Disease and death of kings

Kings who died with diseases

Normally, when people grow old, they encounter health failures which lead to their death; and that is not what we want to talk about here. The subject ‘kings who died with a disease‘ or ‘kings who died diseased‘ refers to kings in the Bible who were suffering from diseases in any part of their bodies at the time of their death. However, it does not necessarily mean that they died of that disease. Kings who died with diseases are:

1. Asa, king of Judah

At some point in history, the Israelites were divided into two kingdoms; the kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. King Asa, son of King Abijam, was the third of the kings who ruled only the kingdom of Judah; he ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem, the capital city.  Before him were King Rehoboam and King Abijam who led the kingdom into idolatry. Asa brought a reformation in his day and he pleased the Lord, though he had his shortcomings. Nevertheless, at the time of his old age, he was diseased in his feet. King Asa did not get cured of the disease in his feet, rather, he died with the disease.  Bible Reference 1Kings 15:23

2. Jehoram, king of Judah

Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, was the fifth in the succession of kings of the kingdom of Judah. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. During his reign, he committed atrocities to his own undoing. First of all, he went on a killing rampage; he killed all his brothers, the sons of his father, Jehoshaphat. Moreover, he also killed many officials in his kingdom, such as heads of communities, key personalities, etc. Had it been today, we would have called it purging; Jehoram did something similar to what Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and their likes did in their time. God avenged his victims on him.  The Lord delivered him to his enemies. Aside from his reign not enjoying rest, peace, nor prosperity, he lost his family to the Philistines; worse yet, the Lord struck him with bowel disease – a disease that might be similar to bowel cancer – a lethal cancer that affects the small intestines, the large intestines and or the organs associated with the intestines. Jehoram could not get cured of the bowel disease, rather, after two years of agony, he died of it, for the disease was incurable. (2 Ch 21:18-19).” In Jehoram’s case, he died of and with the disease of the bowels.  Bible Reference 2 Chronicles 21

3. Uzziah, king of Judah

Surely, King Uzziah saw both the blessedness of a God-fearing king and the evil that stalks an apostate king in the life of his father King Amaziah. His father, King Amaziah, while he served God prospered but when he apostatized, evil stalked him to his death. Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. Uzziah was careful to do right in the sight of the Lord – where ‘do right’ meant, among other good things he did, he also served the Lord faithfully. As was common to all kings who served the Lord, Uzziah prospered greatly such that the Bible affirmed that his fame spread abroad. However, he became proud when he became great and famous. Though he did not forsake the Lord, he was driven by pride to transgress against the Lord by attempting to do something which the Lord has consigned to only the priests to do. Once he took matters into his own hands and went into the temple of God to burn incense upon the altar of incense – something that only the priest is ordained to do. The priests tried to stop him from committing that trespass but he responded with anger. In the course of the event, the Lord struck him with leprosy right there. Seeing that he has become leprous, the priest sacked him from the temple. Being a leper, Uzziah was unclean and did not enter the house of the Lord again to worship for the rest of his life. He died with leprosy for he was a leper to the day of his death.  Bible Reference 2 Chronicles 26

4. King Benhadad of Syria

NB: Benhadad, king of Syria who reigned in Damascus in the days of Elisha, fell sick. He sent Hazael to enquire of the Lord by Elisha whether he would recover. Elisha said to Hazael, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die (2 Kings 8:10).” Eventually, Benhadad died; not that the sickness killed him – in fact, had he been left alone, he would have recovered from the sickness; but Hazael, his servant, would not let Benhadad recover and continue to reign as king; he killed Benhadad on his sickbed and Benhadad died with his sickness. Bible Reference 2 Kings 8:7–15

Kings who died of ill health

Though certain kings contracted diseases, their death was not primarily caused by those diseases. King Asa, at the time he died, had a disease in his feet, but we could attribute his death rather to old age for he might have been above sixty years at the time of his death. Uzziah, though he was a leper at the time of his death, we would attribute his death to old age, for it does not appear he died by reason of his leprosy. Moreover, it was not specifically mentioned that leprosy killed him. In a situation where a king’s death is caused by a disease or any bad health condition, it is specifically mentioned in the Bible. There are two kings in the Bible who were reported to have died of ill health – such as dying from a disease or dying from any bad condition of health; they are:

1. King Jehoram of Judah

King Jehoram did not live to old age. His life was cut short by a disease the Lord inflicted on him. The Bible specifically mentioned that he died of the disease of the bowels. Bible Reference 2 Chronicles 21:18-19

2. Ahaziah, King of Israel

King Ahaziah of Israel fell from the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and became sick because of the serious injury he incurred from the fall; he died of the sickness that resulted from the fall. Bible Reference 2 Kings 1:1-18. 

Generally, Kings who died with ill health

This is a list of kings who died at the time when they had a disease, sickness or any bad condition of health – whether they died with it or they died from it.

1. King Asa died with a disease in his feet.
2. King Jehoram died of a disease in his bowels.
3. King Uzziah died with leprosy.
4. King Ahaziah died of a sickness that resulted from a fall.
5. King Benhadad of Syria died with sickness.