Jehoram

Jehoram (meaning exaltation of the LORD; also called Joram) was the name of two contemporary kings who ruled Israel and Judah simultaneously. (1.) Jehoram king of Israel, son of Ahab and Jezebel, who reigned c. 852–841 B.C. He removed the pillar of Baal his father had made but continued Jeroboam's sins. His reign saw the Moabite revolt, the ministry of Elisha, and the miraculous Syrian siege of Samaria. He was ultimately shot by Jehu and his body thrown on Naboth's field — a direct fulfillment of Elijah's prophecy (2 Kings 9:24-26). (2.) Jehoram king of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat, who reigned c. 848–841 B.C. He killed his brothers and led Judah into Baal worship under the influence of his wife Athaliah, daughter of Ahab. Elijah sent him a written prophecy of judgment, and he died of a painful intestinal disease (2 Chronicles 21).

The reigns of these two Jehorams represent the peak of Omride influence in Judah through the marriage alliance, a theological crisis resolved by Jehu's purge and Jehoiada's counter-coup.