JORAM. - King of Judah (849-842 B.C.). Son of Jehoshaphat (v.), he inherited the throne from his father, but none of his virtues. His marriage to Athaliah, daughter of the king of Samaria Ahab and of the Phoenician Jezebel (v.), had disastrous consequences for the kingdom of Judah. From the very beginning of his reign, J. slaughtered his other brothers and also some of the leading men of the country. The motive for this ruthless repression (a prelude to the crueler one that his wife Athaliah would carry out later, cf. II Kings 11) is probably to be sought in some latent opposition to the new politico-religious direction of the king, who, departing from his father's line and instead following the example of the kings of Israel, began to suppress the religion of Yahweh, favoring idolatrous cults (II Chron. 21, 6.11).
Under his reign the Edomites, who had been subjugated by King David (cf. II Sam. 13-14), rebelled against the sovereignty of Judah, undoubtedly spurred on by the example of the Moabites, who had shortly before revolted against the similarly named king of Israel Joram (v.). In the unfortunate attempt to quell the revolt, J. barely managed to escape the enemy's encirclement: thus from that time the Idumeans permanently obtained autonomy with a king of their own (II Kings 8, 20-22). The Philistines and the Arab tribes as well, who had made an act of submission to Jehoshaphat, rebelled against J. and plundered the country; indeed they made raids as far as Jerusalem, sacked the palace and deported members of the royal family themselves (II Chron. 21, 16 ff.). It was a true catastrophe, a just punishment from heaven for the degenerate king of Judah. J. died at the age of 40, after a long and shameful illness, foretold to him by the prophet Elijah (v.), and he did not even have the honor of burial in the royal tombs (II Chron. 21, 12-20).
Bibliography3 works
Gaetano Stano