1 And aJehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.
4 Now when Jehoram was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers with the sword, and also others of the princes of Israel.
5aJehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of aAhab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
7 Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the acovenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his bsons forever.
8aIn his days Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, and made a king over themselves.
9 So Jehoram went out with his officers, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots.
10 Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. At that time Libnah revolted against his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.
11 Moreover he made1 high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to acommit harlotry, and led Judah astray.
12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord God of your father David: Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have amade Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to bplay the harlot like the charlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have dkilled your brothers, those of your father’s household, whowere better than yourself,
14 behold, the Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction—your children, your wives, and all your possessions;
15 and you willbecome very sick with a adisease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.
16 Moreover the aLordbstirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the cArabians who were near the Ethiopians.
17 And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also ahis sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except1 Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
18 After all this the Lord struck him ain his intestines with an incurable disease.
19 Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no1 burning for him, like athe burning for his fathers.
20 He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers . . . Jehoram . . . reigned—The late king left seven sons; two of them are in our version named Azariah; but in the Hebrew they appear considerably different, the one being spelt "Azariah," and the other "Azariahu." Though Jehoshaphat had made his family arrangements with prudent precaution, and while he divided the functions of royalty in his lifetime (compare II Kings 8:16), as well as fixed the succession to the throne in his oldest son, he appointed each of the others to the government of a fenced city, thus providing them with an honorable independence. But this good intentions were frustrated; for no sooner did Jehoram find himself in the sole possession of sovereign power than, from jealousy, or on account of their connections, he murdered all his brothers, together with some leading influential persons who, he suspected, were attached to their interest, or would avenge their deaths. Similar tragedies have been sadly frequent in Eastern courts, where the heir of the crown looks upon his brothers as his most formidable enemies, and is therefore tempted to secure his power by their death.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 2 Chronicles 21:1:
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