Jehoram of Israel

Jehoram
King of Israel
Jehoram from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
Predecessor	Ahaziah of Israel
Successor	Jehu

Jehoram (Hebrew: יְהוֹרָם‎‎ Yəhōrām; also Joram) was a king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. (2 Kings 8:16, 8:25–28) He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel, and brother to King Ahaziah.

According to 2 Kings, 8:16, in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, (another) Jehoram became king of Judah, when his father Jehoshaphat was (still) king of Judah, indicating a co-regency. The author of Kings speaks of both Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah in the same passage, which can be confusing.

Joram began to reign in Israel in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat of Judah, and ruled 12 years. (2 Kings 3:1) William F. Albright has dated his reign to 849–842 BC, whereas E. R. Thiele proposed 852–841 BC.

Unike his predecessors, Joram did not worship Baal, but followed in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who led the Israelites to sin. With Jehoshaphat of Judah, Jehoram attacked Mesha, King of Moabites. In the war between Aram-Damascus and Israel, Elisha befriended Joram, revealing to him the plans of the enemy. Subsequently, when Ben-hadad besieged Samaria, reducing the city almost to starvation, Joram sought to kill the prophet. The latter, however, foretold that a period of plenty was imminent; the siege was soon lifted, the city's food supplies were replenished, and the old relation between the king and the prophet was restored.