Who is King Joram of Israel?

Quick Facts

Father: King Ahab, 2 Kings 3:1
Mother: Queen Jezebel, 2 Kings 9:22
Predecessor: Ahaziah of Israel, 2 Ki 22:17
Kingdom: North Israel, 2 Kings 3:1
Succession: 9th king
Length of reign: 12 years, 2 Kings 3:1
Successor: King Jehu, 2 Kings 9:14-29
Other name: Jehoram, 2Ki 3:1; 2Ki 3:6; 2Ki 9:24; 2Ch 22:5, 6, 7
Bible references: 2Ki 3:1-27; 2Ki 9:14-29

Disambiguation

Joram reigns in North Israel

The name Joram means Jehovah-raised. The name Joram is also rendered as Jehoram. Joram’s chance came to ascend the throne when his brother King Ahaziah who succeeded King Ahab, died without a son. Joram was the 9th king of Israel who ruled for 12 years in Samaria. His parents were King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Though counted among the bad kings, Joram sinned less, in that he forsook the religion of Baal and perpetuated only the sin of Jeroboam.

Joram against King Mesha of Moab

Not long after being made a king, Joram had to go to war to suppress a pending Moabite rebellion. Moab was a tributary of Israel during the regime of King Ahab and they paid tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams to Ahab. But during the reign of Ahaziah, they rebelled and ceased to pay tribute.

Joram allied with King Jehoshaphat of Judah and the King of Edom and they marched out into the wilderness. However, the allies found themselves trapped in the wilderness without water. Desperate for help, they came to Prophet Elisha. At Elisha’s request, they brought a musician. And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha and he prophesied that God would give them both victory and water in the wilderness.

The next morning, God made water appear in the wilderness till the country was filled with water for the allies. And when the morning sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water as red as blood and thought the allies had fought and killed one another. So they ventured into the allies’ camp to collect spoils. When they came, the allies struck them down till they fled.

The allies destroyed the Moabites, their cities, their arable lands, and trees, and attacked their walled capital city Kir-hareseth. Desperate to save Moab and repel the allied forces, King Mesha took his oldest son who was to succeed him, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall of the city. Then God’s wrath came upon the allies for pushing things this far and the allies withdrew to their land. (Bible reference, 2 Kings 3:1-27)

The death of Joram

Joram and his army had been fighting King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth-gilead, but King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds he incurred in battle. At that time, a man called Jehu, an army commander, was anointed by Elisha as king of Israel and was mandated to kill the entire house of Ahab.

Jehu and Co conspired and came to Jezreel for Joram and Ahaziah of Judah who had come to visit Joram. Both Joram and Ahaziah came to meet Jehu in their chariots. But Joram realized too late that he was in danger. However, he tried to escape. Jehu shot an arrow which went to pierced his heart and he died. He was not buried. His body was left to rot on a plot of land belonging to Naboth whom Ahab killed. Ahaziah of Judah also died by an arrow shot and was buried in Jerusalem.

Jehu continued to kill the rest of Ahaziah’s male siblings until none was left. This fulfilled the word of Prophet Elijah spoken against Ahab when he killed Naboth that all his male descendants would be killed and would be eaten either by the dogs in the city or the birds in the field (1Ki 21:17-24). (Bible reference 2 Kings 9:14-29)

Achievements of Joram

With God’s help, Joram and his allies defeated Moab. Though he defeated them, Joram’s aim of making Moab a vassal to Israel again failed for the Moabites remained in rebellion and paid no tribute. 2 Kings 3:21-27

Contemporaries of Joram

  • King Jehoshaphat of Judah had reigned for 18 years when Joram became a king. They were allies. (2 Kings 3:1-27)
  • The king of Edom whose name was not mentioned was a vassal to King Jehoshaphat and also became an ally of Joram. (2 Kings 3:9)
  • King Mesha of Moab: he was the king who rebelled against Israel and sacrificed his eldest son to repel the allied forces. (2 Kings 3:27)
  • King Hazael of Syria: He started his war campaign against Israel during the reign of King Joram. (2 Kings 8:28; 2 Kings 9:14)

Major events during Joram’s reign

  • The Moabites were in rebellion throughout the reign of Joram just as they rebelled against his brother King Ahaziah. (2 Kings 3:4-7)
  • While King Joram was at Jezreel, waiting to recover from battle wounds, Jehu, one of the military commanders, was anointed as king of Israel by a young prophet sent by Elisha. (2 Kings 9:1-6)
  • Joram and his allies defeated Moab in war. (2 Kings 3:21-27)
  • King Mesha of Moab committed a great abomination by killing and sacrificing his son and successor to repel Joram and his allies from their attempt to capture his capital city. (2 Kings 3:27)

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