2 Chronicles 21:1-7

21:1 Jehoshaphat passed away ¹  and was buried with his ancestors ²  in the City of David. ³  His son Jehoram ⁴  replaced him as king.

Jehoram’s Reign

21:2 His brothers, Jehoshaphat’s sons, were Azariah, Jechiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel. ⁵  21:3 Their father gave them many presents, including silver, gold, and other precious items, along with fortified cities in Judah. But he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

21:4 Jehoram took control of his father’s kingdom and became powerful. ⁶  Then he killed all his brothers, ⁷  as well as some of the officials of Israel. 21:5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁸  21:6 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. ⁹  He did evil in the sight of ¹⁰  the Lord. 21:7 But the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty ¹¹  because of the promise ¹²  he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty. ¹³ 

[21:1]  ¹ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 12, 19).

[21:1]  ³ sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

[21:1]  ⁴ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 8:16-24 has the variant spelling “Jehoram.”

[21:2]  ⁵ sn A number of times in 2 Chronicles “Israel” is used instead of the more specific “Judah”; see 2 Chr 12:6; 23:2). In the interest of consistency some translations (e.g., NAB, NRSV) substitute “Judah” for “Israel” here.

[21:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Jehoram arose over the kingdom of his father and strengthened himself.”

[21:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he killed all his brothers with the sword.”

[21:5]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife.”

[21:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[21:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[21:7]  ¹² tn Or “covenant.”

[21:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “which he made to David, just as he had promised to give him and his sons a lamp all the days.” Here “lamp” is metaphorical, symbolizing the Davidic dynasty.