Jotham

Biblical Record

Jotham was the son of Uzziah, king of Judah (called Azariah in 2 Kings), and the father of Ahaz. His life is recorded in 2 Kings 15:5 and 15:32–38 and in 2 Chronicles 26:21 and chapter 27. When Uzziah was stricken with leprosy and lived in a separate house, Jotham, the king's son, took charge of the royal household and governed the people (2 Kings 15:5). He became king at the age of twenty-five and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

• Scripture states that he followed his father's example and did what was right in the sight of the LORD. It adds, however, that he did not remove the high places and that the people still acted corruptly. The high places were sites of sacrifice set up on hills.
• He built the high gate of the house of the LORD and built extensively on the wall of Ophel. He built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortified camps and towers (2 Chronicles 27:3–4).
• He fought against the children of Ammon and prevailed. For the following three years he received from the Ammonites one hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures each of wheat and barley (2 Chronicles 27:5).
• During his reign, Rezin king of Aram and Pekah king of Israel began to attack Judah (2 Kings 15:37).
• After his death he was buried in the city of David, and his son Ahaz succeeded him.

Significance in Scripture

Second Chronicles 27:6 summarizes his reign: "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God." Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah each state at the opening of their books that they ministered during the days of Jotham (Isaiah 1:1; Hosea 1:1; Micah 1:1). In the New Testament, his name appears between Uzziah and Ahaz in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:9.

Interpretation and Issues

• "Howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD" (2 Chronicles 27:2): Uzziah had entered the temple to burn incense and was stricken with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16–21). This verse is commonly read to mean that Jotham, unlike his father, did not encroach on the duties of the priests. Because the verse is brief, other interpretations also exist.
• Chronological questions: Scripture records the length of his reign as sixteen years, yet 2 Kings 15:30 refers to "the twentieth year of Jotham." Many scholars explain this discrepancy by positing a period of coregency with Uzziah or Ahaz, or by differing methods of reckoning regnal years. The exact dates of his reign vary among scholars.
• Others named Jotham: Judges 9 mentions Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon (Jerubbaal). He alone survived when Abimelech killed his brothers; from the top of Mount Gerizim he proclaimed a parable about the trees seeking to anoint a king over them, and then fled. Another man of the same name appears in 1 Chronicles 2:47. Both are distinct from Jotham, king of Judah.
• The biblical text gives no detailed information about Jotham's personal faith or character.

In the Korean Church

Jotham is seldom treated at length in Sunday school curricula. In preaching, 2 Chronicles 27:6 is often cited on the theme of walking the "right path before God." Preachers sometimes point both to his refusal to repeat his father's error and to his limitations in failing to correct the people's corruption and remove the high places. Jotham's parable in Judges is also cited in sermons on the qualifications of leaders.