Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JEHORAM

(Heb. yĕhôrām) (also JORAM)

1. The son of Ahab who succeeded his brother Ahaziah as king of the northern kingdom of Israel and reigned from 849 to 842 b.c.e. (2 Kgs. 1:17; 3:1). Jehoram is criticized for his religious practices, but is credited with removing a pillar of Baal (2 Kgs. 3:2). Portions of the Elisha cycle may have involved Jehoram (2 Kgs. 6:8–7:20).

During Jehoram’s reign King Mesha of Moab withheld tribute, so Jehoram created a coalition force with Jehoshaphat of Judah and marched against Moab. The kings succeeded in routing the Moabites and driving them into the fortified city of Kir-hareseth, but the coalition forces withdrew when the Moabite king sacrificed his eldest son on the city wall (2 Kgs. 3:4-27). The Moabite Stone, commissioned by Mesha, is a record of Mesha’s successful reestablishment of independence.

There is no mention of Jehoram’s participation in the anti-Assyrian coalition which resisted Shalmaneser III, but it is clear that in 842 Jehoram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah formed a coalition against the Syrian usurper Hazael. Their forces engaged Hazael’s at Ramoth-gilead and Jehoram was wounded (2 Kgs. 8:28-29; 2 Chr. 22:5-6a). While he was recovering in Jezreel, Ahaziah visited him. Jehu then came to Jezreel and killed both Jehoram and Ahaziah (2 Kgs. 9:1-28; cf. 2 Chr. 22:6b-9).

Excavations at Tel Dan in 1993 and 1994 uncovered fragments of an Aramaic stela, apparently commissioned by Hazael, in which he claims to have killed [Jeho]ram king of Israel and [Ahaz]iah king of Judah. The biblical and epigraphic data seem to be in conflict, but there is biblical evidence of some sort of alliance between Hazael and Jehu (1 Kgs. 19:17). Jehu exterminated the remaining Omrides and succeeded Jehoram as king of Israel (2 Kgs. 9:30–10:11).

2. Jehoshaphat’s son and successor as king of Judah. He became king at the age of 32, perhaps initially as a co-regent with his father, and reigned from 849 to 842 (1 Kgs. 22:42, 50; cf. 2 Kgs. 8:16, 17; 3:1). His wife was Athaliah, the daughter (Syr. “sister”) of Ahab (2 Kgs. 8:18, 26). This marriage was probably arranged as part of an alliance between Ahab and Jehoshaphat (1 Kgs. 22:2, 44). The Deuteronomistic editor of Kings considered Jehoram an apostate and attributed his apostasy to his marriage (2 Kgs. 8:18; cf. 2 Chr. 21:6). According to the Chronicler Jehoram killed his brothers and made “high places” (2 Chr. 21:11-13).

During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted. Jehoram attempted to reestablish hegemony over Edom, but was unsuccessful; Libnah also revolted during his reign (2 Kgs. 8:20-22; 2 Chr. 21:8-10). The Chronicler also indicates that because of Jehoram’s sins Judah suffered a plague and was attacked by the Philistines and the Arabs, the latter resulting in the loss of Jehoram’s wives and sons, with the exception of Ahaziah (2 Chr. 21:16-17 LXX). The Chronicler adds that Yahweh punished Jehoram with a bowel disease causing his premature death (2 Chr. 21:15, 18-19). He was buried in Jerusalem and succeeded by his son Ahaziah, but according to the Chronicler he was not buried in a royal tomb (2 Chr. 21:20; cf. 2 Kgs. 8:24).

3. A priest of Judah during the 9th century during the time of Jehoshaphat, commissioned to teach the law (2 Chr. 17:8-9).

Bibliography. A. Biran and J. Naveh, “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment,” IEJ 45 (1995): 1-18; K. G. Hoglund, “Edomites,” in Peoples of the Old Testament World, ed. A. J. Hoerth, G. L. Mattingly, and E. M. Yamauchi (Grand Rapids, 1994), 335-47; G. L. Mattingly, “Moabites,” in Peoples of the Old Testament World, 317-33; W. Pitard, Ancient Damascus (Winona Lake, 1987).

Chris A. Rollston

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JEHORAM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)