1 Kings 22:42

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 22:42. Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old, &c. — The intention of the writer of this book was principally to give us the history of the kings of the house of David, with which he begins, and then interweaves with it some account of the kings of Israel. Thus having finished the history of Asa, king of Judah, he recounts the affairs of Israel under Ahab; who being dead, he returns to the history of the kings of Judah, who were the chief objects of his attention.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:41-50 Jehoshaphat's reign appears to have been one of the best, both as to piety and prosperity. He pleased God, and God blessed him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The writer returns to the history of the kingdom of Judah (connect this verse with 1 Kings 15:24), sketching briefly a reign much more fully given by the writer of Chronicles 2 Chronicles 17-20. Compare also the marginal references.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29-38. went up to Ramoth-gilead—The king of Israel, bent on this expedition, marched, accompanied by his ally, with all his forces to the siege; but on approaching the scene of action, his courage failed, and, hoping to evade the force of Micaiah's prophecy by a secret stratagem, he assumed the uniform of a subaltern, while he advised Jehoshaphat to fight in his royal attire. The Syrian king, with a view either to put the speediest end to the war, or perhaps to wipe out the stain of his own humiliation (1Ki 20:31), had given special instructions to his generals to single out Ahab, and to take or kill him, as the author of the war. The officers at first directed their assault on Jehoshaphat, but, becoming aware of their mistake, desisted. Ahab was wounded by a random arrow, which, being probably poisoned, and the state of the weather increasing the virulence of the poison, he died at sunset. The corpse was conveyed to Samaria; and, as the chariot which brought it was being washed, in a pool near the city, from the blood that had profusely oozed from the wound, the dogs, in conformity with Elijah's prophecy, came and licked it [1Ki 21:19]. Ahab was succeeded by his son Ahaziah [1Ki 22:40].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He reigned twenty and five years; part by himself and partly with his sons, whom he took into the fellowship of his kingdom; of which see more on 2 Kings 1:17.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

42. He reigned twenty and five years] His son and successor, Jehoram, was made king in conjunction with his father, before Jehoshaphat’s death (2 Kings 9:16). But this could only have been done just at the close of Jehoshaphat’s reign. For it was in the fourth year of Ahab that Jehoshaphat began to reign. Ahab reigned 22 years (1 Kings 16:29). So that 18 years of Jehoshaphat’s reign were over when Ahab died. Ahaziah reigned two years (see 1 Kings 22:51 below) and it was in the 5th year of Joram, the brother and successor of Ahaziah, that Jehoshaphat joined his son with him in the kingdom. So that, unless the years are not complete years, it must have been in the closing years of his father’s reign that Jehoram began his joint reign.

his mother’s name] On the important position occupied by the queen-mother in Oriental kingdoms, see on 1 Kings 2:19. This accounts for the constant mention of her name at each king’s accession.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 42. - 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. 1 Kings 22:42

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Reign of Jehoshaphat of Judah. - The account of this in the books before us is a very condensed one. Beside the two campaigns in which he joined with Ahab and Joram of Israel against the Syrians and Moabites, and which are described in the history of the kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 22:1-35 and 2 Kings 3), we have simply a short notice of his attempt to restore the trade with Ophir, and a general statement of the spirit of his reign; whereas we learn from the extract preserved in the Chronicles from the annals of the kings, that he also carried on a victorious war against the Edomites and Ammonites (2 Chronicles 20), and did a great deal to promote the spread of the knowledge of the law among his people, and to carry out the restoration of a better administration of justice, and to improve the condition of the army (2 Chronicles 16:1-14 and 2 Chronicles 19:1-11).

1 Kings 22:41-42

1 Kings 22:41-44, which give the age of Jehoshaphat when he ascended the throne, and the duration and character of his reign, are also found with slight deviations in 2 Chronicles 20:31-33, in the closing summary of the history of his reign.