Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JOTHAM

(Heb. yôṯām)

1. The youngest of the 70 sons of Gideon (Jerub-baal). After Gideon’s death, Jotham’s brother Abimelech (born of Gideon’s concubine; Judg. 8:31) convinced the townsfolk of Shechem (the family home of Gideon) to support his leadership over them (9:1-4). He then murdered all his 70 brothers save Jotham, who escaped by hiding.

As the people of Shechem proceeded to declare Abimelech their king, Jotham arrived at the top of Mt. Gerizim and sought to dissuade them through his parable of the trees and thorn bush (Judg. 9:7-15). Jotham’s curse (Judg. 9:19-20) was fulfilled when Abimelech was killed in his attack on Shechem (vv. 56-57).

2. King of Judah early in the second half of the 8th century b.c.e., son of Azariah (Uzziah) and father of Ahaz. The precise chronology of the kings from Jotham through Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, including the correlation with the kings of Israel at this time, is one of the most difficult in the entire monarchic period. With a probable coregency with his father, the approximate dates of Jotham’s rule are 750 to the early 730s.

Jotham inherited a secure and expanded kingdom following the long and peaceful reign of Uzziah throughout the first half of the 8th century, paralleled by similar prosperity in the north under Jeroboam II. Jotham added to the defenses of Jerusalem to the north (2 Kgs. 15:35) and to the south (2 Chr. 27:4), and apparently maintained control of the seaport Elath, which Uzziah had restored from Edom (2 Kgs. 14:22). A signet ring with the inscription “belonging to Jotham” (lytm), found in that region, may attest to Judean control at this time.

However, Jotham’s reign also saw the rise of the Neo-Assyrian power under Tiglath-pileser III and the rapid decline of stability and security. The Syro-Ephraimite coalition (between Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Aram) was formed as an alliance against Assyria during his reign, and by the time of Ahaz Jerusalem would be invaded under pressure to join. Thus the years of Jotham’s rule marked a time of transition from prosperity to crisis. According to 2 Chr. 27 Jotham was a thoroughly virtuous king, in contrast to his father. The account in 2 Kings, however, evaluates him positively only in the formulaic summary, “He did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kgs. 15:34). It also notes that he “failed to remove the high places” noted for apostate worship, as others before him had also not done (2 Kgs. 14:4; 15:4).

3. One of six sons of Jahdai listed in 1 Chr. 2:47 as one of the families descended from Caleb.

Bibliography. J. H. Hayes and P. K. Hooker, A New Chronology for the Kings of Israel and Judah (Atlanta, 1988); P. J. King, “The Eighth, the Greatest of Centuries?” JBL 108 (1989): 3-15; E. R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, 1983).

Andrew H. Bartelt

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JOTHAM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)