As we can see in the story of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah from 872–848 B.C., the author of Chronicles is a writer with the sensibilities of both the epic poet and the sermonizer. He likely wrote his stories in the first half of the fourth century B.C., at a time of reminding relatively affluent people that they are not self-sufficient.1 He develops both the character and actions of Jehoshaphat much more fully than in the brief mention made of him in Kings. In so doing, the author successfully captures interest in Jehoshaphat as a military, political, and spiritual hero and uses his story to develop a sermon on the imperative of relying fully on the Lord.

We think of an epic as a significant work that develops the story of a nation and its heroes—often its military and political leaders. In the case of Chronicles, the emphasis is on the kings of Israel during both the undivided and divided periods in the nation. Jehoshaphat, as king of Judah, belongs to the divided era, and his counterpoint for the early part of his reign is evil Ahab, king of Israel, memorable as the husband of Jezebel, a name synonymous with blatant scheming and murder.

An epic writer couldn’t hope for a better foil than Ahab, who dies of a wound from a stray arrow, to contrast with a king he develops as a hero. This does not mean the author presents Jehoshaphat as faultless. Indeed, the story of the faulty hero is ultimately more gripping than the that of the man who is simply perfect. How well the Greek poets understood this as they carefully developed giants of heroism who suffered from spectacular human flaws. One thinks of Achilles, Agamemnon, and Odysseus in Homer’s epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. The faults only serve to make the heroic qualities more desirable.

The sermonizer also finds rich material in Jehoshaphat’s story as he can contrast the most successful period of his life—those times in which the king relied on the Lord—with the times of greatest failure when he relied on his own schemes. Thus, epic and sermon are blended together both as entertainment and instruction—praise for a king and his nation overshadowed by praise for God.

Jehoshaphat’s heroic qualities all stem from his reliance on God. Whereas the Greek epics make much of the extraordinary body build and fighting prowess of heroes such as Achilles, a man of great physical beauty with unparalleled fighting skills, the biblical chronicler says nothing about Jehoshaphat’s looks or fighting skills. We glimpse him as a kingly looking person only once as he waits with King Ahab before the battle of Ramoth Gilead. Here each king sits on a throne dressed in shining armor and kingly robes, listening to the four hundred wicked prophets and the one holy prophet forecast the outcome of the battle that will end in death for Ahab (2 Chron. 18: 9–27).

Next we see Jehoshaphat briefly in battle, not as a killer but as a frightened man, crying out in terror as the enemy soldiers mistake him for Ahab and close in for the kill. In the kings’ story, the enemy soldiers turn away as they realize he’s the wrong king, but in the more detailed Chronicles version, he begs the Lord to save him; thus the point is driven home that he is heroic only through God (1 Kings 22:32, 33; 2 Chron. 18:32, 33). His reliance on God rather than his own strength brings rescue from the Lord, a perfect detail to help the chronicler drive home his point that the hero is great in prayer rather than in battle.

Although Jehoshaphat may not have been a man of great fighting skill himself, he is portrayed in Chronicles as a leader who knows the importance of military buildup. Early in his twenty-four-year reign he is said to have built fortifications and placed troops numbering almost one million men throughout Judah (2 Chron. 17:12–19). The Cambridge Bible Commentary points out the problematic nature of these numbers, suggesting that they could well total more that the entire population of Judah during Jehoshaphat’s reign. The high numbers could be "symbolic of the divine favour rather than as accurate records."2 Whatever the case, the author is emphasizing that Jehoshaphat was a leader who combined action with prayer.

As poet and sermonizer, the chronicler also portrays Jehoshaphat as understanding the importance of fostering political development as well as a spiritual climate of reliance on the Lord. Thus, the great leader characteristic in him develops a plan for reclaiming the loyalty of simple tribal people who have repeatedly strayed into the worship of Baal—with its unholy and inhuman practices—by sending teachers throughout the land to help them understand the law and to establish courts of justice throughout the land.

The sermon aspect of the story emphasizes Jehoshaphat’s insistence that education and law building are always inherent in worshiping the Lord (2 Chron. 17: 7–9). Such action results in great political success for Jehoshaphat, both at home and among the surrounding tribes, which are portrayed as bringing great gifts to him, enriching his store with silver, sheep, and goats. Such respect showered on a tiny nation speaks of a godly hero able to use personal qualities and faith in God to rule his own people and command respect of potential enemies.

In selecting the events that shape Jehoshaphat’s character, the writer of Chronicles spends more time on the early years than later years and on the strengths rather than the weaknesses. However, he is willing to show that Jehoshaphat is not without fault, even at the end of his reign. He sometimes fails in his role as king and spiritual leader. Although he tries to lead his people back to the worship of the Lord of his fathers, he fails to destroy all the implements of Baal worship, thus making it easier for the faithless to return to idolatry (2 Chron. 17:5, 6; 20: 33).

He also consorts with evil by entering into an alliance with King Ahab through marriage of his son to Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter (2 Chron. 18: 1, 2). This unholy alliance leads to the murder of his other sons when Joram ascends the throne upon the death of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 21: 4, 5). Late in his life we see him entering into an unblessed business partnership with the current king of Israel. It’s a partnership that ends rapidly when, without the Lord’s blessing, the ships are sunk in a storm before they can bring back the envisioned wealth to Judah (2 Chron. 20: 1–12).

In spite of the king’s failures, the writer presents him as more hero than weakling, more spiritual leader than apostate. Thus, he is portrayed as one of the kings who followed the Lord, and in so doing brought a time of relative peace, great prosperity, and periodic spiritual renewal to his people. As readers, we remember him at one of his highest moments, when, surrounded by enemies about to attack, he gathers his people, reminds them that God is in charge and prays so effectively for deliverance that the enemies kill each other without ever touching a hair of the hero or his people.

Notes and References

1. The New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1999), 3:299–301.
2. R. J. Coggins, "The First and Second Books of the Chronicles," The Cambridge Bible Commentary (London: Cambridge University Press, 1976), commentary on verses 12–19.

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