Joram (King of Israel)

During the same period, the southern kingdom of Judah also had a king named Jehoram. This king, the son of Jehoshaphat, is likewise called "Joram" in the text (2 Kings 8:21–24). This article concerns Joram, king of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Biblical Account

Joram was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. When his brother Ahaziah died without a son, Joram succeeded him and reigned in Samaria for twelve years (2 Kings 1:17; 3:1). 2 Kings records that he put away the image of Baal (a stone pillar set up as an idol) that his father had made, but did not depart from the sin of golden-calf worship that Jeroboam had begun (2 Kings 3:2–3).

• Campaign against Moab: When Mesha, king of Moab, stopped paying tribute and rebelled, Joram marched out against him together with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the king of Edom. When their water ran out in the wilderness, they inquired of Elisha, who said that he would answer only out of regard for Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 3:13–14). As Elisha had prophesied, the valley filled with water and the allied forces prevailed; but when Mesha offered his firstborn son as a burnt offering on the city wall, the armies withdrew (2 Kings 3:26–27).
• War with Aram and death: Joram was wounded while fighting alongside Ahaziah, king of Judah, against Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead, and he returned to Jezreel to recover (2 Kings 8:28–29). Meanwhile, one of the sons of the prophets, sent by Elisha, anointed Jehu. When Jehu came to Jezreel, Joram went out to meet him at the field of Naboth. Joram asked, "Is it peace, Jehu?" and Jehu answered by pointing to the whoredoms and witchcrafts of Jezebel. Joram fled but was struck down by Jehu's arrow, and his body was cast into the field of Naboth (2 Kings 9:21–26).

2 Chronicles 22:5–7 also briefly recounts these events.

Significance Within the Bible

2 Kings presents Joram's death as the fulfillment of the prophecy that Elijah spoke against the house of Ahab for the murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21:19–29; 2 Kings 9:25–26). With Joram's death, the dynasty founded by Omri came to an end. Later, Hosea 1:4 declares, "I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu." The New Testament does not mention Joram, king of Israel. The "Joram" in the genealogy of Matthew 1:8 is Jehoram, king of Judah.

Interpretations and Issues

• Confusion of the two Jorams: The two kings bore the same name, and their reigns overlapped. Moreover, Jehoram of Judah married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab (2 Kings 8:18, 26), which made the two men brothers-in-law. For these reasons the two kings are easily confused.
• Date of accession: The date of Joram's accession is given differently in two places: 2 Kings 1:17 places it in "the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah," while 3:1 places it in "the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat." Various explanations have been proposed, including the view that these figures reflect a coregency during which Jehoshaphat and Jehoram reigned together.
• The unnamed "king of Israel": The "king of Israel" in the accounts of the healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5) and the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6–7) is commonly identified as Joram. The text, however, does not name this king.
• Extrabiblical sources: Some scholars reconstruct the Tel Dan inscription as an Aramean king's claim to have killed Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of Judah. The reading and interpretation of the inscription, however, remain disputed.

In the Korean Church

Joram is rarely the central figure of a sermon. However, within the account of the Moabite campaign in 2 Kings 3, the verse "Make this valley full of ditches" (2 Kings 3:16) is frequently cited in sermons on preparing in faith. Joram's death is usually discussed in sermons and Bible studies on Jehu's revolt and the judgment on the house of Ahab.