Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 8:16-24
We have here a brief account of the life and reign of Jehoram (or Joram), one of the worst of the kings of Judah, but the son and successor of Jehoshaphat, one of the best. Note, 1. Parents cannot give grace to their children. Many that have themselves been godly have had the grief and shame of seeing those that came forth out of their bowels wicked and vile. Let not the families that are thus afflicted think it strange. 2. If the children of good parents prove wicked, commonly they are worse than others. The unclean spirit brings in seven others more wicked than himself, Luk 11:26. 3. A nation is sometimes justly punished with the miseries of a bad reign for not improving the blessings and…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 8:16
JEHORAM'S WICKED REIGN. (Kg2 8:16-23)
Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat . . . began to reign--(See on Kg2 3:1). His father resigned the throne to him two years before his death.
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 8:17
He reigned eight years in Jerusalem - Beginning with the fifth year of Joram, king of Israel. He reigned three years with Jehoshaphat his father, and five years alone; i.e., from A.M. 3112 to 3119, according to Archbishop Usher.
John Gill on 2 Kings 8:17
Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign,.... The second time, in the lifetime of his father:
and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem; which ended in the twelfth year of Joram king of Israel, 2 Kings 8:25.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 8:16-17
Reign of Joram of Judah (cf. 2 Chron 21:2-20). - Joram became king in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, while Jehoshaphat his father was (still) king, the latter handing over the government to him two years before his death (see at Kg2 1:17), and reigned eight years, namely, two years to the death of Jehoshaphat and six years afterwards.
(Note: The words יהוּדה מלך ויהושׁפט have been improperly omitted by the Arabic and Syriac, and by Luther, Dathe, and De Wette from their translations; whilst Schulz, Maurer, Thenius, and others pronounce it a gloss. The genuineness of the words is attested by the lxx (the Edit. Complut. being alone in omitting them) and by the Chaldee: and the rejection of…
