2 Chronicles 21:1-20

The Reign of Jehoram (see notes on 1 Kings 22:50; 2 Kings 8:17). A large part of this section has nothing corresponding to it in 1 and 2 K.

2 Chronicles 21:1. Cf. 1 Kings 22:50.

2 Chronicles 21:5. Cf. 2 Kings 8:17.

2 Chronicles 21:7. a lamp to him and...: the lamp is an expression symbolic of a man's life commemorated and thus continued in his posterity; cf. the torch of life illustrated by the Lampadephoria of the Greeks.

2 Chronicles 21:8. Cf. 2 Kings 8:20; in 2 Chronicles 21:9 the Chronicler omits the words of 2 Kings 8:21 b, and the people fled to their tents, which refer to Jehoram's army.

2 Chronicles 21:11. This supposed letter of Elijah can scarcely be historical; he was a prophet of the northern kingdom. It is probably due to the Chronicler, who wished to emphasize the fact that Jehoram's disease was the work of Yahweh (2 Chronicles 21:18) by making the prophet of Yahweh foretell it; cf. the case of Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:4).

2 Chronicles 21:16 f. the Arabians...: cf. notes on 2 Chronicles 14:9 ff. Jehoahaz: Ahaziah (see. 2 Chronicles 22:1). the burning: see note on 2 Chronicles 16:14. without being desired: for the idea see Jeremiah 22:18.