage to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel of Israel, introduced Baal worship into the southern kingdom — exactly as Jehoshaphat's compromising alliance had risked. Edom (modern southern Jordan and the Negev) had been subdued by David but revolted in this period and remained independent. Libnah (in the Shephelah, modern Israel) was a Levitical city that revolted — even the religious establishment rejected this king. Elijah's letter is his only appearance in Chronicles and one of very few examples of written prophecy delivered by a messenger rather than in person. The specific nature of Jehoram's death — a severe bowel disease lasting two years — was fulfilled precisely. His epitaph — "He departed without being desired" — is perhaps the saddest in the entire Bible.

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 18:1 — The alliance with Ahab that led to this marriage
2 Chronicles 22:10-12 — Athaliah (Jehoram's wife) later seizes the throne
2 Kings 8:16-24 — Parallel account of Jehoram's reign
Galatians 6:7-8 — "Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" — Jehoram's life is the textbook case
Genesis 13:15; 2 Samuel 7:12-16 — The Davidic covenant God refused to break even here

Jehoram's Wicked Reign

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