Synopsis of the Chapter
The impious son Jehoram succeeds the pious Jehoshaphat; he kills his brothers and some of the princes. Wherefore Elijah sends him a letter from paradise, in which he announces to him a grave illness, death, and disaster for the whole kingdom; all of which indeed came to pass.
Verse 4: He Killed All His Brothers ¶
4. HE KILLED ALL HIS BROTHERS WITH THE SWORD, AND SOME OF THE PRINCES — perhaps because they opposed his new religion and idolatry. If that is so, they truly died as martyrs.
Verse 7: A Lamp ¶
7. A LAMP — that is, the succession of the royal and splendid lineage. See Psalm 131 (132):17.
Verse 10: Edom Revolted ¶
10. NEVERTHELESS EDOM REVOLTED. — That is, Idumea shook off the yoke of the impious Jehoram king of Judah; and then was fulfilled the prophecy of Jacob, Genesis 27:40, predicting that Esau would shake off the yoke of Jacob, meaning that the Edomites would shake off the yoke of the Jews.
AT THAT TIME LIBNAH ALSO REVOLTED. — It was an ancient city in the tribe of Judah. That is to say, not only the foreign Edomites, but also the subject Libnites rebelled against the impious Jehoram even though he was their king. Hear Adrichomius in his Description of the Tribe of Judah, number 176: "Libnah, also called Lobna and Labana, a strong and fortified city of the Levites, not far from Lachish, had in ancient times its own king; when he was slain, Joshua also conquered the city itself. After the state of the Jews had come to be a monarchy, because of the impiety of King Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, Libnah revolted from him; finally it was besieged by Sennacherib king of Assyria. Now it is a village in the region of Eleutheropolis, called Lobna, about which Isaiah writes, according to Jerome. Some place it in the tribe of Dan."
Verse 12: A Letter from Elijah the Prophet ¶
12. AND A LETTER WAS BROUGHT TO HIM FROM ELIJAH THE PROPHET. — You will ask: What kind of letter was this, when, and how was it written and sent by Elijah? Note that Elijah had already long before been taken up from the earth in a chariot of fire to heaven. For in the time of Jehoshaphat, who was the father of this Jehoram, Elisha flourished and prophesied, who had succeeded Elijah after his rapture, as is clear from 4 Kings (2 Kings) 3:11. For Cajetan's opinion that this is a different Elijah, distinct from the Tishbite, lacks verisimilitude and is asserted groundlessly. The same is true of Vatablus's claim that by Elijah here is meant Elisha, because the spirit of Elijah dwelt in him. Others, like Emmanuel Sa, think that Elijah wrote these letters before his rapture and gave them to Elisha or someone similar, to deliver them to King Jehoram after his rapture. But others commonly hold that Elijah sent these letters from paradise, or from the place where he dwells after his rapture with Enoch, either through an Angel clothed in human form, or through Elisha or another prophet, or a faithful man, to King Jehoram. And so, just as at the Transfiguration of Christ, Elijah appeared to Peter, James, and John with Moses, so too the same Elijah appeared here to some man and gave him letters written by himself to be delivered to Jehoram. So the Hebrews in Seder Olam, chapter 17, Lyranus, Serarius, Sanchez, Bellarmine, and Salianus, who hold that these letters were given by Elijah nine years after his rapture; for the rapture took place in the 19th year of Jehoshaphat, who then reigned six more years, namely to year 25; and these letters were given in the third or fourth year of Jehoram, when he alone was reigning after the death of his father Jehoshaphat. He wrote from paradise in order to more greatly terrify the impious Jehoram and convert him, and to show how great a care he and the Saints have, even after this life, for faithful men especially. The same is held by Genebrardus, book 1 of the Chronology, Josephus Acosta, book 3 On the Last Times, chapter 7, Aben Ezra and Petrus Figuerius on Malachi chapter 4, Thomas Malvenda, book 9 On the Antichrist, chapter 2. Furthermore, in this letter Elijah severely rebukes Jehoram for having departed from God and from the religion of his father Jehoshaphat, and for having killed his brothers like a parricide, and threatens him with a threefold plague: namely first, a public plundering of the goods both of the king himself and of the kingdom and people, as well as the abduction of his wives and sons, which the Philistines, Arabs, and Ethiopians soon inflicted, as is said in verse 16. Second, a grievous illness and long wasting disease of two years, so that he voided his entrails, and so in pains and foul odors he breathed out his wretched soul, verse 18. Third, that he would lack the honor of a royal burial. Elijah does not expressly state this third punishment, but it followed from the first two and from his infamous life and death, as is clear from verse 19.
Verse 17: Except Jehoahaz ¶
17. EXCEPT JEHOAHAZ. — He is the one who by an inverted name was called Ahaziah. For he alone survived and succeeded his father Jehoram in the kingdom, as is clear from the following chapter, verse 1. So Bede.
Verse 19: The People Did Not Make Funeral Rites ¶
19. AND THE PEOPLE DID NOT MAKE FOR HIM FUNERAL RITES ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF BURNING, AS THEY HAD DONE FOR HIS ANCESTORS — that is, by burning not the king's corpse (for that was buried in the tomb of David and Solomon, or in a magnificent mausoleum erected specially for this purpose), but next to the corpse, precious aromatics and ointments; and this had been done with great pomp and display for Asa, the grandfather of Jehoram, in chapter 16, verse 14. See what was said on Jeremiah chapter 34, verse 5.