Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 8:18
And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
18. as did the house of Ahab ] Jehoshaphat’s friendship and alliance with Ahab’s house brought the ways of Israel into the kingdom of Judah.
the daughter of Ahab ] i.e. Athaliah, who, after the death of Ahaziah (2Ki 11:1), slew all the seed royal of Judah, with the exception of Joash, Ahaziah’s son, whom his aunt Jehosheba rescued.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. The daughter of Ahab was his wife] This was the infamous Athaliah; and through this marriage Jehoshaphat and Ahab were confederates; and this friendship was continued after Ahab’s death.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, after his fathers death. The daughter of Ahab; Athaliah, 2Ki 8:26. This unequal marriage, though Jehoshaphat possibly designed it as a mean of uniting the two kingdoms under one head, and in the true religion, is here and elsewhere noted as the cause both of the great wickedness of his posterity, and of those sore calamities which befell them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. daughter of AhabAthaliah,through whose influence Jehoram introduced the worship of Baal andmany other evils into the kingdom of Judah (see 2Ch21:2-20). This apostasy would have led to the total extinction ofthe royal family in that kingdom, had it not been for the divinepromise to David (2Sa 7:16). Anational chastisement, however, was inflicted on Judah by the revoltof Edom, which, being hitherto governed by a tributary ruler (2Ki 3:9;1Ki 22:47), erected the standardof independence (2Ch 21:9).
2Ki8:24. AHAZIAH SUCCEEDSHIM.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he walked in the way of the king’s of Israel, as did the house of Ahab,…. Imitated them in idolatry:
for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; whose name was Athaliah, 2Ki 8:26, and by her he was drawn into idolatrous practices; of such bad consequence are marriages with idolaters; it is very much that so good a king as Jehoshaphat his father was should contract such an affinity; he suffered for it in more instances than one:
and he did evil in the sight of the Lord; was guilty of idolatry, than which nothing was more displeasing to the Lord; for he made high places, and compelled his subjects to commit idolatry, 2Ch 21:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joram had married a daughter of Ahab, namely Athaliah (2Ki 8:26), and walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, transplanting the worship of Baal into his kingdom. Immediately after the death of Jehoshaphat he murdered his brothers, apparently with no other object than to obtain possession of the treasures which his father had left them (2Ch 21:2-4). This wickedness of Joram would have been followed by the destruction of Judah, had not the Lord preserved a shoot to the royal house for David’s sake. For see 1Ki 11:36. The following word serves as an explanation of , “a light with regard to his sons,” i.e., by the fact that he kept sons (descendants) upon the throne.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Judah’s Wicked Jehoram Commentary on 2Ki 8:18-19 AND 2Ch 21:1-7
The scene shifts back to Judah, where at last the good king Jehoshaphat came to his death. It was a sore day for Judah when the good man died, for in keeping with his paradoxical behavior he had chosen the worst of his sons to succeed him. Jehoram, king of Judah, was one of the most loathsome men ever to sit upon a throne. Indeed Jehoram seems to have been unstable before his father’s death. Twice it seems he began a co-regency with his father, and for some unknown reason it was discontinued (cf. 2Ki 8:16; 2Ki 1:17; 2Ki 3:1).
Jehoshaphat had sought to be fair to all his sons, giving riches of gold, silver, and precious things to all, and to make useful men of them by giving them rule over some of the larger cities of the kingdom. Six of them are named in verse 2, who must have been notable young princes at the time of their father’s decease. Nevertheless, it seems Jehoram resented the honors his father bestowed on his brothers. It also seems that the people did not care for Jehoram and preferred one of the brothers. Therefore when Jehoram had consolidated his kingdom power he murdered these brothers and many of those who supported them.
Jehoram became king in the fifth year of Joram (also called Jehoram), king of Israel, when he was thirty-two years of age. He reigned only eight years, the Lord cutting off the evil man at an early age. He was a true son of Ahab, though he was actually the son of Jehoshaphat and only the son-in-law of AHab Jehoram’s marriage to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab (and possibly of Jezebel), was the product of Jehoshaphat’s foolish covenant with Ahab, by which he was so often persuaded to join in the wars and other ventures of the ungodly kings of Israel.
Jehoram was an evil man in the eyes of the Lord, but even when he adopted the walk and religion of Ahab’s family God would not destroy Judah because of His covenant promise with David (see II Samuel, chapter 7; 1Kings chapter 2). He had promised to give him a light always in the city of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(18) In the way of the kings of Israel.This is further explained by the following clause, As did the house of Ahab, or rather, to wit, as the house of Ahab acted, i.e., Jehoram, as son-in-law of Ahab and Jezebel, lent his countenance to the cultus of the Tyrian Baal. Under the influence of his wife Athaliah, as it may be surmised, Jehoram slew his six brothers directly after his accession to the throne (2Ch. 21:4). In this connection the remarks of Michaelis are interesting: In the reign of Jehoram falls the building of Carthage; Dido, her husband Sichus, her brother Pygmalion, king of Tyre, and murderer of Sichus. By marriage Tyre brought its then prevalent spirit, and a vast amount of evil,into the two Israelitish kingdoms. (The Syriac, Arabic, and Vulg. read in the ways.) The reason why the details added in Chronicles are here omitted is to be found in the studied brevity of the compiler in the case of less important characters.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. For Introducing the reason or special cause why Jehoram walked in the way of the kings of Israel.
The daughter of Ahab was his wife Her name was Athaliah. Compare 2Ki 8:26. This marriage was probably arranged and brought about by the parents of the parties, but it was the source of untold woes to the kingdom of Judah. It was the cause of Jehoram’s walking in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s marriage with Jezebel was instrumental in introducing Phenician idolatry into the northern kingdom. A comparison of ages given in 2Ki 8:17; 2Ki 8:26 shows that this marriage was consummated at an early age, for Joram’s youngest son, Ahaziah, was born when he was only eighteen years old, and he had other sons. See 2Ch 21:17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 8:18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
Ver. 18. For the daughter of Ahab was his wife. ] That wicked woman Athaliah, who drew him to her father’s courses.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as = according as.
daughter of Ahab. Compare 2Ki 8:26. See App-55.
did evil. Compare 2Ch 21:2-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in the way: 2Ki 3:2, 2Ki 3:3, 1Ki 22:52, 1Ki 22:53
the house: 2Ki 9:7, 2Ki 9:8, 2Ki 21:3, 2Ki 21:13, 2Ch 21:13, Mic 6:16
the daughter: 2Ki 8:26, 1Ki 21:25, 2Ch 18:1, 2Ch 19:2, 2Ch 21:6, 2Ch 22:1-4
his wife: Gen 6:1-5, Deu 7:3, Deu 7:4, 1Ki 11:1-5, Neh 13:25, Neh 13:26
Reciprocal: 1Ki 22:2 – Jehoshaphat 1Ki 22:44 – made peace 2Ki 8:27 – he walked 2Ki 10:14 – neither left 2Ki 16:3 – he walked 2Ki 17:19 – walked 2Ki 23:19 – the kings 2Ch 17:4 – not after Job 30:8 – children Mic 1:13 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 8:18. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel That is, after his fathers death. For the daughter of Ahab Namely, Athaliah, 2Ki 8:26; was his wife By whom he was seduced from the religion of his pious father and grandfather. This unequal marriage, though Jehoshaphat possibly designed it as a means of uniting the two kingdoms under one head, is here and elsewhere noted, as the cause both of the great wickedness of his posterity, and of those sore calamities which befell them. No good could be reasonably expected from such a union. Those that are ill matched are already half ruined.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the {l} daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
(l) The Holy Spirit shows by this the danger of joining with infidels.