Jehoshaphat

Biblical Record

Jehoshaphat was a king who reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah after the division of the kingdom. His name is commonly interpreted to mean "the LORD has judged." Accounts of him are found in 1 Kings 15:24 and chapter 22, 2 Kings 3, and 2 Chronicles 17–20. The son of Asa, he became king at the age of thirty-five and reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem (1 Kings 22:42).

• Reform and instruction: He sent princes and Levites throughout the cities of Judah with the book of the Law to teach the people (2 Chronicles 17:7-9). He also appointed judges and charged them to judge justly (2 Chronicles 19:4-11).
• Alliance with Ahab: He formed an alliance by marriage with Ahab, king of northern Israel. As a result, his son Jehoram married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab (2 Chronicles 18:1; 21:6). Jehoshaphat went with Ahab to battle at Ramoth-gilead, where Ahab was killed, as the prophet Micaiah had foretold (1 Kings 22). When Jehoshaphat returned from the battle, Jehu the son of Hanani the seer rebuked him (2 Chronicles 19:2).
• War with the Moabite and Ammonite coalition: When enemy forces invaded, he proclaimed a fast and prayed before the people. The Levite Jahaziel prophesied, "the battle is not yours, but God's." When the singers went out before the army singing praises, the enemies struck one another down, and the people called the place the valley of Berachah ("blessing") (2 Chronicles 20).
• Other events: He built ships together with Ahaziah, king of Israel, but the ships were broken (2 Chronicles 20:35-37). When he campaigned against Moab with Jehoram, king of Israel, and the water ran out, he sought out Elisha, who said that he would respond out of regard for Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 3).

Significance in Scripture

Both Kings and Chronicles assess him as having walked in the way of his father Asa and having done what was right in the sight of the LORD (1 Kings 22:43; 2 Chronicles 20:32). At the same time, his alliances with wicked kings are repeatedly rebuked. The marriage alliance he made, which brought Athaliah into the royal family, later led to a grave crisis for the royal house of Judah (2 Chronicles 22:10). In the New Testament, he is mentioned only by name in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:8.

Interpretation and Issues

• The high places: The high places were sites of sacrifice set up on mountains or hills. Second Chronicles 17:6 states that Jehoshaphat removed the high places, whereas 1 Kings 22:43 and 2 Chronicles 20:33 state that the high places were not taken away. One harmonizing interpretation distinguishes between idolatrous high places and high places where sacrifice was offered to the LORD. Some scholars instead attribute the difference to the differing sources and perspectives of the two accounts.
• The valley of Jehoshaphat: The "valley of Jehoshaphat" in Joel 3:2, 12 is the place where God judges the nations. Some interpreters connect this site with the king's battlefield. However, the view that it is a symbolic place name drawing on the meaning of the name is also widely accepted. The identification of this valley with the Kidron Valley is a later tradition.
• Praise and victory: Some sermons apply 2 Chronicles 20 to teach that praise is a means of spiritual warfare. Other interpreters hold that the focus of the passage lies less in the act of praise itself than in trusting and obeying God's promise.

In the Korean Church

Second Chronicles 20 is frequently used as a sermon text on the theme of prayer and praise in the face of crisis. The scene of the singers standing before the army is often cited to explain the meaning of worship ministry. The alliance with Ahab is also treated as an example warning believers against improper partnerships.