Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 1
Usually, the king’s oldest son became king after him. However, Ahaziah had no son. So, his brother Joram became the next king of northern and central Israel. Both Ahaziah and Joram were sons of King Ahab. Ahaziah had ruled for less than 2 years.
For the next few years, the king of northern and central Israel had the same name as the king of Judah. Joram and Jehoram are different forms of the same name. The two kings were relatives of each other. King Jehoram of Judah had married the sister of King Joram of Israel. That sister, Athaliah, was a very powerful woman who would herself later become the ruler of Judah (11:1-3).
King Jehoram of Judah began to rule at about the same time as the battle in 1 Kings 22:29-37. At that time, his father Jehoshaphat had been ruling Judah for 17 years (1 Kings 22:51). Jehoshaphat was not dead when Jehoram became king. Rather, for some reason Jehoshaphat decided to appoint his son while he was still alive. It seems that Jehoshaphat was also ruling Judah with his son at this time. In the end, Jehoshaphat’s rule over Judah would last for 25 years (1 Kings 22:42).
During the early part of Jehoram’s rule over Judah, Jehoshaphat still led the country’s army (2 Kings 3:7-14; 2 Chronicles 20:1-30). However later, as Jehoshaphat approached the time of his death, he handed over even more power to his son (8:16).
Next part: The last day of Elijah's life on earth (2 Kings 2:1)
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