Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

JEHORAM

1. Jehoshaphat’s son and Judah’s fifth king (853–841 BC; also called Joram). Prior to the rule of the Omride dynasty in the northern kingdom of Israel (885–841 BC), the relationship between Judah and Israel had been strained. The political influence and economic stability of the united monarchy had long since vanished. Power and wealth had been diminished by Egyptian overlordship under Shishak (2 Chr 12) and by civil war: the unsuccessful Shechem conference (ch 10); Rehoboam of Judah versus Jeroboam of Israel (12:15); Abijah of Judah versus Jeroboam of Israel (13:1-22); and Asa of Judah versus Baasha of Israel (16:1-4). The Omride dynasty in the mid-ninth century BC, however, cast aside familial rivalry and sought to forge a new alliance between the two nations.

The two kingdoms of Judah and Israel were increasingly threatened by the surrounding peoples—the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Syrians, Philistines, Arabs, and Assyrians. In response to this threat Ahab, the second king of the Omride dynasty, secured diplomatic relations with Phoenicia (1 Kgs 16:31) and Judah (22:4). During this time, joint military expeditions by Israel and Judah were not infrequent (1 Kgs 22; 2 Kgs 3; 8:28), though these political alliances were not without their liabilities. The intrusion of the worship of Baal and Asherah led to religious apostasy in Judah and Israel (1 Kgs 16:31-33; 2 Kgs 3:2; 2 Chr 21:11). It was within this political-religious context that Jehoram reigned over Judah.

Though he may have served as co-regent as early as 853 BC, Jehoram was the sole ruler for eight years (848–841 BC). His reign was marked by unnecessary internecine fighting and religious apostasy. His father had generously provided for his six brothers, a decision that Jehoram quickly reversed once he had secured the throne (2 Chr 21:2-3). He executed not only his brothers but also several Israelite princes, thereby removing any political threat to himself (v 4). In addition, he reverted to the idolatrous practices that his father had tried to eliminate by restoring forbidden worship sites, “the high places” (v 11). Jehoram had apparently fallen under the influence of his wife, Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel (2 Kgs 8:18). As her mother had done in Israel, Athaliah imported Baal worship into Judah. As a result, Elijah the prophet pronounced judgment on Jehoram and the people of Judah—a curse that brought a great plague upon Jehoram’s people, children, wives, and possessions, and a gross intestinal disorder upon the king himself. In spite of this pervasive wickedness in Judah, the Lord did not destroy the southern kingdom, because of his promise to David (2 Kgs 8:19; cf. 2 Sm 7:12-16).

Politically, Judah was vulnerable, having lost its control of Edom (2 Chr 21:9) and having sustained attacks by the Philistines and the Arabs. Jehoram was left bereft of possessions, wives, and sons except for Jehoahaz (Ahaziah), his youngest (vv 16-17). At his death Jehoram was not honored and was deprived of burial in the tomb of the kings within the city of David (vv 19-20).

2. Ahab and Jezebel’s son, and Israel’s tenth king (852–841 BC; also called Joram). He succeeded his brother Ahaziah, whose premature death led to Jehoram’s ascension to the throne in Samaria (2 Kgs 1:2, 17); he was a contemporary of the Judean kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah.

Jehoram was preoccupied with the political resurgence of the two neighboring kingdoms of Moab and Syria. When Moab withheld its annual tribute to Israel, he sought assistance from both Jehoshaphat and Judah’s vassal kingdom, Edom. Jehoram and Jehoshaphat joined forces with the king of Edom but were halted in their attack on Moab when they encountered a serious lack of water. Hesitant to advance with their troops, they summoned Elisha the prophet and asked him to inquire of the Lord’s will regarding the expedition. Because of the high regard that Elisha held for Jehoshaphat, the prophet sought the Lord on their behalf, gaining both the Lord’s blessing and an abundance of water. The account of the battle records the slaughter of the Moabites as well as the horrible incident of a human sacrifice by the Moabite king. Having won the battle, Israel withdrew (2 Kgs 3:4-27).

Jehoram’s conflict with Syria was less successful because the Israelite king sustained a battle wound. Retreating from Ramoth-gilead in Transjordan to his palace in Jezreel (2 Kgs 8:29), he found his problems compounded when one of his generals, Jehu, led an insurrection against him. Commissioned by the Lord and declared to be king of Israel, Jehu confronted Jehoram and his nephew, Ahaziah, king of Judah. The incident culminated in the death of the two reigning monarchs of Israel and Judah (2 Kgs 9:14-24, 27). While Ahaziah was buried in the tomb of the kings in Jerusalem (v 28), Jehoram’s corpse was cast into Naboth’s field outside the city of Jezreel. His end was the appropriate judgment against the last king of the wicked Omride dynasty (vv 25-26).

3. Levite member of a traveling group of scholars who taught the people from the Book of the Law during the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chr 17:7-9).