“And Jeroboam slept with his fathers ... and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead” (2 Kings xiv, 29)—“six months” (xv, 8).

“And Shallum ... slew him [Zachariah] and reigned in his stead” (2 Kings xv, 10)—“a full month” (13).

“Menahem ... slew him [Shallum] and reigned in his stead” (2 Kings xv, 14)—“and reigned ten years” (27).

“And Menahem slept with his fathers and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead” (2 Kings xv, 22)—“and reigned two years” (23).

“Pekah ... killed him [Pekahiah] and reigned in his room” (2 Kings xv, 25)—“and reigned twenty years” (7).

“And Hoshea ... slew him [Pekah] and reigned in his stead” (2 Kings xv, 30)—“nine years” (xvii, 1). “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria” (6).

From the division of the empire to the conquest of Israel the reigns of Israel’s kings, omitting Zimri’s brief reign of seven days and calling the combined reigns of Zachariah and Shallum one year, as computed by chronologists, were as follows:

Jeroboam,twenty-twoyears,
Nadab,two
years,
,,
Baasha,twenty-four
years,
,,
Elah,two
years,
,,
Omri,twelve
years,
,,
Ahab,twenty-two
years,
,,
Ahaziah,two
years,
,,
Jehoram,twelve
years,
,,
Jehu,twenty-eight
years,
,,
Jehoahaz,seventeen
years,
,,
Joash,sixteen
years,
,,
Jeroboam II.,forty-one
years,
,,
Zachariah and Shallum,one
years,
,,
Menahem,ten
years,
,,
Pekahiah,two
years,
,,
Pekah,twenty
years,
,,
Hoshea,nine
years.
,,

The foregoing epitome of Jewish history, gleaned from 1 and 2 Kings, is presented in order that the reader may the more readily understand the following solutions (based upon statements that appear in these books) to the question that forms the topic of this chapter—When did Jehoshaphat die?

Jehoshaphat is represented as one of Judah’s best and greatest kings. He did “that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.” “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat.” “And Jehoshaphat waxed great.” “And he had riches and honor in abundance.” He died at the age of sixty, after a reign of twenty-five years. Ahaziah, king of Israel, is represented as a very wicked king. “He did evil in the sight of the Lord.” “For he served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger the Lord.” Elijah prophesied his early death, which came after a brief reign of two years. The last chapter of the first book of Kings chronicles the reign and death of Judah’s king, Jehoshaphat; the first chapter of the second book of Kings records the reign and death of Israel’s king, Ahaziah. Now when did Jehoshaphat die? Did he die before or after Ahaziah died?