2 Chronicleschapter 21
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Speaks with:2 Chronicles 21×52 Kings 8×41 Kings 11×42 Chronicles 22×32 Chronicles 24×22 Chronicles 11×2
Summary
Chapter summary
Jehoram takes the throne and secures it by killing all six of his brothers with the sword. He walks in the way of the kings of Israel, 'for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife,' and makes high places in the mountains of Judah. Yet Jehovah would not destroy the house of David, 'because of the covenant that he had made with David,' having promised him a lamp always. Edom revolts, and Libnah, 'because he had forsaken Jehovah.' A writing comes to him from Elijah the prophet announcing plague on his people and a disease of the bowels; the Philistines and Arabians carry off his sons and wives; after two years his bowels fall out, and he departs 'without being desired.'
Context
History · Ezra — 2 Chronicles overview
- A. 1–7 Jehoram kills his brothers, yet David's lamp still burns
- B. 8–11 Edom and Libnah revolt, and high places rise in the mountains
- C. 12–20 Elijah's letter, a wasting disease, and a death none regretted
The outline
A.Jehoram kills his brothers, yet David's lamp still burnsvv. 1 to 7
Read vv. 1 to 7 →B.Edom and Libnah revolt, and high places rise in the mountainsvv. 8 to 11
Read vv. 8 to 11 →C.Elijah's letter, a wasting disease, and a death none regrettedvv. 12 to 20
Read vv. 12 to 20 →
The world behind this chapter
2 Chronicles 21The history
The father's arrangement was the normal one: the other sons received fortified cities and generous gifts, and the firstborn received the kingdom. It was designed to give the younger brothers standing without a claim. Jehoram killed all six of them, along with some of the officials, as soon as he was secure.
His wife was Athaliah, Ahab's daughter, and the text says he walked in the way of the kings of Israel — the marriage alliance from two chapters earlier now setting the policy of Judah.
Edom's revolt cost more than pride. Edom controlled the copper country of the Arabah and the road to the Gulf of Aqaba, so losing it cut Judah off from the southern trade and the port. Libnah, a fortress town on the western frontier, revolted at the same time.
The writing that comes from Elijah is the chapter's contested point, since Elijah's departure is usually placed before this reign. The traditional answers are that Elijah wrote it before he was taken and it was delivered at the appointed time, or that Elisha carried out his master's word; the alternative view lowers Elijah's departure date. Either way it is a written prophetic letter, which is itself notable.
The end is a series of losses: a Philistine and Arabian raid that carried off his wives and all his sons except the youngest, two years of a disease of the bowels, and a death recorded with the coldest line in the book — he departed without being desired. No funeral fire was made for him, and he was not buried in the tombs of the kings.
What it meant to them
One sentence in the middle carries the weight of the whole book: the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and because he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.
The first hearers were alive because of that sentence. The dynasty had come within one surviving son of extinction, and the reason it did not end was not the character of the king but the character of the promise.
Sources cited
- Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings
- Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Chronicles
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on 2 Chronicles 21. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.