2 Chronicleschapter 27
9 verses · Ezra, by tradition · 450 to 400 BC · History
So Jotham grew powerful because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.
Introduction
Ezra, by tradition, History, 2 Chronicles Overview.
This chapter was written for people rebuilding walls and gates with little money and many enemies. It is one of the shortest reigns the book records, and one of the few with no rebuke in it. The king had ruled beside his father before he reigned alone. Listen for the kinds of work the chapter chooses to remember. Notice how the king and the people are judged apart. The chapter gives its reason for the king's strength in one plain sentence near the end.
Context
- Who
- People rebuilding walls and gates with limited means
- What
- The reign of Jotham: his building in Jerusalem and Judah, his victory over the Ammonites, and the tribute they paid.
- Where
- Jerusalem, at the Upper Gate of the temple and the wall of Ophel, and the hills and forests of Judah.
- When
- About 750 to 732 BC, the sixteen years of Jotham's reign.
- Why
- To show that a king who ordered his ways before the LORD grew strong, even while the people still did wrong.
Historical context
The chapter belongs to Jotham, twenty-five at his accession and reigning sixteen years, who had governed for his father before that. Thiele's reconstruction places the reign at about 750 to 732 BC.
Show the rest of the historical context, 5 more paragraphs
The places are the Upper Gate of the temple, the wall on the Ophel ridge, and forts and towers in the wooded hills.
The occasion is a reign given to building. He worked on the Upper Gate and on the wall of Ophel, the ridge connecting the old city of David to the temple platform, which is the weakest seam in Jerusalem's defences.
A first hearer knew why forts went into the woodland, which is where an invading force would try to move unseen.
A first hearer knew how tribute came. A hundred talents of silver with ten thousand measures each of wheat and barley, paid three years running, is payment in kind that fed an army or a building crew.
A first hearer knew, last, what the line about the temple meant. Read after the previous chapter it is a commendation, since this king stayed on the right side of the boundary his father crossed.
Significance
For a community rebuilding a wall with one hand and a trowel, a king remembered mainly for gates and towers was worth remembering.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The verdict on the people spoke directly as well. Good leadership is necessary, and it is not the whole account. The state of a nation and the state of its ruler are two measurements.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
Chronicles stands among the Writings in the Hebrew canon, and the annual cycle of Torah portions and their Haftarot draws on other books. A Jewish reader meets this chapter in study rather than in a reading appointed for a Sabbath or a feast, and the site's own reading data records the same for every chapter.
How it is read
This short reign carries the highest verdict any king in the book receives, and Rashi gives it in a saying he attributes to Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai (Rashi on II Chronicles 27:2:1). The saying offers to take on the sins of the generations, and adds that with Jotham beside him the offer would reach to the end of all generations. Rashi then works through the kings one by one to show why Jotham stands alone. He names the matter of Uriah for David and the turning of Solomon's heart by his wives. He names Rehoboam forsaking the law, Abijah walking in his father's sins, and Asa taking the treasure and imprisoning the prophet. He names Jehoshaphat's alliance with a wicked king, Jehoram killing his brother, and the counsel Ahaziah took from his mother. He names Joash killing Zechariah, Amaziah bowing to the gods of Seir, and Uzziah entering the sanctuary to burn incense. He names Ahaz and his images, Hezekiah's pride, Manasseh's evil, Josiah refusing the word of prophecy, and Zedekiah refusing to humble himself. In Jotham, Rashi says, "no trace of sin was found" (Rashi on II Chronicles 27:2:1).
Rashi also keeps the limit the text sets on that praise. The people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places, which he takes from the parallel in Kings (Rashi on II Chronicles 27:2:2). The building notes he glosses plainly, the wall of the rampart as strongholds and the forest works as large houses (Rashi on II Chronicles 27:3:1, and 27:4:1).
Malbim is heavier on this chapter than Rashi is, at 27:2:1, 27:3:1, 27:4:1, 27:5:1 and 27:7:1. Metzudat David comments at 27:2:1, 27:3:1 and 27:5:1, and Radak at 27:2:1, 27:3:1 and 27:4:1. The corpus holds no English text for any of them, so all three stand cited and unquoted.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on II Chronicles, the Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg (Sefaria, CC-BY); Malbim, Malbim on II Chronicles 27, cited by ref from the Sefaria corpus, which holds no English version of it; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on II Chronicles 27, cited by ref from the Sefaria corpus, which holds no English version of it; Radak, Radak on II Chronicles 27, cited by ref from the Sefaria corpus, which holds no English version of it; The Sefaria corpus on disk, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/2-chronicles/27.json, fetched 2026-09-19; The reading data of this site, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed in this lane: 2-chronicles parashot 0, haftarah uses 0, hasSynagogueReading true for 0 of 36 chapters.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before God
2 Chronicles 27:1-2
Jotham was twenty-five years old: Chronicles adds a clause Kings does not carry, that “he did not enter the temple of the LORD”. That is the place where Uzziah's censer brought him leprosy at 26:16-19. The line “But the people still behaved corruptly” is Chronicles' own qualifier on a good king's record.
2 Chronicles 27:1
“Jotham was twenty and five years old--(See on 2Ki 15:32-35). Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok--or descendant of the famous priest of that name [2Sa 8:17].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
just as his father Uzziah had done: Gill takes the people's corruption as the sacrifices and incense at the high places, which 2 Kings 15:35 says were left standing. Isaiah, Hosea and Micah all preached in Jotham's reign. Their books show what the nation did while its king did right.
2 Chronicles 27:2
“And he did that which was right,.... See Gill on 2Ki 15:34, howbeit, he entered not into the temple of the Lord; to burn incense, as his father did; he did according to his good ways, but not his evil ones: and the people did yet corruptly; in sacrificing and burning incense in the high places, 2Ki 15:35 which some think Joash himself did, and is meant in the preceding clause; but the sense given is best.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 27:2
“What was amiss in his people he could not prevail to amend: The people did yet corruptly. Perhaps it reflects some blame upon him, that he was wanting in his part towards the reformation of the land.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Chronicles 27:3-4
Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD: Kings gives Jotham's building in one clause, the upper gate of the temple. Chronicles adds work “on the wall at the hill of Ophel”, “cities in the hill country of Judah” and “fortresses and towers in the forests”. The fortified cities continue the defensive building Uzziah did at 26:9-10.
2 Chronicles 27:3
“He built the high gate in the house of the Lord,.... See the note on 2Ki 15:35. and on the wall of Ophel he built much; which Kimchi interprets an high place; it was the eastern part of Mount Zion. Josephus (f) calls it Ophlas, and says it joined to the eastern porch of the temple; and some have thought the porch of the temple is meant; the Targum renders it a palace; it is a tradition of the Jews that it was the holy of holies (g). (f) De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2. (g) Vid.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 27:3
“Ophel was the name given to the long, narrowish, rounded spur or promontory, which intervenes between the central valley of Jerusalem (the Tyropoeon) and the Kidron, or valley of Jehoshaphat. The anxiety of Uzziah and Jotham to fortify their territory indicates a fear of external attack, which at this time was probably felt mainly in connection with Samaria and Syria (2Ki 15:37 note). The faithless trust put in fortifications was rebuked by the prophets of the time Hos 8:14; Isa 2:15.”
built cities in the hill country of Judah: Barnes links this building to fear of Israel and Syria, the allied attack that 2 Kings 15:37 dates to Jotham's last years. The prophets of the time rebuked trust in walls at Hosea 8:14 and Isaiah 2:15. The towers in the forests also guarded shepherds and their flocks.
2 Chronicles 27:4
“Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah,.... In the mountainous part of it, the hill country of Judea, Luk 1:65, and in the forests he built castles and towers; for the safety of travellers, and of shepherds and their flocks, see 2Ch 26:10.”
the king of the Ammonites: The Ammonites had submitted to Uzziah at 26:8, and Jotham defeats their king in a war Kings never mentions. The tribute is exact: “a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand cors of barley”. A payment on this scale over three years marks real subjugation.
2 Chronicles 27:5
“The Ammonites, who had submitted to Uzziah 2Ch 26:8, revolted against Jotham. This revolt he firmly repressed; and, to punish it, he exacted a high rate of tribute for the three years following the termination of the war. The productiveness of the Ammonite country in grain, which is here indicated, has been remarked upon as extraordinary by modern travelers.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 27:5
“But when Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, combined to attack the kingdom of Judah, they took the opportunity of revolting, and Jotham was too distracted by other matters to attempt the reconquest (see on 2Ki 15:37).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
So Jotham grew powerful: Verse 6 gives the reason for Jotham's strength: he “ordered his ways before the LORD his God”. The King James renders the verb prepared. Spurgeon preached this verse as Jotham's Peculiar Honor, since few kings who did right receive a sentence explaining why their reign prospered.
2 Chronicles 27:6
THIS is a very singular expression which is used here concerning Jotham who is one of the kings of Judah who are commended as having done that which was right in the sight of the Lord. All of them had their faults, yet they were the best monarchs that sat upon the throne of Judah—and concerning Jotham it is mentioned as his peculiar honor that he "became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God."
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3063: “Jotham's Peculiar Honor” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
The rest of his wars and the years of his reign
2 Chronicles 27:7-9
the rest of the acts of Jotham: The closing formula points past Chronicles to a fuller source, “the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah”. Verse 8 repeats the accession notice of verse 1. Jotham is buried in the City of David, and the chapter closes with “his son Ahaz reigned in his place”.
2 Chronicles 27:7
“Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars,.... Not only with the Ammonites, but with the Syrians, and ten tribes, see 2Ki 15:37. and his ways, lo, they are written in the books of the kings of Israel and Judah; not in the canonical books of Kings, but in the Chronicles of the kings of both nations, see 2Ki 15:36.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 27:7
“The last words of the chapter are the most melancholy, as they inform us that Ahaz his son, whose character, in all respects, was the reverse of his, reigned in his stead. When the wealth and power with which wise men have done good devolve upon fools, that will do hurt with them, it is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He was twenty-five years old: Kings dates Hoshea's revolt at 2 Kings 15:30 to the twentieth year of Jotham, though he reigned in Jerusalem only sixteen years. One reading counts his years on past his death, into the reign of his son Ahaz. Another finds shared reigns with Uzziah and with Ahaz.
2 Chronicles 27:8
“He was twenty five years old,.... The same is repeated here as in 2Ch 27:1.”
Jotham rested with his fathers: Jotham is buried in the City of David with no word of shame. His father Uzziah lay apart because of his leprosy at 26:23, and his son Ahaz is kept out of the royal tombs at 28:27. Of the three, only Jotham rests among the kings.
How this psalm is built
The form: A compressed regnal notice, opened and closed by the accession formula, as Keil and Delitzsch classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The father's record, and the one difference | Verse 2 says Jotham did right as his father had done, and then adds that he did not enter the temple of the LORD. Adam Clarke reads the clause as pointing back to the room where Uzziah's censer brought him leprosy at 26:16 to 19. The verse ends by saying the people still behaved corruptly.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on 2 Chronicles 27:2. | 2 Chronicles 27:2, 2 Chronicles 26:16 |
| The accession stated twice | Verse 1 gives the age and the length of the reign, and verse 8 gives both again. Matthew Henry reads the repetition as this book's way of bracketing a reign it has already summed up. Everything the chapter reports stands between the two statements.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on 2 Chronicles 27:8. | 2 Chronicles 27:1, 2 Chronicles 27:8 |
| What the reign left standing | Verses 3 and 4 name the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD and work on the wall at Ophel. They add cities in the hill country of Judah, and fortresses and towers in the forests. Albert Barnes notes that the parallel account gives the gate alone. Keil and Delitzsch read the fuller list as this book's habit of recording what a king leaves behind him.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on 2 Chronicles 27:3. | 2 Chronicles 27:3, 2 Chronicles 27:4 |
| The same again in the second and third years | Verse 5 gives the Ammonite tribute and then says they paid the same in the second and the third years. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the repetition as the mark of real subjugation rather than a single gift. The Ammonites had already submitted to his father at 26:8.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 2 Chronicles 27:5. | 2 Chronicles 27:5, 2 Chronicles 26:8 |
The debated concept
8 more paragraphs on the patterns
The chapter carries no contested reading of its own, and a row is not padded with one. The two questions it raises are both about what the parallel account leaves out.
The first is the Ammonite war. It has no counterpart at 2 Kings 15:32 to 38, and Albert Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown both read the omission as the usual difference between the two books rather than a disagreement.
The second is the qualifier at verse 2 about the people. The verse commends the king and then says the people still behaved corruptly, so the verdict on the reign and the verdict on the nation are stated apart. Matthew Henry reads the clause as this book declining to hide what the country did under a good king.
Where the chapter reaches
Verse 2 reaches back one chapter. The clause about not entering the temple names the exact trespass that cost his father the throne room and his health at 26:16 to 21.
Verse 6 reaches across the whole book. The verb for ordering his ways stands beside the seeking the book has measured every king by since 1 Chronicles 16:11, and it returns for Hezekiah at 31:21.
The king is named in the New Testament genealogy. Matthew 1:9 has Uzziah as the father of Jotham and Jotham as the father of Ahaz, which is the succession of chapters 26, 27 and 28.
The last verse hands the throne to Ahaz, whom the guide's ledger types evil at its worst, so the book's briefest good reign stands directly before its sharpest fall.
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3063, Jotham's Peculiar Honor; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Books of the Chronicles, on 2 Chronicles 27:1 and the guide's ledger for this book, `src/components/book/guides/2-chronicles/Book2ChroniclesGuide.tsx`, the kings ledger, Jotham at 27:1 to 9.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3063, Jotham's Peculiar Honor; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.