2 Chronicles 27

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah, and she was the daughter of Zadok.

1Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.

NoteJudah's royal records almost always name the new king's mother. The queen mother held a recognized position at court, so her name and family were part of the official record of a reign.

2He did what was right in the LORD's eyes, just as his father Uzziah had done. But unlike his father, he did not go into the LORD's temple. The people, however, kept on acting corruptly.

2And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.

Note"He did not go into the LORD's temple" points back to chapter 26: Jotham's father Uzziah forced his way into the temple to burn incense, something only priests were permitted to do, and was struck with a skin disease. The line means Jotham copied his father's good conduct but not that one act. "Acting corruptly" is the standard phrase for worship at unauthorised shrines and images rather than at the temple.

3He rebuilt the upper gate of the LORD's temple, and he did a great deal of building on the wall at Ophel.

3He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.

NoteOphel is the narrow ridge in Jerusalem joining the old City of David to the higher ground where the temple stood, the seam in the city's defenses, and so a natural place to spend money on walls. The "upper gate" was a gate on the temple's north side.

4He also built towns in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded areas.

4Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.

5He went to war against the king of the Ammonites and beat them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand measures of barley. They paid him the same amount in the second year and the third year.

5He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third.

NoteThe Ammonites were a neighboring kingdom east of the Jordan, long-standing rivals of Judah. A talent was about seventy-five pounds of silver, so a hundred talents is roughly three and a half tons. The "measures" are cors, each about sixty gallons dry measure, ten thousand cors is a very large grain shipment. Payments like this were tribute: a defeated kingdom bought peace by paying annually.

6So Jotham became powerful, because he ordered his life carefully before the LORD his God.

6So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.

7The rest of the things Jotham did, including all his wars and the way he lived, are written down in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

7Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

NoteThis is not the biblical books of Kings but a royal chronicle kept by court record-keepers, which no longer survives. The writer regularly points readers to it for the fuller account.

8He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem.

8He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

NoteThe repetition of verse 1 is deliberate, not an error. Reigns in Chronicles are framed by an opening formula and a matching closing one.

9Then Jotham died, and they buried him in the City of David. His son Ahaz became king in his place.

9And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

Note"Slept with his fathers" is the usual phrase for a king dying peacefully rather than being killed. The City of David is the oldest quarter of Jerusalem, where the kings of Judah were buried.