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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 21

2 Chronicles 21: Jehoram kills his brothers and dies of disease

General context

Jehoshaphat dies and is buried in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigns. Six brothers are named, and their father had given them silver, gold, precious things and fenced cities, but the kingdom to Jehoram as firstborn. Once established, Jehoram kills all his brothers with the sword and some princes of Israel. He is thirty-two at accession and reigns eight years; he walks in the way of the kings of Israel like the house of Ahab, having Ahab's daughter as wife, and does evil. The narrator says the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant and the promise of a light to David and his sons. Edom revolts and makes a king; Jehoram attacks by night and strikes the Edomites surrounding him, but Edom stays free, and Libnah revolts too, because he has forsaken the Lord. He makes high places, leads Jerusalem into fornication and compels Judah. A writing comes from Elijah the prophet: because he has not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat and Asa but of Israel's kings, and has slain his brothers who were better than he, the Lord will strike his people, children, wives and goods with a great plague, and he will suffer a disease of the bowels. The Lord stirs up Philistines and Arabians, who break into Judah and carry off the king's goods, sons and wives, leaving only Jehoahaz the youngest. Then the Lord strikes Jehoram with an incurable bowel disease; after two years his bowels fall out and he dies. His people make no burning for him. He departs without being desired and is buried in the city of David but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 21:1, 2 Chronicles 21:2, 2 Chronicles 21:3, 2 Chronicles 21:4, 2 Chronicles 21:5, 2 Chronicles 21:6, 2 Chronicles 21:7, 2 Chronicles 21:8, 2 Chronicles 21:9, 2 Chronicles 21:10, 2 Chronicles 21:11, 2 Chronicles 21:12, 2 Chronicles 21:13, 2 Chronicles 21:14, 2 Chronicles 21:15, 2 Chronicles 21:16, 2 Chronicles 21:17, 2 Chronicles 21:18, 2 Chronicles 21:19, 2 Chronicles 21:20

2 Chronicles 21 (KJV)

1Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

2And he had brethren 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.

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

4Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.

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

6And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

7Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.

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

9Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots.

10So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.

11Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.

12And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

13But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:

14Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

15And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

16Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:

17And they came up into Judah, and brake 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 never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

18And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

19And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

20Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

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Historical context

The list of brothers calls Jehoshaphat king of Israel, though the chapter elsewhere uses the kings of Israel for the house of Ahab that Jehoram imitates; the label is left unexplained. Two of the six brothers carry the name Azariah. Jehoram's wife is described only as the daughter of Ahab and is not named here; the next chapter names Ahaziah's mother Athaliah and calls her the daughter of Omri, and the text does not comment on the two descriptions. The surviving youngest son is called Jehoahaz in this chapter and Ahaziah in the next, again without explanation. The writing from Elijah is simply said to have come; the chapter does not say how it was carried or where Elijah was. This Jehoram of Judah must be kept apart from Jehoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, who appears in the next chapter. The narrator marks Edom's independence as lasting to his own day and gives Jehoram's age and length of reign twice, at the start and end. The chapter states the cause of Libnah's revolt and of the invasion as the king's forsaking of the Lord, and it records the deaths plainly: the brothers by the sword, the sons carried away, the king by a disease lasting two years.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 21:2, 2 Chronicles 21:6, 2 Chronicles 22:2, 2 Chronicles 21:17, 2 Chronicles 22:1, 2 Chronicles 21:12, 2 Chronicles 22:5, 2 Chronicles 21:10, 2 Chronicles 21:20, 2 Chronicles 21:19

Literary context

Two regnal notes with the same age and years bracket the reign, and everything between them is a chain of acts and consequences. Gifts to the brothers are followed at once by the sword. The narrator interrupts the judgment with the covenant that spares the house of David, so the reader knows the line will survive before the punishments arrive. Elijah's writing names two crimes, walking like Ahab's house and killing brothers who were better, and announces two punishments in order, and the chapter then delivers them in the same order: the plague on people, children, wives and goods comes as the invasion that carries off substance, sons and wives, and the bowel disease follows after all this. Libnah's revolt is tied to a stated cause with because, while Edom's is not. The ending withholds every honor the earlier kings received: no burning, no desire for him, and burial outside the kings' sepulchres. The single surviving son is named near the chapter's end and opens the next, where his own reign lasts one year.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 21:5, 2 Chronicles 21:20, 2 Chronicles 21:3, 2 Chronicles 21:4, 2 Chronicles 21:7, 2 Chronicles 21:13, 2 Chronicles 21:14, 2 Chronicles 21:17, 2 Chronicles 21:18, 2 Chronicles 21:10, 2 Chronicles 21:19, 2 Chronicles 22:2

Key moments

  1. Brothers slain with the sword (2 Chronicles 21:4). Once secure, Jehoram kills all his brothers and some princes.
  2. The house of David spared (2 Chronicles 21:7). The narrator says the Lord will not destroy David's house because of the covenant.
  3. Edom and Libnah revolt (2 Chronicles 21:10). Edom stays independent and Libnah breaks away because the king has forsaken the Lord.
  4. A writing from Elijah (2 Chronicles 21:12). A letter from Elijah the prophet names Jehoram's sins and announces his punishments.
  5. Sons and wives carried off (2 Chronicles 21:17). Philistines and Arabians break into Judah and take everything but the youngest son.
  6. Death without honor (2 Chronicles 21:20). Jehoram departs unmourned and is buried outside the kings' sepulchres.

For reflection

The narrator says the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of a covenant, in the same chapter where the king of that house kills his six brothers. What does it mean for a promise to hold to a family line while the person carrying it does this?

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