✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

2 Chronicles 21

KJV · Chapter 21/36

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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jehoshaphat dies and his son Jehoram takes the throne, immediately killing his own brothers to consolidate power. He marries a daughter of Ahab and introduces idolatry into Judah; as a result, he faces rebellions, invasions, and a terrible disease announced in a letter from the prophet Elijah.

Explanation

Jehoram represents an abrupt spiritual regression after his father's faithful reign, showing how the influence of a marriage into Ahab's family (through his wife Athaliah) could rapidly corrupt even a previously faithful dynasty. The fratricide committed by Jehoram at the very start of his reign, killing all of his own brothers, reveals a pattern of brutal political violence imported from the culture of the northern kingdom. The mention of a letter written by the prophet Elijah, specifically foretelling the terrible disease that would consume Jehoram's bowels, is one of the rare instances in the Bible of a prophetic message delivered in writing rather than orally, and his death, described as without public lament, shows the complete contempt the people came to feel for him.

Fun facts

  • Jehoram's terminal illness, described with unpleasant detail about his bowels falling out because of the disease, is one of the most graphically described physical judgments against a king in the whole Bible.
  • The fact that Jehoram was buried 'in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings' marks one of the earliest examples in the records of Chronicles of a king receiving this specific kind of posthumous dishonor.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Chronicles 21:1Jehoshaphat dies and is buried with his ancestors in the City of David; his son Jehoram takes the throne, opening one of the darkest chapters in the book.
  2. 2 Chronicles 21:2Jehoram had several brothers — Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah — all sons of Jehoshaphat, whom the Chronicler here calls “king of Israel,” whether by mistake or by a variant use of the name.
  3. 2 Chronicles 21:3Before he died, Jehoshaphat had given valuable gifts and fortified cities to each of these sons, but he reserved the whole kingdom for Jehoram, since he was the firstborn.
  4. 2 Chronicles 21:4As soon as he takes the throne, Jehoram has all his own brothers put to death, a common way at the time to eliminate rivals to power right at the start of a reign, though the text records it in a clearly critical tone.
  5. 2 Chronicles 21:5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he governed eight years in Jerusalem.
  6. 2 Chronicles 21:6Jehoram follows the way of the kings of Israel, like the house of Ahab, because he was married to a daughter of Ahab — and the Chronicler already labels this as evil in the eyes of the Lord.
  7. 2 Chronicles 21:7Despite Jehoram’s wickedness, God does not destroy David’s line, because of the covenant made with him and the promise to always keep a “light” burning for his descendants.
  8. 2 Chronicles 21:8During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites rebel against Judah’s rule and set up their own king.
  9. 2 Chronicles 21:9Jehoram tries to reverse this rebellion by attacking by night the Edomites who had surrounded him, along with his commanders, but it does not change the outcome.
  10. 2 Chronicles 21:10Even with this counterattack, the Edomites remain independent from Judah, and the city of Libnah also rebels around the same time — a direct consequence of Jehoram having abandoned the Lord.
  11. 2 Chronicles 21:11Jehoram builds idolatrous shrines on the hills of Judah and leads the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and even the rest of Judah, away from faithfulness to God.
  12. 2 Chronicles 21:12This letter from Elijah is the prophet’s only appearance in the entire book of Chronicles — he normally operates only in the northern kingdom, against the house of Ahab, so seeing him write directly to a king of Judah shows that his prophetic reach went beyond the border between the two kingdoms.
  13. 2 Chronicles 21:13Elijah accuses Jehoram of following the way of the kings of Israel, leading Judah into unfaithfulness just as the house of Ahab did, and on top of that killing his own brothers, who were better men than he was.
  14. 2 Chronicles 21:14Elijah’s letter announces a severe punishment: a great plague striking the people, the children, the wives, and all of Jehoram’s possessions.
  15. 2 Chronicles 21:15In addition, Elijah foretells a terrible disease in Jehoram’s bowels, which will grow worse day after day until an ending described in stark, physical terms.
  16. 2 Chronicles 21:16God stirs up against Jehoram the hostile spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians who lived near the Ethiopians — the instruments of the announced punishment.
  17. 2 Chronicles 21:17These peoples invade Judah, plunder everything they find in the palace, and carry off Jehoram’s sons and wives, leaving only his youngest son, Jehoahaz (also called Ahaziah).
  18. 2 Chronicles 21:18After all this, the Lord still strikes Jehoram with the incurable disease in his bowels that Elijah had already announced in his letter.
  19. 2 Chronicles 21:19Two years later, the disease progresses until his bowels fall out, and Jehoram dies in a way so terrible that the people do not even hold a funeral fire for him as they did for the earlier kings.
  20. 2 Chronicles 21:20Jehoram dies with no one missing him, and he is buried in the City of David, but outside the tombs reserved for the kings. This kind of burial detail becomes a pattern for the rest of the book: it is the Chronicler’s way of delivering a final verdict on each king without needing to say anything more.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play