4 - Jehoram Spills His Guts (Literally)

Summary

This chapter deals with Jehoram of Judah, who suffered from a painful bowel disorder. Jehoram’s disorder is framed by a series of cultic and moral offenses which necessitate a drastic divine judgment. To shed additional light on the Chronicler’s framing of Jehoram’s illness, this chapter considers Jehoram’s place within the broader context of the Chronistic history and the Davidic kings featured therein. The framing of Jehoram’s illness plays out on two levels. On one level, Jehoram’s illness is linked to the wider context of Judah’s eventual destruction. On a second level, Jehoram’s illness is part of a complex literary framework which presents Jehoram as a quasi-Omride king and marks his reign as a new low point in the Chronistic reconstruction of Judahite history.