2 Chronicles 27

2 Chronicles 27:1

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on 2 Chronicles chapters 10 to 36 www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

Tap the * before a word to show an explanation.

Chapter 27 Jotham – 2 Chronicles 27:1-9 v1 Jotham was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled for 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah. She was the daughter of Zadok. v2 Jotham did what was right in the opinion of the *LORD. In this way, he was like his father Uzziah. But Jotham did not go to the *LORD’s *temple to burn *incense as his father had. But the people continued to do what was wrong. v3 Jotham built again the Upper Gate of the *LORD’s *temple. And he did a lot of work on the wall of Ophel. v4 Also, he built towns in the hill country of Judah. In the forests, he built castles and high buildings for defence.

v5 Jotham fought the king of Ammon and Jotham defeated his army. That year the people in Ammon paid to him 100 *talents of silver. Also they gave to him 10 000 *cors of wheat and 10 000 *cors of *barley. They paid to him the same amounts for the next two years.

v6 Jotham became powerful, because he always obeyed the *LORD his God.

v7 There is a record of what Jotham did. It includes all his wars while he was king. This record is in the book of the kings of *Israel and Judah. v8 He was 25 years old when he became king. And he ruled for 16 years in Jerusalem. v9 Jotham died and they buried him in David’s city. Then Ahaz his son replaced him as king.

Verses 1-4 Jotham ruled for 16 years from about 751 *BC to 735 *BC. He ruled in Jerusalem. His father Uzziah died in about 738 *BC. So, for 13 of his 16 years he ruled with his father. He was 25 years old when he began to rule. His mother was the daughter of Zadok. Probably Zadok was a *descendant of the famous priest with the same name (2 Samuel 8:17).

Jotham was loyal to the *LORD as his father had been. But he did not go into the holy place or burn *incense. The people continued to *sacrifice and to burn *incense at the *worship places (2 Kings 15:35). Uzziah and Jotham did not try to remove those places.

The Upper Gate, which Jotham built again, was on the north side of the *temple (Ezekiel 9:2). The wall of Ophel was to the south and east of the *temple. It was between the Kidron Valley and the Tyropoeon Valley. Jotham repaired the wall of the city that was in that area.

In many parts of Judah, Jotham built castles and other buildings for the defence of his *kingdom. The agreement between the kings of *Israel and Aram may have been the reason for this work (2 Kings 15:37).

Verse 5 Uzziah had control over Ammon (26:8). It seems that they tried to get free from the control of Jotham. So, Jotham fought with them and he defeated them. Then for three years, the people in Ammon paid a tax to Jotham. That tax included about three and three quarter tons of silver. And they gave to him wheat and *barley in volume about 575 000 gallons (2200 *kilolitres) of each.

Verses 6-9 Jotham involved himself in several wars. There is now no record of any of them except against the people from Ammon. There is a note that in those days *Israel and Aram came against Judah (2 Kings 15:37). That may have been at the end of Jotham’s life. But he was powerful in all these wars because he obeyed the *LORD.

The record of all that he did was in the book of the kings of *Israel and Judah. Jotham died and they buried him in David’s city. Then his son Ahaz became king.

© 2010, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2010

Visit our website: www.easyenglish.info

var w1 = new Array;w1[0]=’<b%3Ekingdom</b%3E ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.’;w1[1]=’<b%3ELORD</b%3E ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.