11 also, he hath made high places in the mountains of Judah, and causeth the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom, and compelleth Judah.
12 And there cometh in unto him a writing from Elijah the prophet, saying, `Thus said Jehovah, God of David thy father, Because that thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, and in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
13 and thou dost walk in the way of the kings of Israel, and dost cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also thy brethren, the house of thy father, who are better than thyself, thou hast slain;
14 lo, Jehovah is smiting -- a great smiting -- among thy people, and among thy sons, and among thy wives, and among all thy goods --
15 and thou, with many sicknesses, with disease of thy bowels, till thy bowels come out, by the sickness, day by day.'
16 And Jehovah waketh up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who `are' beside the Cushim,
17 and they come up into Judah, and rend it, and take captive all the substance that is found at the house of the king, and also his sons, and his wives, and there hath not been left to him a son except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.
18 And after all this hath Jehovah plagued him in his bowels by a disease for which there is no healing,
19 and it cometh to pass, from days to days, and at the time of the going out of the end of two years, his bowels have gone out with his sickness, and he dieth of sore diseases, and his people have not made for him a burning like the burning of his fathers.
20 A son of thirty and two `years' was he in his reigning, and eight years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and he goeth without desire, and they bury him in the city of David, and not in the graves of the kings.
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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
2Ch 21:1-4. Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat.
1-4. Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers … Jehoram … reigned—The late king left seven sons; two of them are in our version named Azariah; but in the Hebrew they appear considerably different, the one being spelt "Azariah," and the other "Azariahu." Though Jehoshaphat had made his family arrangements with prudent precaution, and while he divided the functions of royalty in his lifetime (compare 2Ki 8:16), as well as fixed the succession to the throne in his oldest son, he appointed each of the others to the government of a fenced city, thus providing them with an honorable independence. But this good intentions were frustrated; for no sooner did Jehoram find himself in the sole possession of sovereign power than, from jealousy, or on account of their connections, he murdered all his brothers, together with some leading influential persons who, he suspected, were attached to their interest, or would avenge their deaths. Similar tragedies have been sadly frequent in Eastern courts, where the heir of the crown looks upon his brothers as his most formidable enemies, and is therefore tempted to secure his power by their death.
2Ch 21:5-7. His Wicked Reign.
6, 7. he walked … as did the house of Ahab, for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife—The precepts and examples of his excellent father were soon obliterated by his matrimonial alliance with a daughter of the royal house of Israel. Through the influence of Athaliah he abolished the worship of the Lord, and encouraged an introduction of all the corruptions prevalent in the sister kingdom. The divine vengeance was denounced against him, and would have utterly destroyed him and his house, had it not been for a tender regard to the promise made to David (2Sa 7:29; 2Ki 8:19).
2Ch 21:8-17. Edom and Libnah Revolt.
8-10. the Edomites revolted—That nation had been made dependent by David, and down to the time of Jehoshaphat was governed by a tributary ruler (1Ki 22:47; 2Ki 3:9). But that king having been slain in an insurrection at home, his successor thought to ingratiate himself with his new subjects by raising the flag of independence [Josephus]. The attempt was defeated in the first instance by Jehoram, who possessed all the military establishments of his father; but being renewed unexpectedly, the Edomites succeeded in completely emancipating their country from the yoke of Judah (Ge 27:40). Libnah, which lay on the southern frontier and towards Edom, followed the example of that country.
12-15. there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet—That prophet's translation having taken place in the reign of Jehoshaphat [2Ki 2:11, 12], we must conclude that the name of Elijah has, by the error of a transcriber, been put for that of Elisha.
13-19. hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem … like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab—that is, introduced the superstitions and vices of Phœnician idolatry (see on De 13:6-14). On this account, as well as for his unnatural cruelties, divine vengeance was denounced against him, which was soon after executed exactly as the prophet had foretold. A series of overwhelming calamities befell this wicked king; for in addition to the revolts already mentioned, two neighboring tribes (see 2Ch 17:11) made hostile incursions on the southern and western portions of his kingdom. His country was ravaged, his capital taken, his palace plundered, his wives carried off, and all his children slain except the youngest. He himself was seized with an incurable dysentery, which, after subjecting him to the most painful suffering for the unusual period of two years, carried him off, a monument of the divine judgment. To complete his degradation, his death was unlamented, his burial unhonored by his subjects. This custom, similar to what obtained in Egypt, seems to have crept in among the Hebrews, of giving funeral honors to their kings, or withholding them, according to the good or bad characters of their reign.