Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 21:5

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jezebel’s Baalism in Judah (21:1-23:21)

The Baalism of Ahab and Jezebel remained strong in the northern kingdom during the successive reigns of their sons Ahaziah and Joram (2 Kings 1:1-15). It spread to Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram, who was married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (21:1-20; see notes on 2 Kings 8:16-24).

Judah’s next king, Ahaziah, at the direction of his mother Athaliah and her northern relatives, cooperated with the idolatrous northern kingdom, and as a result met an early death (22:1-9; see notes on 2 Kings 8:25-29; 2 Kings 9:21-29; 2 Kings 10:12-14). The kings of both Judah and Israel were killed by Jehu, whose anti-Baal revolution in the northern kingdom is recorded in 2 Kings 9:1-36.

Upon the king of Judah’s death, Athaliah seized the throne for herself. She ruled for six years, during which she did all within her power to establish the northern Baalism of her parents in Judah. But the priests and Levites remained faithful to God. The Levites were the temple guards, and the writer emphasizes the part they played (in cooperation with the palace guards) in getting rid of Athaliah and restoring the throne to the Davidic dynasty. The Chronicler also points out that although the coup took place in the temple grounds, no one except the priests and Levites entered the temple buildings. People still had to respect the temple’s holiness (22:10-23:21; see notes on 2 Kings 11:1-20). The death of Athaliah marked the end of Jezebel’s Baalism in Judah.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JEHORAM'S VICIOUS MURDER OF ALL HIS BROTHERS

"Now when Jehoram was risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. Howbeit Jehovah would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children alway."

"Jehovah would not destroy the house of David" The very mention of such a thing in this paragraph is a mark of the diabolical threat that existed at this moment in the history of the Chosen People. In these events, Satan was moving swiftly and methodically toward that very goal: the total destruction of the house of David. And when Jehoram's evil mother Athaliah was finally able to seize power for herself, she all but accomplished it.

We cannot leave this without mentioning the disaster that always results from contracting a marriage with an evil partner. Jehoshaphat is credited with being a good king; but he was incredibly stupid in arranging a marriage for his first-born son and presumptive heir to the throne of Judah with the wicked Jezebel II, whose name was Athaliah.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 21

Now Jehoshaphat died, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. And he had brothers who were also sons of Jehoshaphat [and it names several of the brothers]. And Jehoshaphat had given to his sons great gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, and he gave them cities: but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram; because he was [his oldest,] the firstborn. Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father [verse 2 Chronicles 21:4 ], he strengthened himself, and killed all of his brothers with the sword, and also many of the princes of Israel. And Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel [that is, the northern kings who were wicked], 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 ( 2 Chronicles 21:1-6 ).

Now here is where Jehoshaphat's seeking to become friends and joining affinity with the kings of Israel got him into trouble. For, no doubt, on some of his ventures up to the kingdom of Israel and visiting Ahab, he took his oldest son with him, Jehoram, who saw the daughter of Ahab and fell in love with her. And of course, because he was seeking to make an affinity with the kings, they arranged the marriage and his oldest son married the daughter of wicked Ahab, who was also the daughter of Jezebel. And thus, she had the same kind of an influence upon her husband Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, as did Jezebel upon Ahab, a very wicked influence in the kingdom.

Now this is where the dad may say, "Well, I can go and it won't bother me. I know how to handle myself and I won't be touched by the thing." But yet, his son going with him was the one that was affected and hurt by the relationship. And so we need to be careful of the relationships that we develop, not only for our own sake. You may be able to handle it. But it can have disastrous results in your family, your children. They may not be able to handle those pressures.

And so had he not been going up and seeking to make these kinds of friendship ventures towards Ahab, no doubt his son would never have met this Athaliah and married her, and thus, this horrible thing would not have transpired. It cost him the rest of his sons. All of the rest of the sons were killed by this one boy who was given the kingdom. He was influenced for evil by the wife that he married who was the daughter of that wicked king Ahab. And she had an evil influence in Judah for a period of time.

Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David ( 2 Chronicles 21:7 ),

Now during the days of this...and remember he only reigned for eight years. But as he began to reign, first of all, the Edomites rebelled from under their dominion. And then the people of Libnah rebelled against them.

And there came to him a writing 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 the king of Judah, But you've walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and you have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and you've also slain your brothers of your father's house, which were better than you: Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite your people, and your children, and your wives, and all of your goods: and you will have a great sickness by the disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day ( 2 Chronicles 21:12-15 ).

"You're going to die a slow death as your bowels fall out." So God's disease that He was going to bring upon him because of his wickedness. And he was only about forty years old at the time of his death. So died at a relatively young age, but because of that wickedness, this message from Elijah the prophet. Now some people see difficulty here, because if you go back to II Kings it would seem that Elijah died while Jehoshaphat was still king. Elijah basically was not a prophet to Judah; he was a prophet to Israel. And he was a prophet during the time of Ahab in the northern kingdom. It was Ahab and Jezebel that Elijah was really chiding for their wickedness, and he was a real thorn unto Ahab.

But as you go back to Kings where the recording of the death of Elijah takes place there in the second chapter, it would just appear that the writer of II Kings just throws in the account of his death because he's going to move now to the southern kingdom and talk about it for a while. So he doesn't follow a chronological order. There would seem to be about a six-year difference here, but it was only that he recorded the death of Elijah out of a chronological sequence in II Kings. And so Elijah wrote this message of rebuke and of judgment that is going to come upon the son of Jehoshaphat because of his evil.

And the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians: and they came up into Judah, they broke into it, they carried away the substance that was found in the king's house, his sons also, and his wives; and there was never a son left, save Jehoahaz, his youngest of his sons ( 2 Chronicles 21:16-17 ).

So the Arabians and the Philistines also began to attack. I mean the kingdom went so quickly. In eight years just deteriorated down to nothing. The Edomites revolted, the people of Libnah revolted, and now the Philistines, the Arabians, they come in and take everything. They took all of his wives, took all of his children. Left only one, his youngest son Jehoahaz.

And after this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. And it came to pass, that in process of time, at the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases ( 2 Chronicles 21:18-19 ).

And here the declaration:

They made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers ( 2 Chronicles 21:19 ).

Now that was a time of mourning where they would mourn people and build fires. Stay up all night in mourning. But not for him.

Thirty-two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in eight years, and he departed without being desired ( 2 Chronicles 21:20 ).

The story of a wicked man. He departed without. No one mourned his going. "He departed without being desired."

Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchre of the kings ( 2 Chronicles 21:20 ).

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

E. Jehoram ch. 21

The events from Jehoram’s reign that the Chronicler selected present a classic example of the consequences that follow departing from Yahweh. The king violated God’s will by murdering his brothers (2 Chronicles 21:4) and practicing idolatry (2 Chronicles 21:6).

"Jehoram is the first king of the Davidic line of whom the Chronicler’s judgment is totally negative." [Note: Williamson, 1 and 2 . . ., p. 303.]

"There is both irony and retributive justice in that Jehoram sets in motion events that would ultimately lead to the near obliteration of his own line (2 Chronicles 22:10; 2 Kings 11:1)." [Note: Dillard, 2 Chronicles, p. 165.]

The retributions Yahweh brought for these sins were the rebellion of and invasion by his neighbor nations (2 Chronicles 21:8-10; 2 Chronicles 21:16-17), his own painful death (2 Chronicles 21:18-19), and death with no one’s regret (2 Chronicles 21:19).

"It cannot be said too often that the tracing of cause and effect which so typifies Chr. does not imply that all suffering is the result of specific sin. The central point here relates rather to the folly and wickedness of usurping the place of God. Jehoram did not merely aim to exercise authority. He sought to control destinies. The same urge is not absent from the twentieth century." [Note: McConville, pp. 198-99.]

Even though Jehoram apostatized, largely through the influence of his wife and in-laws in Israel (2 Chronicles 21:6), God did not cut off the Davidic line. This was because He had promised David He would never do that (2 Chronicles 21:7).

It is significant that the prophet God sent to announce judgment on Jehoram was Elijah (2 Chronicles 21:12). Elijah’s ministry was to condemn Baalism in Israel, but God sent him to Jehoram because Jehoram shared the same guilt as the kings of Ahab’s house. This is the only record we have of a prophet from the Northern Kingdom rebuking a king of the Southern Kingdom. All the other prophets God sent to the Davidic kings were from Judah.

"As with most illnesses mentioned in the Old Testament, we are left to conjecture about the clinically imprecise vocabulary. Ulcers, colitis, chronic diarrhea, and dysentery have been proposed." [Note: Thompson, p. 300.]

The reference to Jehoshaphat having been the king of Israel (2 Chronicles 21:2) is not an error. As we have already noted, the Chronicler regarded Judah as the true Israel and sometimes referred to Judah as Israel (cf. 2 Chronicles 12:6; 2 Chronicles 23:2; et al.).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Ver. 5-10. Jehoram was thirty two years old,.... Of these verses,

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Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.   2 And 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.   3 And 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.   4 Now 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.   5 Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.   6 And 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.   7 Howbeit 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.   8 In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king.   9 Then 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.   10 So 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.   11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.

      We find here,

      I. That Jehoshaphat was a very careful indulgent father to Jehoram. He had many sons, who are here named (2 Chronicles 21:2; 2 Chronicles 21:2), and it is said (2 Chronicles 21:13; 2 Chronicles 21:13) that they were better than Jehoram, had a great deal more wisdom and virtue, and lived up to their education, which he went counter to. They were very hopeful, and any of them more fit for the crown than he; and yet, because he was the first-born (2 Chronicles 21:3; 2 Chronicles 21:3), his father secured the kingdom to him, and portioned his brethren and disposed of them so as that they would be easy and give him no disturbance; as Abraham, when he made Isaac his heir, dismissed his other children with gifts. Herein Jehoshaphat was very kind and fair to his son, which might have obliged him to be respectful to him, and tread in the steps of so good a father. But it is no new thing for the children that have been most indulged by their parents to be least dutiful to them. Whether in doing this he acted wisely and well for his people, and was just to them, I cannot say. His birthright entitled him to a double portion of his father's estate, Deuteronomy 21:171. But if he appeared utterly unfit for government (the end of which is the good of the people), and likely to undo all that his father had done, it would have been better perhaps to have set him aside, and taken the next that was hopeful, and not inclined as he was to idolatry. Power is a sacred thing, with which men may either do much good or much hurt; and therefore Detur digniori--Let him that deserves it have it. Salus populi suprema lex--The security of the people is the first consideration.

      II. That Jehoram was a most barbarous brother to his father's sons. As soon as he had settled himself in the throne he slew all his brethren with the sword, either by false accusation, under colour of law, or rather by assassination. By some wicked hand or other he got them all murdered, pretending (it is likely) that he could not think himself safe in the government till they were taken out of the way. Those that mean ill themselves are commonly, without cause, jealous of those about them. The wicked fear where no fear is, or pretend to do so, in order to conceal their malice. Jehoram, it is likely, hated his brethren and slew them for the same reason that Cain hated Abel and slew him, because their piety condemned his impiety and won them that esteem with the people which he had lost. With them he slew divers of the princes of Israel, who adhered to them, or were likely to avenge their death. The princes of Judah, those who had taught the good knowledge of the Lord (2 Chronicles 17:7; 2 Chronicles 17:7), are here called princes of Israel, as before fathers of Israel (2 Chronicles 19:8; 2 Chronicles 19:8), because they were Israelites indeed, men of integrity. The sword which the good father had put into their hands this wicked son sheathed in their bowels. Woe unto him that thus foundeth a kingdom in blood (Habakkuk 2:12); it will prove a foundation that will sink the superstructure.

      III. That Jehoram was a most wicked king, who corrupted and debauched his kingdom, and ruined the reformation that his good father and grandfather had carried on: He walked in the way of the house of Ahab (2 Chronicles 21:6; 2 Chronicles 21:6), made high places, which the people were of themselves too forward to make, and did his utmost to set up idolatry again, 2 Chronicles 21:11; 2 Chronicles 21:11. 1. As for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, where he kept his court, he easily drew them into his spiritual whoredom: He caused them to commit fornication, seducing them to eat things sacrificed to idols,Revelation 2:20. 2. The country people seem to have been brought to it with more difficulty; but those that would not be corrupted by flatteries were driven by force to partake in his abominable idolatries: He compelled Judah thereto. He used that power for the destruction of the church which was given him for the edification of it.

      IV. That when he forsook God and his worship his subjects withdrew from their allegiance to him. 1. Some of the provinces abroad that were tributaries to him did so. The Edomites revolted (2 Chronicles 21:8; 2 Chronicles 21:8), and, though he chastised them (2 Chronicles 21:9; 2 Chronicles 21:9), yet he could not reduce them, 2 Chronicles 21:10; 2 Chronicles 21:10. 2. One of the cities of his own kingdom did so. Libnah revolted (2 Chronicles 21:10; 2 Chronicles 21:10) and set up for a free state, as of old it had a king of its own, Joshua 12:15. And the reason is here given, not only why God permitted it, but why they did it; they shook off his government because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers, had become an idolater and a worshipper of false gods, and they could not continue subject to him without some danger of being themselves also drawn away from God and their duty. While he adhered to God they adhered to him; but, when he cast God off, they cast him off. Whether this reason will justify them in their revolt of no, it will justify God's providence which ordered it so.

      V. That yet God was tender of his covenant with the house of David, and therefore would not destroy the royal family, though it was so wretchedly corrupted and degenerated, 2 Chronicles 21:7; 2 Chronicles 21:7. These things we had before, 2 Kings 8:19-22. The tenour of the covenant was that David's seed should be visited for their transgressions, but the covenant should never be broken, Psalms 89:30-37, &c.