And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. And as Ahab reigned twenty two years, 1 Kings 16:29 , Jehoshaphat must reign about eighteen years with him, and seven years after him. read more
Jehoshaphat was thirty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem ,.... So that he must be sixty years of age when he died: and his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi ; but of what family they were is not said. read more
And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father ,.... Who was a good prince: he turned not aside from doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord ; in his moral conversation, religious worship, and civil government: nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places ; he took away the high places and groves for idolatrous worship, 2 Chronicles 17:6 , but not the high places in which sacrifices were offered to... read more
The high places were not taken away - In 2 Chronicles 17:6 , it is expressly said, that he did take away the high places. Allowing that the text is right in 2 Chron., the two places may be easily reconciled. There were two kinds of high places in the land: Those used for idolatrous purposes. Those that were consecrated to God, and were used before the temple was built. The former he did take away; the latter he did not. But some think the parallel place in 2 Chronicles... read more
Survival. After the account of Ahab's death and burial, and of the manner in which the dogs of Samaria fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah, the earlier verses of our text follow. In the first of these the reader is referred to the archives of the nation for an account of the "rest of the Ac" and works of this monarch, viz; those to which inspiration was not here specially directed. In the second, the succession of Ahaziah is mentioned. With these verses, because of the unity of the subject,... read more
And Jehoahaphat ["Whom Jehovah judges"] the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. [The historian now resumes for a moment the history of Judah, which has dropped out of notice since 1 Kings 15:24 , where the accession of Jehoshaphat was mentioned. His reign, which is here described in the briefest possible way, occupies four chapters (17-20.) of 2 Chronicles] read more
Jehoshaphat. These words give a summary of the life of this king of Judah, and faithfully record, as the Scriptures do to admiration, the good and the bad, as these will be considered in the judgment of the great day. Consider— I. THE PRAISE OF JEHOSHAPHAT . 1 . He came of a good stock . 2 . He improved his advantages . 3 . This was to his praise . II. THE BLAME OF JEHOSHAPHAT . This seems all to have been connected with the "peace" which he made... read more
Two Life Stories. I. JEHOSHAPHAT 'S. 1 . He prolonged the good influence of his father ' s reign . Judah's thought was still kept under the light of truth, and its life more fully led into the ways of God: he completed his father's reforms ( 1 Kings 22:46 ). The continuance of God s work anywhere is as important as the origination of it. 2 . He was consistent . "He turned not aside from it." He did not merely begin well; over his whole reign there rested the Divine... read more
Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 22:41-53
Here is, I. A short account of the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, of which we shall have a much fuller narrative in the book of Chronicles, and of the greatness and goodness of that prince, neither of which was lessened or sullied by any thing but his intimacy with the house of Ahab, which, upon several accounts, was a diminution to him. His confederacy with Ahab in war we have already found dangerous to him, and his confederacy with Ahaziah his son in trade sped no better. He offered to... read more