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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 27

2 Chronicles 27: Jotham's building and the tribute of Ammon

General context

Jotham is twenty-five at accession and reigns sixteen years in Jerusalem; his mother is Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. He does right in the sight of the Lord as his father Uzziah did, except that he does not enter the temple of the Lord, and the narrator adds that the people still act corruptly. He builds the high gate of the house of the Lord and builds much on the wall of Ophel, and he builds cities in the mountains of Judah and castles and towers in the forests. He fights the king of the Ammonites and prevails, and the children of Ammon pay him a hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures each of wheat and barley that year, and again in the second and third years. The narrator says Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. The rest of his acts, wars and ways are referred to the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His age and length of reign are repeated, he dies and is buried in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigns.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 27:1, 2 Chronicles 27:2, 2 Chronicles 27:3, 2 Chronicles 27:4, 2 Chronicles 27:5, 2 Chronicles 27:6, 2 Chronicles 27:7, 2 Chronicles 27:8, 2 Chronicles 27:9

2 Chronicles 27 (KJV)

1Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.

2And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly.

3He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.

4Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.

5He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third.

6So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.

7Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

8He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

9And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

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Historical context

The chapter is nine verses, and it states the king's age and reign length twice. Jerushah's father Zadok is not otherwise identified here. The one exception in the verdict, that Jotham did not enter the temple, reads against the previous chapter, where Uzziah went into the temple to burn incense and was struck with leprosy. The narrator's note that the people still acted corruptly is not explained and prepares the next reign. A high gate appears earlier as the route by which Joash was brought from the house of the Lord to the king's house; the chapter does not say whether Jotham's high gate is the same gate, or whether his work is new building or repair. Only one war is narrated, against the king of the Ammonites, though the summary refers to all his wars; the tribute is stated for three years and nothing is said about what followed. No prophet speaks, no failure is recorded, and no dates are given beyond the regnal totals. Ophel is named without description.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 27:1, 2 Chronicles 27:8, 2 Chronicles 27:2, 2 Chronicles 26:16, 2 Chronicles 27:3, 2 Chronicles 23:20, 2 Chronicles 27:7, 2 Chronicles 27:5

Literary context

This is the briefest of the reigns in this stretch of the book, and it is built as a frame of two regnal notes around a verdict, a list of buildings, one war with its tribute, and a stated cause. The verdict borrows Uzziah's and then adds one exception, and the exception is the temple, the very place of the father's fall. The narrator's one explanatory sentence, that Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways, is the counterpart of the previous chapter's turn, where strength led to a lifted heart; here might is given a cause and no fall follows. The tribute is counted year by year, and the repetition of the second and third years is the chapter's only elaboration. Set against the praise of the king is the short clause about the people still acting corruptly, which the next chapter takes up under Ahaz. The father, the son and the people are thus held apart in a few lines.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 27:1, 2 Chronicles 27:8, 2 Chronicles 27:2, 2 Chronicles 27:6, 2 Chronicles 26:16, 2 Chronicles 27:5, 2 Chronicles 28:1

Key moments

  1. He entered not the temple (2 Chronicles 27:2). Jotham follows Uzziah's ways except for the temple, while the people still act corruptly.
  2. The high gate and Ophel (2 Chronicles 27:3). Jotham builds the high gate of the house of the Lord and much of the wall of Ophel.
  3. Ammon pays tribute (2 Chronicles 27:5). After his victory the Ammonites pay silver, wheat and barley for three years.
  4. Mighty because prepared (2 Chronicles 27:6). The narrator explains Jotham's might by his preparing his ways before the Lord.
  5. Ahaz succeeds (2 Chronicles 27:9). Jotham is buried in the city of David and Ahaz reigns.

For reflection

The narrator credits Jotham with doing what his father did, with one exception: he did not enter the temple. Why might a reign be summed up partly by what a king refrained from doing, and what does that say about how the text remembers Uzziah?

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