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2 Kings 1 · a question people ask

Two kings named Jehoram in one verse (1:17)?

In the text

Yes. "Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because he had no son" (1:17). The first Jehoram reigns over Israel in Ahaziah's place; 3:1 calls him "Jehoram the son of Ahab", and 8:16 "Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel". The second is Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, of Judah (1:17), of whom 1 Kings said, "Jehoram his son reigned in his place" (1 Kings 22:50). For a time the two kingdoms had kings of the same name. The book dates their reigns in more than one way. 1:17 dates the start of Israel's Jehoram by "the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat"; 3:1 dates it "in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah"; and 8:16 says Judah's Jehoram began "In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being king of Judah then". These chapters don't explain how the dates fit together, and readers have explained them in more than one way. These notes set the verses side by side and don't choose.

The verses

“So he died according to the LORD’s word which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because he had no son.”
2 Kings 1:17 · World English Bible
“Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.”
2 Kings 3:1 · World English Bible
“In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being king of Judah then, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.”
2 Kings 8:16 · World English Bible
“Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city. Jehoram his son reigned in his place.”
1 Kings 22:50 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Kings 1

2 Kings 1: No God in Israel?

Three times the chapter asks, "Is it because there is no God in Israel" (1:3, 1:6, 1:16). And one Hebrew verb, come down, runs through it twelve times: the king won't come down from his bed, the captains order Elijah down, fire comes down, and Elijah goes down when the LORD's angel says, "Go down with him" (1:15).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions