1, King of l^■rllel. He «as second son of Ahab, and succcedeil his brother Ahaziah, 2 K 3' (on the inter|«>lated date in 2 K 1" see AhaziaH, No. 1). The compiler of Kings evidently inti'nde<l to refer to him all the notices of the king of Israel whicl* occur in the Actji of Kli^lia ; but a.« Eli-<lia mir- vivcil .1. 43 years, it is poN^-ibli' that in sonii' case* at k'lust other kings were originally intended (M
B60
JEHORAM
JEUORAM
Ewald, HI iv. 87). Terrified probably by his brother's fate, lie be;,'an his rci^jn by putting away the pillar of Baal that Ahab had made ; but it is evident from 2 K 9*" lO'*" that the forei-;n cult was still continued in the country, tlirouj;h the inlluence of Jezebel, and with the connivance of J. himself, whose secret disloyalty is severely ex- posed by Elisha (2 K 3'»- "). Consistently with this, a tone of profane sarcasm, and of scarcely veiled antagonism, may be detected in his use of the sjicrcd name J" (2 KS'"- "O''-'', where read with Ewald 'king' iSd for 'messenger' "n'?"), a tone re-echoed by his courtiers (7'''). Immediately on his accession .1. took steps to suppress the revolt of Mesha, which was now a matter of two years' standing. He obtained the aid of his father's ally, the compliant Jehoshaphat, who may have desired to chastise Moab for their invasion of Judah (2 Ch 20). J. was entertained at Jerusalem (Jos. Avt. IX. iii. 1). The route chosen at the suggestion of the king of Judah, though not the most direct from Samaria, had the triple advan- tage of securing the co-operation and loyalty of Edom, avoiding the hostile Syrian and Anmionite territory, and attacking Moab from an unexpected quarter. The expedition was barren of result. Before Moab was reached, the army would have perished from thirst but for the miracle wrought through Elislia in deference to Jehoshaphat. The MiKiliites were routed, but were not subdued. The desjierate man who ' gave his firstborn for his transgression 'on the wall of Kirhareseth succeeded thereby in disheartening the besiegers, who, it is obscurely hinted, felt that the wrath of God was roused against themselves, the indirect authors of so unnatural a deed, and the allies retired, having failed to realize any lasting advantage. Assuming that 2 K 4-8"> belong to tbis reign, the following matters of public importance may be gleaned from them. Elisha claims to have interest with the king and the captain of the host (4")- He gives information to the king of the secret plans of the Sj-rians (6*'"). A Syrian army penetrates to Dothan, and is led by Elisha to Samaria. He dissuades the king from an ungenerous impulse to kill them, and so procures a temporary cessation of the Syrian incursions (6"''''). Benhadad in
Serson besieges Samaria ; the inhabitants are re- uced to the horrible straits foretold Lv 26^, Dt 28", and a second time the power of J" is vindi- cated by Elisha and the siege raised (6""7). This in- vasion may have occurred during the seven years' famine foretold by Elisha 8' (alluded to 4M). The visit of Naaman (5''*) should probably be placed after this (compare 5" 8*). Notwithstanding these constant attacKs from Syria,, J. seems to have been a vigorous monarch (Spaffr-fipiot, Jos. Ant. IX. ii. 2). On the death of Benhadad he deemed the opportunity a favourable one to renew the attempt to recover Ramoth-gilead at which Ahab had fallen. Ahaziah of Judah helped him (8^- ^), and the town was taken (9"), but in the attack J. received arrow wounds (Jos.) which necessitated his return to Jezreel, the army remaining to hdld the town (9''"). No long time elapsed when Jehu was seen approaching Jezreel. The mysteri- ous non-return of his messengers excited the curiosity of the sick man. With all his mother's vigour he roused himself, and sallied forth eager to hear what strange news the captain of the host might be bringing. The brutal reply of Jehu to his inquiry left no doubt as to his intentions, and the king had barely time to warn his royal kins- man of his danger when he fell, pierced by the arrow of Jehu, on the fatal field of Naboth. The curse of Elijah (1 K 21") was beginning to find fulfilment. 2. King of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat. The
history of his reign is contained in 2 K S'"", 2Ch21. It opens with a chronological dilliculty. He ii sai<l in 2 K 8" to have begun to rui^'u in the fifth year of .lehoram of Israel. A comparison of 1 K 22** and 2 K 3' implies that this would be two yearg before the death of Jehoshaphat. This accounts for the insertion 'Jehoshaphat being tlmn king of Judah,' the spuriousness of wliicTi is strongly vouched (see QPJi). The interpolation in 2 K 1'' is discussed under Ahaziaii i. Those who main- tain the genuineness of these notes of time ar« obliged to suppose that ho was twice made viceroy by Jehoshaphat, i.e. in the 17tli and 23rd years of that king's reign. The m.arriage of ,1. with the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel had probably seemed to Jehoshaphat a masterly stroke of con- ciliatorj' policy. In the event, Iiowever, it had the most di.sastrous effect on Jud.ah. The strong character of Athaliah easily inlhicnced for evil both her husband and son (2 K 8'"- '•"), and, as before in the case of Abijam (1 K 1.5*), nothing but the divine promise to David siived the favoured tribe from tlic ruin natur.'illy consequent on corruiition and idolatry. The most important event in this reign, and the only one recorded in Kings, is the fullilment of Gn 27'"' in the final revolt of Edom, which had been, more or less, a dependency of Judah since David's time (2 S 8"). The narrative (8^') of Jehoram's attein]it to recover Edom is obscure and probably corrujit. For 'to Zair' I'l's, which is otherwise unknown, Vulg. has 'to Seir,' Seira = -i've(B i'eiiip, A oni.). Griitz con- jectured ' Zoar' ni's, but Zoar is in Moab. 2 CI 21' substitutes ' with his captains ' vic'-c;'. The rest of the verse seems to imply that J. was surrounded by tlie Edomites by night, and cut his way through, but with loss and discomtiture (see QPB). At the same time, in a dillerent quarter, the South-West, Libnah revolted, possibly in con- nexion with the Philistine invasion (2 Ch 21"'- "). The Chronicler, mindful of the fact that Libnah was a priestly city (Jos 21"), assigns as the cause ' because he nad forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.' The town was not permanently lost (see 2 K 19»). We learn from 2 Ch 21=* that on his accession J. put to death amongst others his six brethren, to whom their father had given great gifts and fenced cities (cf. 2 Ch 11^). The defec- tion to idolatry, which is implied in Kings, i* detailed in 2 Cli 21", where he appears as a re- ligious persecutor. This is followed by a denuncia- tory letter from Elijah vr."'", a joint invasion by the Philistines and Arabians, who, if they did not actually capture Jerusalem (so Keil), sacked the palace, and carried off all his sons but one, w."- ". The narrative concludes with his miserable and unregretted death, dishonourable burial, and ex- clusion from the royal sepulchres (contrast 2 K 8**). A serious chronological difficulty is involved in the mention of Elijah s letter to Jehoram. But for this statement, one would naturally infer that Elijah's translation had taken place in the reign of Jehoshaphat. (a) It is narrated immediately after the death of Ahaziah, and so Seder Olnm, xvii. 45, places it in the second year of Ahaziah of Israel. (4) Elisha began to exercise prophetical functions under Jehoshaphat, 2 K 3. He does not seem to have done so before his master's departure, 2 K 2'- ". (c) 2 K 3" obviously means that Elijah was no longer on earth. In reply it may be urged that there is no note of time in 2 K 2, and that it is placed in its present position merely to complete